This is a useful tool to have in handy for the system administrator to find what kind of and how much Microsoft products being installed through the network. Using this tool, you can generate an inventory of core Microsoft products installed on your local computer, or throughout a network.
quote from Microsoft abotut What SAM is
By engaging in software asset management you can streamline processes, reduce costs, and enhance reliability and security. While software inventory and tracking are integral parts of SAM, so are the policies, procedures, technologies, procurement, delivery, deployment, and support of a company's software assets.
Implementing a SAM plan involves three main steps:
Perform a Software Inventory
In this step you take a survey of all software installed on your company’s PCs, workstations, servers and other devices and collect the information in a report. The inventory can be performed manually or you can use software inventory tools to perform inventories automatically.
Match Software Installed to Licenses Acquired
Once you know which software titles are installed on your company’s computers, you can find your license documentation and match it to the software installed. This will make it easy to see if you are over-licensed or under-licensed for certain software titles.
Review Policies and Procedures
Once you know what you have and where it is, the next step is to review or write policies and procedures that your company’s employees can use to ensure proper software asset management. Topics you may cover include the acquisition, deployment, use, and recovery of software.
Develop a SAM Plan with Proper Documentation
The final SAM step is to establish a baseline and plan for ongoing software management.
download the tool here
download the documents here to get all the information you need to get a SAM plan started
comment: As a system administrator, I feel how much pain I have to manage the software asset. The tool is not solving the whole problem for you but is a good start to help you collecting the information. At least, it would tell you how many Microsoft products you have in your network.