Flexera's announcement would suggest that the "Joint offering and strengthened partner network will provide customers with more data and capabilities to understand their IT environments, manage cost and reduce risk", and interestingly (at least for now) state that they will "continue to innovate, enhance, maintain, and support both Flexera and Snow solutions".

Now for those organizations that aren't flush with funds, and don't need a full FinOp's solution, but perhaps just want to get across their IT hardware and software landscape and garner control of those assets why not look at the niche solutions market here - including our own ComplianceWare product - you might well find that you can have a product at a much lower cost that meets your needs and solves the problems you have, without over investing in inflated platforms that are over-loaded, over-sold, and over-priced for what you actually need.

The OIG summary of their SAM audit says it all: 

• Efforts to implement an enterprise-wide Software Asset Management program have been hindered by both budget and staffing issues and the complexity and volume of the Agency’s software licensing agreements.
• NASA has not implemented a centralized Software Asset Management tool to discover, inventory, and track license data as required by federal policy.
• NASA’s Software Asset Management policy is not comprehensive or standardized, leaving roles, responsibilities, and processes unclear.
• Training for software license use and management is inconsistent across the Agency, with aging web-based training randomly assigned to personnel and a lack of a general software licensing training course available to the entire workforce.
• NASA’s current efforts to compile a complete and accurate report of annual software spending is a time consuming and mostly manual effort.

​We estimate the Agency could have saved approximately $35 million ($20 million in fines and overpayments and $15 million in unused licenses) and moving forward could save $4 million over the next 3 years by implementing an enterprise-wide Software Asset Management program.

The report is an insightful read for all SAM practitioners - and responsible management and executives - with clear language and succinct descriptions of the scope and challenges in the field of software asset management, and a pragmatic approach to the creation of an effective SAM Practice that applies to any size organization with a notable software inventory, not just those on the NASA scale.

It was recommended that the Chief Information Officer:
(1) establish enterprise-wide (institutional and mission) Software Asset Management policy and procedures;
(2) implement a single Software Asset Management tool across the Agency;
(3) align the Agency Software Manager position to report to the Agency Chief Information Officer;
(4) establish formal legal representation and guidance for vendor software audits;
(5) establish a software license awareness training ‘short course’ focusing on approvals, compliance, and other issues a general user might encounter;
(6) implement a centralized repository for NASA’s internally developed software applications; and
(7) develop an Agency-wide process for limiting privileged access to computer resources in accordance with the concept of least privilege.

Additionally, to strengthen the financial aspects of NASA’s Software Asset Management it was recommended that  the Chief Financial Officer:
8) implement a “penalty spend” classification in SAP to track license infractions and true-up payouts and
9) centralize software spending insights to include purchase cards.

And of course the investment and value aspects are always front of mind:

Deloittes rightly call out additional measures that organizations should factor into the value equation:

• Cost savings achieved by the organizational IT asset management program year-on-year (33%)
  
• Results of license compliance audits year-on-year (33%)
  
• Timeliness and accuracy of IT asset management reporting (30%)
  
• Non-active IT assets repurposed (e.g., inactive IT assets/owner or location unassigned) (18%)

Given the challenges in collecting correct asset utilization data within the organization (29%) and recognition that a greater investment in ITAM tools and technology (25%) is required, it is not surprising that specialist third party support features in the report, in the main operating an on-premise ITAM tool (16%) or providing such as tool through a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform (14%).  Other key areas where external assistance is being sought includes software vendor-specific licensing expertise that is not often readily available in-house (27%), followed by ITAM tool maintenance (20%) or strategic advice to transform ITAM teams (20%) 

Lets not forget the ongoing bugbear that is audits ... what did respondents face in the past year:

And finally, we wholeheartedly agree with Deloittes prediction "that the more progressive and astute organizations will increasingly recognize ITAM as a longer-term strategic investment that creates ongoing value across the entire organization going far beyond just their IT team." 

They also go on to say "this would be in sharp contrast to the more traditional (and increasingly fading) mindset that perceives this as a tactical one-off short-term fix, primarily aimed at minimizing costs related to IT assets." ​