SAM vs SMP: what it means for SaaS governance teams

TL;DR: Traditional software asset management struggles with SaaS discovery, usage control, renewal tracking, and offboarding, while SaaS management platforms are built for those workflows, according to Zluri. The governance shift is from license administration to continuous SaaS visibility, cost control, and access lifecycle management.

NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Zluri: SaaS Management SAM vs. SMP: Why SMP is a Better Option for SaaS Management

By the numbers:

• Only 5.7% of organisations have full visibility into their service accounts.
• 92% of organisations expose NHIs to third parties, raising concerns about supply chain security.

Questions worth separating out

Q: How should teams govern SaaS applications beyond basic software asset management?

A: Treat SaaS governance as an identity and lifecycle problem, not just a procurement problem.

Q: Why do SaaS tools create governance gaps that traditional SAM misses?

A: Traditional SAM focuses on licences and deployment, while SaaS usage often starts through SSO, direct login, or integrations that bypass procurement visibility.

Q: How can organisations tell if SaaS management is actually working?

A: Look for fewer orphaned subscriptions, shorter time to remove access after offboarding, cleaner renewal decisions, and a lower number of duplicate applications.

Practitioner guidance

• Map SaaS control ownership to identity ownership Assign each SaaS application a business owner, an access owner, and a renewal owner so discovery, access review, and offboarding are not handled by separate teams with conflicting views.
• Connect discovery to identity telemetry Use SSO logs, directory data, and app integrations alongside procurement records so the organisation can see where SaaS is actually used, not just what has been bought.
• Tie renewals to access validation Require renewal approval to confirm current users, active integrations, and business justification before a subscription is extended, especially for apps with admin or data-sharing privileges.

What's in the full article

Zluri's full article covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:

• A side-by-side breakdown of SAM and SMP capabilities for SaaS discovery, cost management, and compliance workflows.
• Examples of Zluri's nine discovery methods and how they map to real SaaS inventory blind spots.
• Operational detail on renewal calendars, ownership assignment, and offboarding workflows for abandoned apps.
• Specific examples of risk scoring and threat-level assessment for SaaS applications.

👉 Read Zluri's comparison of SAM and SMP for SaaS management →

SAM vs SMP: what it means for SaaS governance teams?

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