Empower Your Business with Software Asset Management Managed Services.

Software and cloud consumption is continuing to rise as it becomes more complex and efficient. Due to this growth, companies rely on external expertise from software asset management (SAM) managed service providers.

While these companies can empower your business through cost optimization and technology governance, they also ensure that all the gaps in your business are filled so you can continue down the road to success.

Software asset management (SAM) managed services are delivered directly to end-user customers on either a continuous or scheduled basis to meet software and cloud service governance and cost optimization objectives.

SAM managed services utilize a providers’ expertise, methods, and intellectual property (IP) to run their solutions on behalf of the client.

SAM managed services fill gaps for clients, enabling a greater degree scalability and project precision. They combine lifecycle change management with optimization services to give your company a breadth of options. SAM managed services transform existing practices to improve transparency and optimization for software, support, maintenance, SaaS, and cloud spend. They provide a foundation of trustworthy data that incorporates the management of usage rights and optimized utilization transparency while using different techniques to enhance the tools at their disposal.

While already briefly mentioned, SAM managed services offer a variety of benefits to businesses that need a bit more technology overhead.

Consistent delivery of services provides companies with greater value from software investment, benefits to cloud elasticity and optimization, enhanced governance, reduced waste, and minimization of noncompliance.

A SAM managed services provider (MSP) is expected to provide complete and continuous services across a broad range of software publishers. Complete means that data services are trustworthy, process and transformation services are complete, and they can provide continuous delivery with milestones and data management. Continuous means daily operations, weekly or more data collection, fully integrated cycle management, and increased value from services provided. If everything aligns, you’ve found yourself a consistent SAM that will help your business improve exponentially.

Gartner has created an in-depth study on how impactful some of the best Software Asset Management (SAM) companies in the industry are based on their degree of asset investment and application of services.

Many can execute at a high level while also being either industry leaders or challenging the status quo through atypical service application.

#1 – Anglepoint

Considered the leader of Gartner’s analysis of SAM 2023 companies, it is a US-based specialist provider of SAM services. Nearly half of their consultants are based in North America and 40% in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Their revenue is mainly achieved in North America and grew 16% in 2022. If your organization is large and complex while also being based in North America, you will find their outsourced services to be incredibly helpful.

Anglepoint has expertise in over 500 publishers, with the main three being Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). It also has a broad inventory of over 30 SAM tools and SaaS management platforms. It invests in proprietary services through the delivery platform Elevate to structure engagements and has a portfolio that continues to widen year after year.

It has the highest proportions of clients receiving the full portfolio of services out of any of the SAMs that were studied by Gartner, sitting at over 50%. Clients report that their service isn’t limited to immediate requirements and that Anglepoint helps them prepare for future struggles while helping them transform their SAM and FinOps disciplines. Management at Anglepoint is also heavily involved in multiple SAM and ITAM bodies, producing executive podcasts, webinars, savings estimates, and more. They are committed to improving those they consult in more than just a standard analysis approach.

#2 – DXC Technology

DXC Technology is more niche than some of the other companies, but no less competent. It is a hardware, software, and cloud services reseller with a global presence. DXC is a good fit for organizations that have over 100,000 devices to manage and mainly requires scheduled engagements, on-site engagements, and international reach.

DXC can provide unconventional SAM managed services, such as “what if” analysis around something like architectural changes, creation and management of software catalogs, integration to IT service management, and more. Their workflow optimization covers cost and process optimizations for clients and deals with software and cloud assets for a full life cycle. Since DXC has a worldwide presence, their model accommodates clients 24 hours a day, five days a week, and has sales teams in over 70 countries. Based on the research done by Gartner, they have the second highest resource-to-customer ratio of all studied SAM providers, meaning you have more resources at your disposal than average.

#3 – ITAM Solutions

Another niche company headquartered in the Netherlands, its SAM consultants are mostly found in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, with around 10% in Asia. ITAM Solutions had a revenue increase of 12% in 2022 that doesn’t show signs of slowing down. Their solutions are a good fit for midsized organizations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, but clients should build robust requirements and evaluate any potential limitations that ITAM Solutions may have around certain vendors or SAM life cycle elements.

ITAM Solutions has placed a focus on improving the scope of their services through specific acquisitions such as InfraVision in April 2022. Additional developments come in the form of process adjustments for greater life cycle management since they were last reviewed by Gartner. ITAM Solutions has robust capabilities for entitlement and contract discovery, analysis, and management. They also have an above-average amount of clients with extensive vendor scope compared to their peers, with fewer than 20 vendors under management. They manage roughly 20 publishers for nearly one-third of their clients. ITAM Solutions also has a healthy proportion of customer success managers compared to its client base. They have the highest amount of dedicated SAM managed services resources out of other similarly niche SAM entities in Gartner’s study. They have consistently demonstrated agility to respond to client requirements and feedback, showing that they are flexible enough to handle any situation as it comes.

#4 – Livingstone Group

As one of the leaders of SAM managed services, the UK-headquartered SAM specialist provides consulting across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and North America. They’ve seen slight growth, with a 2% increase in 2022 that is projected to continue into this year and beyond. Large and complex companies looking for an outsourced SAM/FinOps specialist will find a competent ally in Livingstone. Since this is a business that operates outside of Microsoft, clients should carefully review their CIPS management needs.

Livingstone is one of the few providers that ties contract commitments to ROI achievement. They reported above-average contract maturity and proportion of dedicated SAM managed services resources compared to their peers. Their above-average contracts sit in a large vendor scope, with only 10% of these contracts including more than 100 managed vendors. This is the third-highest contract value among vendors studied by Gartner and covers SaaS and CIPS vendors as well. Their main investments lie with IP and technical skills to increase their inventory of services. This enables consolidation and normalization of datasets from a variety of different environments to avoid bloat. They also have an internal growth strategy to develop technical account managers and the Livingstone Academy to improve competency developments.

#5 – Noventiq

Now headquartered in London as of October 2022, Noventiq SAM resources are almost all found in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, with less than 1% in Asia. Small and medium organizations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa that want to engage on a scheduled basis will find them an easy fit. Ensure you review any limitations regarding immediate and future requirements, including unique toolsets.

Noventiq offers a wide range of coverage for on-premises and cloud-based solutions. Their coverage extends across over 200 Tier 1-3 publishers and 35 SaaS vendors. Being tool-agnostic gives them an edge on support scope and they highly value providing visibility to clients through multiple complementary SAM sources. Their holistic approach to data extends to how they approach complex environments like cloud or IoT too. Noventiq actively tracks the value their SAM managed services provide your organization, reporting to clients on a quarterly basis to ensure optimal involvement from the client and continued investment. They empower customers through transparency, overhead controls, and education/training as needed, which may be why so many organizations renew with them.