Hiring individuals to take control of your software asset management can be a complex process. It often involves a lengthy effort to find exactly the right person with the ideal set of skills and experience. There is the difficulty of recruiting from an extremely small group of people with the correct skills set, as well as the need for people to have experience of working with specific vendors.

A Shortage of Skills

The UK IT sector as a whole is suffering from an acute skills shortage. One of the issues that compound this problem is that companies in this country now have to compete with other parts of the world, which can often offer a greater opportunity for talented professionals. For businesses that are looking to recruit in the software asset management sector, it’s important to spend time searching for the right people. Once they are in place, you need to invest in adequate equipment, IT asset management and training to ensure that they can carry out their roles effectively.

The issue with recruiting for SAM professionals is that this area covers a broad range of skills, and not all of these are IT based. When you’re starting the recruitment process, you need to decide on what your future objectives are before you begin searching for candidates. This will likely influence the type of person you are looking for and provide a focus for the skills that are most important to your business.

An Effective SAM Professional

In order to be an effective SAM professional, an individual will need to have the basic principles in place. These can then be adapted to suit the particular business, but without them they will not be able to put the right tools and controls in place to manage your software assets.

They must have a key understanding of the latest technology such as inventory management software, software license management and relevant SAM tools. This will enable them to focus on the tools that are required by the business. Understanding technology will mean that they can improve the sourcing of new equipment and help them keep track of the costs.

SAM professionals also require a knowledge of the company they are working within. They need to know what is required for the business to operate successfully, what areas they can work without and where costs can be reduced.

Financial management is a vital component of any role within a business, but it becomes even more crucial when purchasing technology. An effective Software Asset Manager needs to know what items offer the best value for money and take a strategic approach to purchasing.

This also leads into the requirement to be able to negotiate and communicate successfully. They must be able to work closely with suppliers and understand the bidding process so that they can purchase the right equipment at the best price. Within SAM it’s necessary to work across the organisation, including communicating with key members of the management team so that they understand the process of acquiring new assets.

A large part of SAM is having an in-depth knowledge of the legal process and what the implications for the business would be if they didn’t comply with regulations. This also needs to be imparted to the management team so that they’re aware of how important SAM is.

Finally, a good SAM professional will have an analytical brain to enable them to solve issues and propose the most logical answer.

Recruiting new software asset management employees should not be a quick process, and it’s vital that you make the correct decision. Finding the right person is easier if you can recruit a team to run your SAM. However, the process becomes considerably harder if you require just one person. Understanding your requirements will enable you to focus on the areas that are important to the business.

About the Author:

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Livingstone provide an end-to-end software asset management solution for organisations looking to gain complete visibility and control over their software licensing spend.

Combining their unique approach, accurate inventory and entitlement data with experienced Software Asset Management (SAM) specialists, they understand their client’s software licensing needs and goals. They arm their specialists with vendor agnostic Livingstone technology to provide real time licensing transparency and control.