Subscriptions for Software Asset Management

concept australia Updated Sep 10, 2026 1 min read sam-subscription.md

ServiceNow Software Asset Management (SAM), part of the IT Asset Management suite, uses a subscription-based licensing model that charges your organization based on the IT resources it manages.

Software Asset Management licensing is based on the resource categories you manage. To calculate costs, Software Asset Management uses Subscription Units, a standardized unit of measure applied to managed IT resources through defined ratios.

Resource types carry different management value, so each category gets its own ratio of Subscription Units. This lets ServiceNow apply a single, consistent unit price across resource types that would otherwise be hard to compare.

Ratios vary by resource category. For example, a physical server might consume more Subscription Units than a single desktop workstation, reflecting greater management effort. If your organization manages 50 servers and 200 workstations, the servers add more to your Subscription Unit count and licensing cost, despite being fewer in number.

Subscription summary for IT Asset Management
The IT Asset Management Subscription Summary dashboard tracks purchased and consumed subscriptions, so you can monitor usage, plan renewals, and stay within your license entitlements.
Software Asset Management licensing
Software Asset Management (SAM) licensing is based on five categories of managed IT resources: Server, End User Computing Device, SaaS Subscription User, PaaS Resources, and IaaS Storage. Each category is counted toward your subscription at a different ratio.
View license report for the IT Asset Management application
IT Asset Management (ITAM) applications discover, monitor, and provision resources that are stored in the CMDB as configuration items (CIs). The ITAM licensing module combines this CI information with your organization’s purchased subscription data to show subscription usage by application. This helps you confirm that your subscription usage aligns with what your organization purchased, so you can avoid under-licensing or overspending.

Parent Topic:Software Asset Management

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---
title: Subscriptions for Software Asset Management
description: ServiceNow Software Asset Management \(SAM\), part of the IT Asset Management suite, uses a subscription-based licensing model that charges your organization based on the IT resources it manages.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-asset-management/software-asset-management/sam-subscription.html
release: australia
product: Software Asset Management
classification: software-asset-management
topic_type: concept
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 1
breadcrumb: [Software Asset Management, IT Asset Management, Asset Management]
---

# Subscriptions for Software Asset Management

ServiceNow Software Asset Management \(SAM\), part of the IT Asset Management suite, uses a subscription-based licensing model that charges your organization based on the IT resources it manages.

Software Asset Management licensing is based on the resource categories you manage. To calculate costs, Software Asset Management uses Subscription Units, a standardized unit of measure applied to managed IT resources through defined ratios.

Resource types carry different management value, so each category gets its own ratio of Subscription Units. This lets ServiceNow apply a single, consistent unit price across resource types that would otherwise be hard to compare.

Ratios vary by resource category. For example, a physical server might consume more Subscription Units than a single desktop workstation, reflecting greater management effort. If your organization manages 50 servers and 200 workstations, the servers add more to your Subscription Unit count and licensing cost, despite being fewer in number.

-   **[Subscription summary for IT Asset Management](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-asset-management/software-asset-management/itam-subscrip-summary.md)**  
The IT Asset Management Subscription Summary dashboard tracks purchased and consumed subscriptions, so you can monitor usage, plan renewals, and stay within your license entitlements.
-   **[Software Asset Management licensing](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-asset-management/software-asset-management/managed-it-resource-types.md)**  
Software Asset Management \(SAM\) licensing is based on five categories of managed IT resources: Server, End User Computing Device, SaaS Subscription User, PaaS Resources, and IaaS Storage. Each category is counted toward your subscription at a different ratio.
-   **[View license report for the IT Asset Management application](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-asset-management/software-asset-management/view-itam-license-sum.md)**  
IT Asset Management \(ITAM\) applications discover, monitor, and provision resources that are stored in the CMDB as configuration items \(CIs\). The ITAM licensing module combines this CI information with your organization’s purchased subscription data to show subscription usage by application. This helps you confirm that your subscription usage aligns with what your organization purchased, so you can avoid under-licensing or overspending.

**Parent Topic:**[Software Asset Management](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-asset-management/software-asset-management/c_SoftwareAssetMgmt.md)