Microsoft has kicked off its annual Worldwide Partner Summit (WPC) in Texas by lifting the veil on a new software asset management (SAM) evaluation programme.

The SAM Optimisation Model is a framework designed to allow partners to make consistent SAM assessments and recommendations for improving cost control, security and compliance.

Microsoft said the new model is essentially a structured scorecard by which a business’s level of SAM is evaluated and areas for improvement identified.

However, SAM vendors stopped short of giving the move a big Texan yee-haw.

Matt Fisher, Centennial product manager at SAM and IT services vendor FrontRange Solutions, said: "While we would applaud this initiative as a move in the right direction, it can really only be seen as a first step.

“Firstly, it is a rudimentary tool that can only highlight where organisations are lacking and does not offer any real assistance in meeting standards. Second, Microsoft still has some way to go to gain trust among the user community that it can be both an enforcer of compliance and a genuine proponent of software asset management best practices. Finally, the nature of Microsoft’s tactic of paying partners to conduct audits means the success or otherwise of this initiative is very much in the channel’s hands.”