In the age of digital transformation, organizations increasingly recognize that managing IT services and software assets in isolation limits efficiency. When ITSM (IT Service Management) and SAM/ITAM (Software and IT Asset Management) teams join forces, the result goes far beyond better user support — it delivers tangible strategic value for the business.

The value of collaboration

ITSM system is often the first point of contact for the end users: logging incidents, tracking equipment, and recording changes. Users usually communicate with IT either via a support portal or via email/messenger, such as Slack or Teams. SAM and ITAM systems are most often not used by the end users directly, as these systems focus on licenses, inventory, asset lifecycle management and cost optimization. When SAM and ITAM processes are integrated into a bigger ITSM picture, the organization can get a unified view of their resources and build end-to-end workflows. This alignment allows faster incident resolution at first contact, keeps CMDB data accurate, and provides greater transparency into costs.

A good example of ITSM and SAM collaboration is a software request scenario, such as Microsoft Visio. The process can work as follows:

1. An employee logs into the ITSM portal and selects the service item for Microsoft Visio.

2. The submitted request automatically triggers a workflow in the ITSM system.

3. The workflow checks if the license is available in the SAM system via a configured integration or a connector.

4. If a license is available, the request is routed to the manager for approval.

5. Once approved, the license is automatically assigned to the employee, the CMDB is updated, and the request is closed.

6. If the request is denied or no licenses are available, a note is added to the ticket, and the support team decides on the next steps.

This simple workflow shows a way to improve efficiency of IT Asset Management procedures significantly, as it may work 100% automatically, without human intervention, which saves costs and reduces risks thanks to automation.

Key benefits

Working together, ITSM and SAM platforms can deliver several important benefits:

• Improved visibility of hardware, software, and labor costs;
• Stronger supplier management and more precise contract negotiations;
• Reliable and up-to-date asset inventories;
• Higher-quality CMDB data to support change planning;
• Smoother application and infrastructure migrations, particularly in cloud and virtualized environments.

Call to action

What can IT Managers do today to improve effeciency and enable collaboration between ITSM and SAM teams and processes:

1. Evaluate your current ITSM solution. Assess whether it meets requirements of modern era, offers a mature service catalog, automation, integrations, utilizes AI and Machine Learning like Freshservice or BMC Helix ITSM. You can also check out our ITSM Quick Check survey to audit the current state of your ITSM automation and figure out roadmap for the future.

2. Establish asset and license management processes. Define procedures for requesting, allocating, returning, and retiring software and hardware to cover the full lifecycle of IT assets. ITAM Consulting maybe helpful for abig organization to build these processes end to end.

3. Implement SAM automation. Managing software licenses may become extremely tricky for a big organization. With thousands of assets and enterprise software in use (i.e. Microsoft, Oracle, Adobe, Atlassian Jira) with complicated licensing shcemas, leeping track of software spend and risks becomes a challenge. Resolving this challenge requires automation and right approach, which we can deliver either as our Software Asset Management solution or as a specific SAM system, such as Snow License Manager or Flexera One.

4. Train employees. Systems are great, but systems don't work without people using them and following procedures. Ensure users understand that licenses and services are easily accessible through the service catalog and understand how that automated processes make their work easier.

5. Look for the additional value and improvements. Be creative and curiuos, look for the value you may get from integrating ITSM and SAM. For instance you may utilize SAM data to deactivate outdated service items and hide those related to software products with no licenses available in stock or new purchases not planned, so the users are directed only to services that can actually be delivered.

Why it matters now

The pace of change in IT environments continues to accelerate: containers, hybrid clouds, and virtualization are becoming the standard. If SAM and ITAM teams are not involved in change management, the risks of non-compliance and unnecessary costs rise sharply. Close collaboration helps minimize these risks and turns constant change into an opportunity for improvement.

In Kazakhstan, many organizations are already facing the need to align ITSM and SAM processes. At Synta, we see how this approach helps clients adapt more quickly to the growth of SaaS, manage hybrid environments effectively, avoid license audit risks and reduce software spending. Our experience shows that integrating these disciplines consistently delivers results — from cutting unnecessary costs to strengthening infrastructure reliability.

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