SAM Pro Promises Cost Avoidance. So Why Doesn’t It Deliver?

Why This Matters

Many organisations adopt SAM Pro to reduce overspend and stay audit-ready. But for most, the transformation never lands. Legacy tools remain in place. Procurement and licensing teams hold conflicting versions of the truth. Roles are unclear, and publisher packs get implemented without full process alignment. The result is a dashboard that looks impressive but is disconnected from operational reality.

Stakeholders often have different goals. Procurement may focus on contract terms. Finance wants licence savings. IT just wants compliance without admin overload. Meanwhile, spreadsheets persist, and the SAM tool becomes just another layer of complexity.

This research explores the lived experience of implementing SAM Pro. What are people doing to get alignment? How are they dealing with legacy systems and fragmented ownership? And what does success look like when it actually works?

Research Questions

• What preconditions are required for SAM Pro to be successful?

• How do organisations define and track value in SAM programmes?

• What common blockers prevent SAM from gaining traction?

• How does organisational structure affect success or failure?

• What are the gaps between compliance theory and operational practice?

• How are people handling legacy licensing models and manual processes during SAM rollouts?

• What strategies have worked to align procurement, IT, and finance around a shared approach?

• How do organisations negotiate shared ownership across technical and commercial stakeholders?

• What patterns emerge when publisher packs are only partially configured or left untouched?

• Where are success metrics misaligned across teams, and what can be done about that?

Scope & Boundaries
In scope: SAM Pro implementations and use, publisher packs, audit readiness, stakeholder alignment, reconciliation workflows, licence optimisation
Out of scope: Hardware asset management, tools not integrated with ServiceNow, custom-built SAM platforms, external licensing systems with no ServiceNow integration

Methodology
We will collect case studies, process maps, decision-making logs, and stakeholder feedback. Interviews will include licensing leads, SAM managers, procurement partners, platform teams, and finance sponsors. Artefacts will be analysed to understand handovers, trust gaps, and areas where ownership is unclear.

How to Contribute
Have you worked with SAM Pro? Whether the outcome was success, struggle, or shelf ware, your insights can help others. If you’ve navigated the politics of SAM, tackled messy legacy data, or built something that actually worked, we want to learn from you. Contributions can be anonymised, and you can choose to share written notes or join an interview. Contact me via LinkedIn: Laila Edge | LinkedIn

Anticipated Outputs and What Good Looks Like

• A cross-functional playbook for SAM adoption that includes roles, preconditions, and sequencing

• Maturity levels of SAM implementation, from baseline inventory to full audit and cost control

• Case study clusters showing what happened when procurement led, IT led, or both were misaligned

• Metrics that go beyond licence count and reflect real business outcomes

• Templates for stakeholder engagement and cross-team decision models

• Advice on decommissioning legacy SAM practices without losing control

• Realistic definitions of SAM success across different organisation types

• SAM readiness framework covering data, roles, contracts, and metrics

• Visual models of where friction typically appears and how to avoid it

• Case examples of unexpected value or unanticipated failure

• Role-based advice for finance leads, architects, and asset managers

Status & Timeline
Status: Open for interviews and artefact submissions
Expected synthesis: December 2025

Insights That Help You Deliver

Independent insights, real-world case studies, and lessons from ServiceNow implementations. Practical, research-backed content to help you build readiness, align stakeholders, and drive adoption.

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