Hybrid working
• Siloed data: Integrating asset data across cloud, on-prem, and distributed teams is complex, but without a unified picture of all the data within an organisation, it is difficult to maintain an accurate picture of soſtware usage.
• Manual processes: Repetitive tasks drain time and increase human error for key resources managing the ITAM process, as well as sapping team morale as they monitor their soſtware assets and licensing terms.
• Security risks: At the start of the year, our 2025 State of Java Survey & Report revealed that a third of respondents feel their teams waste more than half their time chasing false positive security alerts. Te problem is particularly acute in Java environments, where 41% said they encounter critical production security issues on a weekly or daily basis. ITAM/ SAM professionals are now becoming more involved in identifying vulnerabilities – in the ITAM/SAM report, 41% of ITAM teams helped identify unsupported soſtware, and 44% contribute to cloud security monitoring.
• Licence compliance: Mismanaged licences can lead to costly audits and penalties. According to the ITAM/SAM Survey & Report, more than a third said compliance, including the management of excessive licensing, is the top issue facing their organisation. Tis is in addition to the IT budget spent each year resolving these licensing issues – including audits, additional licences and penalties.
Te role of the ITAM and SAM functions is changing, as well as the
tools they rely on. Today, they do far more than just track assets. Tey serve a business-critical discipline, safeguarding budgets, mitigating audit risk and guiding strategic technology decisions. Given this role expansion and the ever-increasing complexity of IT environments, ITAM professionals face a key question: where do they prioritise their efforts?
The challenges ITAM/SAM professionals must overcome Te global ITAM market grew from approximately $1.15 billion in 2019 to $1.49 billion in 2023, representing a 6.9% compound annual growth rate. Similarly, the SAM market is expected to grow at an even faster 16% compound annual growth rate through 2029. Tis is positive for ITAM/ SAM professionals, as it suggests
sustained career opportunities for the foreseeable future. But as their responsibilities increase, ITAM/ SAM professionals must work out which challenges they need to prioritise: • Keep it in-house or use partners: 74% reported their organisations manage license discovery and soſtware audits primarily or entirely in-house. Tis self-reliant approach comes with difficulties, as respondents admit they struggle to maintain accurate soſtware usage records, understand complex licensing terms and conditions, and provide accurate licensing compliance metrics. Given pressure on ITAM/SAM resources, there is an urgent need to evaluate when it is more effective to adopt intelligent tools and work with expert partners to meet growing demand.
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• Unreliable usage tracking: ITAM survey participants report complex soſtware configurations that make tracking application usage more difficult. Tey also say their organisations struggle to know where soſtware is installed, what is running and where the information is managed - especially when tracking soſtware usage across teams or between on-premises and cloud platforms. ITAM/SAM is becoming even more of a team sport.
Professionals must play a strategic role in encouraging cross- departmental collaboration and educating senior leaders on the importance of compliance with licensing requirements. Particularly, with the rise of employee-based pricing from vendors like Oracle for Java, it is crucial to secure executive support so that everyone understands this issue is critical to business performance and productivity. Given how much of soſtware development is being automated
these days, developers using components and containers could unknowingly be changing licensing terms. ITAM/ SAM professionals must work with engineering teams to ensure they follow an agreed approach. With all the complexity of modern IT infrastructures, having the right partners will be key to reducing risk and workloads, alongside the adoption of audit playbooks and process automation. Ultimately, if ITAM/ SAM plays a more strategic role in vendor
negotiations and managing IT environments, it will not only ensure license compliance, but it will also help to reduce security vulnerabilities and free up engineers and developers to focus on coding that benefits their organisations. Effective ITAM/ SAM strategies will make organisations more agile and able to lean on their IT systems to respond dynamically to market opportunities, at a time when productivity is so high on every board’s agenda, that can only be a good thing.
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