Improving ROI with SAM Health Check

Shifting focus from user-facing devices to the data center brought major priorities

Upgrading their Software Asset Management (SAM) platform, checking system health for data feeds, evaluating the IBM backbone of their server environment and exploring cloud options.

The customer is the largest K–12 school system in this U.S. state, ranking among the top 10 nationwide. Their Software Asset Management (SAM) team manages student labs with 110,000 endpoints and devices for 14,000 faculty members.

The team recently shifted its focus to managing a data center of 1,700 servers. A few years ago, vendor audits exposed a key vulnerability—not in teacher or student endpoints, but in the data center. Although no audits were pending, those past experiences drove them to stay ahead.

They also wanted a clear license position for their IBM products. Their agreement held over 100 SKUs under a complex product profile, with metrics that weren’t easy to manage. They aimed to stay audit-ready in the labs while zeroing in on what was running on servers.

Another priority was evaluating a cloud strategy. While most systems were still on premises, the team began weighing subscription models against traditional licensing—like comparing Microsoft SQL as a subscription versus a purchase.

Data feeds and integration

We went onsite to support a connector and product catalog review, validate data feeds, and help with compliance and integration for IBM, Microsoft and Adobe.

The customer has used the USU Software Asset Management solution (formerly Aspera SmartTrack) for over 10 years. They brought in our Service Delivery team to support a long-overdue upgrade, complete a health check, and strengthen compliance.

USU solution upgrade
Upgraded to the latest version of our platform

Benefit: Supported their current technical environment and allowed for more automation in product recognition and metric calculations.

Master data health check
Assessed the quality of incoming data feeds
Benefit: Delivered reliable classification of production vs. non-production environments—key for understanding license costs.

Product catalog cleanup
Migrated to a more robust database with updated licensing rules
Benefit: More automation and confidence in compliance reports.

A SAM health check often uncovers next steps—just like a physical exam with your doctor might lead to referrals. The customer found value in diving deeper and asked us to review connectors and compliance processes to ensure the SAM foundation was solid.

Office 365 integration
Connected and ready for User Acceptance Testing
Benefit: Positioned to explore optimization on the server side based on contract terms.

Adobe Creative Cloud integration
Fully integrated in the student labs
Benefit: Provided visibility into subscription usage, helping the team evaluate and right-size their Adobe licensing.

IBM compliance
Integrated all discovery, procurement and contract data
Benefit: Enabled accurate tracking of IBM bundles across servers and labs for audit preparation.

Stay healthy to stay ahead

This engagement brought better automation, stronger IBM compliance and readiness for cloud-based licensing.

It all started with a health check. Having our team onsite made a difference—face-to-face conversations brought clarity and uncovered new opportunities.

SAM automation
The check revealed manual entry of SKUs that slowed them down. With the catalog updated, they gained time-saving automation and more reliable product recognition.

IBM compliance
They gained the visibility to track IBM usage accurately, assess financial risk and stay audit-ready in both server and lab environments.

Cloud transition
With Office 365 and Creative Cloud integrated, they can now assess license utilization during renewals—making smarter decisions about subscriptions and optimization.

Did you know? SAM health matters

We recommend a Master Data Health Check each year to keep your SAM program running smoothly.

Just like a doctor’s exam gives you a snapshot of your health, a SAM Health Check shows how strong your foundation is. You can assess your data, review compliance and spot ways to improve—then act on those insights to optimize what you’re using and what you’re paying for.

People get used to working a certain way. Over time, it's worth asking: Is that still the right way? Has your data changed? Has your technical environment evolved? Are your connectors still doing their job? Do you need to clean up your product database?

Your priorities shift—your SAM setup should keep up.