Effectively managing software assets and licenses has become mission-critical for organizations of all sizes. As dependence on utility subscriptions, SaaS apps and cloud services explode, companies now grapple with intricately complex licensing agreements and compliance demands. This makes optimizing ROI on critical software investments while maintaining continual legal conformity an overriding business imperative.
Against this backdrop, sophisticated software asset management (SAM) platforms have emerged as indispensable tools for enterprises to gain control over spiraling license costs and utilization risks. This article delves into the top 10 software license audit tools and accounting, offering insights into their features, benefits, and how they cater to different business needs.
Software auditing programs have become a necessary tool for companies to efficiently manage their package assets and reduce licensing costs. Selecting the right auditing programs can streamline compliance, cut excess spending, and provide granular visibility into utility usage across the organization. Here we review the top 10 software inventory and license management solutions available in 2024 to fit various business needs and budgets.
Total Network Inventory 6 Professional represents the gold standard for enterprise system asset management and license optimization. It leverages automated scan agents to discover and profile all hardware and software assets across Windows, macOS, UNIX, and other network environments at scale.
It goes beyond basic inventory to enable truly holistic software and license management workflows. You can replicate real-world license agreements with granular definitions - specifying purchase details, expiry, installation counts, available keys, etc to reflect live compliance statuses for perpetual licenses, volume contracts, and complex multi-product bundles.
Built-in workflows allow tracking assets against users while extensive reporting, scheduling, and export options facilitate operational management. A business application catalog automatically categorizes discovered utility from over 100,000 titles to maintain continual oversight. Custom fields also enable linking installation data against supporting documents like contracts.
Overall TNI 6 Pro offers best-in-class functionality allowing sizable networks to implement mature, optimized software asset management routines for significant cost and risk reduction.
Pricing starts at $135 for inventorying 25 devices.
Capabilities include:
Alloy SAM cuts license bloat by detecting unused, duplicate and incompatible applications sprawled across enterprise systems. It interrogates hardware to automatically harvest installed software details like titles, versions and licenses - while collecting installation keys and serial numbers to consolidate data in a central database.
Noteworthy capabilities include:
Role-based access and robust integrations allow Alloy to slot neatly into existing infrastructure. Overall it strikes a balance between advanced feature-set and accessibility to serve as an affordable mid-market SAM solution for maximizing ROI on software investments.
Pricing starts at $70 per month for 500 assets.
Docusnap empowers administrators through data-driven software asset intelligence. Agentless scans collect granular data to furnish actionable insights on installed programs, usage trends, and licensing compliance via intuitive dashboards.
It shines allowing you to intuitively visualize software spending compared to utilization over time - making it easy to pinpoint areas of waste and opportunities for optimization.
Additional key features include:
With pricing from €614 for 50 devices including 1-year support, Docusnap positions itself as a smart SAM tool for rapidly gaining control of software assets.
LOGINventory is an advanced SAM platform engineered to serve massive, complex technology environments. Supporting physical, virtual, and cloud-based assets across different OSes including Windows, macOS, Linux, Unix, etc - it can tackle intricate multi-platform licensing models.
It enables administrators to configure licenses based on unique business terms. You can track relevant information like purchase costs, invoices, contracts, and documents while setting alerts for renewals, maintenance events, restrictions etc.
Other standout capabilities:
Managed via a central console, LOGINventory readily slots into existing infrastructure through directory service integrations.
Prices start at €1120 for 100 devices. The annual fee includes full technical support and version updates.
ServiceDesk Plus from ManageEngine packs expansive ITSM and ITAM capabilities into a unified platform. It has a fairly large number of built-in modules and features, but at the same time, it is very complicated and is suitable only for experienced users.
It offers integrated Modules for deep asset insight including:
You can configure software licenses based on distinct terms like device counts, subscriptions, OEM versions, etc. It also handles license bundles and pool licenses from major publishers like Microsoft and Microsoft Office. Analytics offer actionable visibility while toolsets like packaged apps simplify SAM administration at scale.
However, fragmented UI and the need for specialist personnel hamper user experience. Plus the on-premise deployment model entails sizable upfront costs and maintenance overheads. But for highly standardized Windows environments, ManageEngine still delivers unparalleled feature-richness.
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM) enables enterprises to secure and manage Windows endpoints. Natively integrated with Active Directory, it auto-discovers devices to give absolute visibility over hardware and software assets - leveraging Microsoft 365 cloud telemetry for real-time updates.
As a first-party Microsoft license audit tool, it enables robust end-to-end software control and license reconciliation for Windows platforms:
ConfigMgr requires significant upfront configuration and dedicated personnel to handle the extensive capabilities. But for Microsoft-centric environments, it enables unprecedented unified control of endpoints, users, programs, updates, etc. while bundling the Microsoft licensing audit tool natively.
Despite the dated interface, 10-Strike Network Audit Pro is a deceptively powerful network inventory and SAM utility. Auto-scanning interrogates all discovered devices to compile detailed machine profiles cataloging hardware assets plus installed software, versions, keys, and prohibited titles.
You can directly administer system licenses within the console to maintain continual compliance.
Additional highlights include:
With device-based licensing from $100 for small networks, 10-Strike Network Audit Pro punches above its weight to offer capable - if spartan - SAM functionality on a budget.
Network Inventory Advisor (NIA) offers straightforward infrastructure profiling to discover hardware and software assets across smaller environments. It interrogates Windows devices to auto-generate a consolidated dashboard report detailing specifications, installed applications, and licensing compliance status for audited machines.
The SAM module fetches entitlement information from select vendors like Microsoft to validate deployment adherence.
You can opt for more granular capabilities like:
For growing SMBs with limited budgets, NIA provides an affordable starting point for getting a handle on hardware and software inventories before scaling up advanced automation, reporting, and integration capabilities as needed.
Perpetual licenses start at $89 for 25 devices with free version updates.
ServiceNow IT Asset Management offers best-in-class visibility and governance over enterprise software assets - from a centralized cloud console. Customized dashboards deliver actionable analytics leveraging correlated utilization data, spend forecasts, and compliance statuses.
It shines allowing licensing managers to easily administer agreements, entitlements and configurations en masse while optimizing deployments.
Other marquee features include:
As an enterprise-grade platform built for complex technology estates, ServiceNow ITAM caters especially to heavily regulated, high-assurance industries. Subscriptions are priced by asset volumes.
Spiceworks Network Inventory offers the best auditing software capabilities funded by display advertising. It auto-discovers devices in Windows, Mac, and Linux environments to create a centralized machine catalog documenting installed hardware specifications, applications, events, and changes.
You can manually administer audit license keys, user-based entitlements, etc. Basic contract management allows tracking of subscriptions, SAAS services, and support packages. Consolidated views provide at-a-glance visibility while customizable summary reports help inform future purchase decisions.
While capabilities are intentionally streamlined, Spiceworks Network Inventory grants SMBs sorely needed insight into their infrastructure composition without needing deep pockets - making it a handy entry-level tool.
Total Network Inventory 6 Standard provides straightforward visibility into network-installed systems devoid of advanced license management capabilities. Agent and agentless scanning options discover Windows, macOS, and Linux devices before interrogating systems to reveal audit application software, and versions, allowing installations and changes over time to be easily tracked.
The built-in software library neatly classifies discovered programs by type with automatically assigned categories and icons. Custom reports and additional features like schedule tasks, alerts, and configuration backups further simplify utility asset governance at smaller scales and budgets.
Affordable licensing from just $90 for 25 devices makes TNI 6 Standard an approachable pick for growing SMBs starting on optimizing their software estates.
With such wide-ranging options on the market, pinpointing the ideal software asset management platform for your organization boils down to aligning key priorities against solution strengths:
For instance - TNI or Alloy may best serve growing mid-market enterprises requiring robust visibility without intensive staffing requirements, while huge products like ServiceNow ITAM cater to sprawling multi-national corporates. Similarly, ManageEngine and Microsoft ConfigMgr align better for standardized Windows-centric environments able to justify their premium proposition and steep learning curves.
This version brings network map export, several quality-of-life changes for database storages management and a number of important updates for scanning agents.
The latest update of Total Network Inventory, which enhances database management capabilities, making work with TNI storage even much easier.