We are truly living in an age of big data, for the large part, not used to a fraction of its potential. Unfortunately, we also live in a world where there often isn't enough time to do the research to gather this information and to determine what can be trusted. There are many sales cowboys out there that will happily lead you up the wrong path for a quick buck. Here, we have done the homework for you and would really love to gift you as much information as possible to help you on your way to becoming a well-versed SAM Lead. Whilst we encourage you to look through each area of resources provided here, we also implore you to make the best use of other, more understated resources:
Newsletters
One of the most challenging things when it comes to Software Asset Management is staying up-to-date with all the changes/updates. Every year there are an overwhelming amount of software name, metric and terms changes. We would advice subscribing to a variety of newsletters including ones directly from your key software manufacturers, your software resellers & software providers...as well as industry newsletters that provide more blanket news coverage. The hard part is finding those with the gold nuggets and finding then time to read them. Make this a priority.
LinkedIn, believe it or not, is not just for sales people. There are great connections to be made and interesting people/companies to follow. There are also some great groups. Or if you prefer, you can create a group of your own (so you can ensure those pesky sale people stay out!). LinkedIn is also are invested in your development and that makes it a great place to discover resources for your career growth, not only from a training perspective, but for your wider career progression desires.
YouTube Channels
YouTube provides the perfect platform for specialists to provide knowledge transfer absolutely free of charge, hoping to captivate their target audience and capitalize on any views. The trick of course is to be wary of when the material was published, because software intel can quickly become outdated. And although creators are usually quite careful to never disclose too much in their videos, they very often are a really good source of familiarity on subjects. Its a mining exercise and sometimes you find diamonds!
Events
Like everything that seems too good to be true (as they usually are), be selective about the events you attend, but don't let the sales pushers put you off. There are lots of great events out there provided FOC that you can really benefit from. A tip for events is to create a specific mailbox for each event, that way you keep your primary account free from spam as well as monitoring who might be selling your data!