- Home
- IT Asset Management
- Gartner Market Guide For Software Asset Management Tools
In our opinion CIOs and other executives in the areas of IT or finance should use this Gartner® Market Guide
for Software Asset Management Tools to select the right solution to support their SAM strategy and maximize the business value of their tech investment.
Gartner says: “According to 61% of procurement leaders, their data is disorganized, inaccurate or needs other major quality improvements.“ Without trustworthy data, SAM tools cannot deliver cost optimization, compliance, or AI-driven insights.
It is our takeaway that SAM is moving beyond audit defense toward a central role in cost governance, cloud optimization and AI readiness—unifying SAM, FinOps, SaaS and cloud data.
for Software Asset Management Tools to select the right solution to support their SAM strategy and maximize the business value of their tech investment.
Gartner says: “According to 61% of procurement leaders, their data is disorganized, inaccurate or needs other major quality improvements.“ Without trustworthy data, SAM tools cannot deliver cost optimization, compliance, or AI-driven insights.
It is our takeaway that SAM is moving beyond audit defense toward a central role in cost governance, cloud optimization and AI readiness—unifying SAM, FinOps, SaaS and cloud data.
Our general key findings from the report:
Software portfolios unmanageable without SAM
AI increases both opportunity and complexity
Data quality is the real bottleneck
SAM is evolving into a strategic platform function
Tools alone do not deliver value
Integration is critical for SAM success
For C-level executives, we think these findings underline a clear message: Software Asset Management is becoming a leadership topic. Rising software, cloud and AI spend demand transparency, strong data foundations and a clear strategic roadmap to enable control and informed decisions at scale.
We believe this report answers your key questions:
How to control software & AI spend in hybrid IT?
What’s SAM’s role in AI and data strategy?
Which SAM tools exist—and which do I need?
What to expect from AI in SAM tools today?
How do I build a future-proof SAM strategy?
How to ensure data quality & integration in SAM?
Gartner, Gartner®: Market Guide for Software Asset Management Tools, Yolanda Harris, Angelica Wekwete, Jaswant Kalay, 15th January 2026
Gartner® is registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Gartner® is registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
