Snow License Manager – SAM for complex use cases
January 19, 2023

Snow License Manager – SAM for complex use cases

Steven Calkins | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Snow License Manager

The arguments for the usability of Snow License Manager also apply to its ease of integration with the existing IT infrastructure. There is a stiff learning curve. In our case this means training the users, setting up the software on three servers, and pushing the agent to over 30,000 computers. The iOS and Linux environments required some work, and were configured after the initial Windows deployment.
Snow License Manager is used in our organization for four main purposes: to determine which applications are run and where on 35,000+ computers running Windows, iOS or Linux, to alert responsible individuals to application license expiry and warn of impending and current compliance issues, to assist purchase planning and department software requests , and to identify and harvest unused licenses for reuse elsewhere according the the licensing terms. Before Snow License Manager was deployed in our organization, each branch managed software according to its own capability. There was no comprehensive, holistic application contributing to the awareness of licensing issues. Although each branch did its best, no one really knew the software estate's size, value or deployment. Where permissible by the licenses, there was still little sharing of licenses between international branches, which led in some cases to over-purchasing. Another issue was identifying unwanted and insecure applications. Also many varied applications doing basically the same thing had been deployed. Using Snow License Manager and carefully examining the use cases, the number of different applications used could be reduced. This simplified software asset management. The small footprint of the Snow Agent Manager permits deployment even in the most demanding computing environments.

Pros

  • Identifies where and when software applications have been used
  • Checks compliance of applications to the license terms
  • Warns of impending license expiries

Cons

  • Recognition of licensed plugins running in another application's executable is missing
  • There is inconsistent use of Wildcards like "%" across search fields in the SLM and SMACC
  • The search "filter" called "Also include not installed/used" is necessary to see not installed/used applications.
  • The ability to determine which applications are run and where
  • To assist purchase planning and internal software requests
  • To identify and harvest unused licenses for reuse elsewhere
  • To alert responsible individuals to application license expiry
  • To warn of impending and current compliance issues
  • In the first year SLM was deployed about $1,000,000 was saved in license costs
  • Departments could determine their current use and project future needs better
  • The number of software providers could be consolidated
Snow License Manager can be relatively easily deployed and configured by experienced IT personelle. The difficulty comes in truly understanding what the stakeholders in the organization need so that reconfiguration becomes unnecessary or requires only minor tweaking. The stiff learning curve reduces the usability rating, but that can also be due to the basic complexity found in software licensing issues. Additionally, no software out there, as far as I know, could get a rating of "10", i.e., "the best possible".
My knowledge of other products is very limited.

Do you think Snow License Manager delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Snow License Manager's feature set?

Yes

Did Snow License Manager live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Snow License Manager go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Snow License Manager again?

Yes

In large organizations especially with extensive networking among branches, Snow License Manager provides comprehensive information for software application management and acquisition. Users can be given privileges in Snow License Manager commensurate with their job profile.

In smaller organizations it could be oversized. Snow License Manager has a stiff learning curve requiring dedicated human resources to grasp, implement and deploy. For small organizations that could be too costly in terms of initial costs and the time the user needs to become proficient.

Comments

  • Jennifer Kuvlesky | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Jennifer Kuvlesky
    commented a year ago
    Thank you for your review. Regarding your wildcard comment, in the views like "Search for applications" we now offer the possibility to chose the operator by clicking the icon in the front of the filter bar for each column, the default is "contains" and removes the need to use the %. Please see more details on this enhancement request and other product ideas here: https://ideas.snowsoftware.com/ideas/IDEAS-I-172

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