When first implementing a SAM program you will in all likelihood need to prioritize which vendors you will initially focus your activities on. This is because you are likely to have many tens (if not hundreds) of different software titles being used across your organization and so understanding which are the most important ones to focus on is important.

Whilst a lot of people will go with ‘gut feel’ there are a number of factors that when considered will help you in this choice. These are:

• Risk – the risk can come from a number of areas. Firstly, have you recently been audited by a vendor who found major non-compliance? If so, they are more likely to come back again soon. Also, you may have read about a vendor being particularly active in your country or market sector, so an audit from them soon is more likely. The second area of risk comes from business change – a merger, acquisition or disposal (MAD). If one of the organizations involved is a major user of a vendor’s software any MAD activity will be more than likely to trigger an audit.
• Spend – This one is more tangible and easier to measure. Basically, the higher your spend with a particular vendor the higher they should be up your list for SAM.

SOURCE: certero.com