How a large pharmaceutical company in Brazil structured its SAM governance and transformed idle licenses into cost reductions.
What was delivered
- Identification of R$ 1.04M in optimizations
- Mapping R$ 879K in opportunities
- Managed 600+ calls and analyzed 24 manufacturers in 7 months.
The company is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Brazil and has a growing software park, but until now, it lacked a formal governance structure for contracts and licenses.
“We went from a scenario with complete lack of control to one with structured management, with real visibility into what we are paying and where we can save money.”
The challenge
The company operated on a reactive model: without a complete inventory of contracts, without defined software policies, and with a limited inventory tool that did not provide the necessary visibility. Idle licenses went unnoticed, former employees were still listed in allocations, and there was no way to know, with precision, if what was being paid for corresponded to what was actually being used.
The SAM ServiceNow solution
4MATT took over the management of SAM and service requests as a managed service, operating simultaneously on two fronts since September 2025. In governance, it structured the Software Asset Management policy from scratch, the contract inventory, the compliance processes, and an executive dashboard with weekly updates, creating the basis for auditable and predictable management. In the operation, manufacturers conducted analyses to identify idle licenses, unlicensed uses, and inconsistencies between what was contracted and what was actually used. The reintegration of terminated employees became a monthly routine, eliminating one of the main sources of waste. Suggestions for process improvement are continuously identified and implemented in conjunction with the company team, evolving maturity with each cycle. Does your company know what it's paying for licenses that nobody uses? Speak with a 4MATT specialist and transform SAM into a cost reduction lever.SAM and software licenses: where the waste comes from and how to recover it.
Software Asset Management (SAM) It is the discipline that compares what the company is entitled to use, according to contracts and usage rights, with what is installed and in use. The goal is to pay only for what is necessary and maintain compliance with manufacturers. The result is the effective licensing position, which shows where there is excess (shelfware) and where there is exposure to auditing.
Where does the license that nobody uses originate?
| Source of waste | How does it happen? | How SAM treats |
|---|---|---|
| Employees laid off | The license remains allocated after the shutdown. | Recurring sanitation routine linked to off-boarding |
| Software installed but not in use. | Installation done as a precaution, without measuring usage. | Reclamation rules with minimum usage hours or last access date. |
| Oversized edition | Advanced edition where the basic one would suffice. | Usage analysis by edition and adjustment upon renewal. |
| Duplicate or ownerless SaaS subscriptions | Decentralized contracting, without a defined responsible party. | Integration with SaaS and responsible for subscriptions. |
| Contract without inventory | Automatic renewal without conflict with consumption. | Inventory of contracts and renewal schedule. |
How does the license optimization cycle work?
- Inventory and standardize: Identify installations and subscriptions and standardize manufacturer, product, version, and edition.
- Register contracts and usage rights: Record what was purchased, including the expiration date, quantity, and cost.
- Reconcile: Compare rights and consumption to obtain the effective licensing position. In ServiceNow, reconciliation runs weekly or on demand (ServiceNow Docs).
- Recover and remove: Apply reclamation rules, reallocate idle licenses, and remove anything that is neither used nor entitled to them.
- Validate and report: Document each savings with supporting evidence and submit the number for validation by the finance department.
This cycle can only be sustained with reliable data. Therefore, license optimization depends on a governed inventory integrated with... CMDB, and from the other fronts of ITAM with ServiceNow.
Related readings on SAM and software licensing
| Theme | Read when | Article |
|---|---|---|
| SAM Fundamentals | He is structuring the program. | Software Asset Management (SAM): what it is and how to implement it. |
| Governance | It needs policies, roles, and routines. | Software Governance with SAM |
| Inventory | The installation data is unreliable. | Software Inventory, the basis for ITAM. |
| SAM and ITAM | Do you want to understand the relationship between the disciplines? | SAM vs. ITAM: Differences, Integration, and ROI |
| Renovations | There are important contracts expiring. | Renewal and optimization of software contracts. |
| Audit | Have you received or are you concerned about receiving a notification from a manufacturer? | Microsoft Audit: How to Prepare |
| Proof of result | You need to convince the finance department. | Software Asset Management ROI |
| Partner selection | Are you evaluating consulting services? | Criteria for evaluating an IT asset management consultancy |
Regarding the SAM practice at 4MATT
4MATT is a ServiceNow Elite Partner in Brazil. In August 2026, ServiceNow recognized its SAM practice as Validated Practice in SAM. The practice integrates SAM, ITAM, CMDB, ITOM Discovery and ServiceNow managed services.
Frequently asked questions about SAM and cost reduction with licenses
How can I tell if my company is paying for licenses that nobody is using?
Compare three sources: contracts and usage rights (what was purchased), inventory of installations and subscriptions (what exists), and usage data (what is actually used). The difference between them is waste. Without a reliable inventory and software standardized by product and edition, this comparison becomes an estimate. That's why the first step of a SAM program is... inventory and standardize the software.
What is shelfware?
Shelfware is a paid but unused license: it has been purchased but is not installed, or it is installed but not in use. It is the most direct source of savings in SAM, because it can be recovered, reallocated, or not renewed in the next cycle.
How much can be saved through license optimization?
It depends on the software park, the manufacturers, and the quality of the data, so there is no guaranteed percentage. As a research reference, with an explicit date: Flexera's 2022 State of ITAM report indicated a waste of 33% to 38% of software spending, depending on the category (Flexera, 2022), and Gartner stated in 2016 that organizations can cut up to 30% of software costs with good SAM practices (Gartner, 2016In the case of this page, R$ 1.04M in optimizations were identified and R$ 879K in opportunities were mapped, with 24 manufacturers analyzed over 7 months.
Where to start a SAM program?
By inventory. Discover what exists, standardize the software by product, version, and edition, and link each item to its contract. Then, prioritize the vendors with the highest spending and highest audit risk, and only then expand to SaaS and cloud. For the complete overview, see Software Asset Management (SAM): what it is and how to implement it..
How can we avoid assigning leave to departing employees?
Linking the shutdown to the SAM process. In ServiceNow there is an offboarding flow that allows you to request, evaluate and remove assets (ServiceNow DocsIn the case of this page, the monthly purging of departing employees eliminated one of the main sources of waste.
How does ServiceNow SAM identify recoverable licenses?
Through reclamation rules. These rules aggregate usage over time and define a minimum number of hours of use or the deadline for the last access. Software that does not meet the criteria becomes a candidate for removal and generates a request, with or without prior notice to the user, according to the rule (ServiceNow Docs).
How can I prove the cost savings from licensing to the finance department?
Recording the baseline before the first action, keeping a record of savings per item, and obtaining validation from the controlling department. It is also necessary to separate savings realized, avoided costs, and avoided risks, without adding the three into a single total. The complete method is in [reference to the method]. Software Asset Management ROI.
Is it worth hiring SAM as a managed service?
This usually makes sense when the company doesn't have a dedicated team, because optimization is recurring (analysis by manufacturer, monthly cleanup, renewals) and not a one-off project. In the case of this page, 4MATT took on SAM and calls such as managed service since September 2025.
Does SAM reduce the risk of manufacturer audits?
Yes, because reconciliation compares installations and consumption with acquired rights and reveals discrepancies before the manufacturer finds them. ServiceNow performs reconciliation weekly or on demand (ServiceNow DocsThe Flexera State of ITAM 2026 report states that 48% of organizations underwent a manufacturer audit in the last year, and only 36% have complete asset visibility.Flexera, 2026See also Microsoft Audit: How to Prepare.
Want to know how much your company might be paying for unused licenses? Speak with a 4MATT specialist.