SAM Software Procurement & Vendor Management 5

Question 1

An organization is evaluating two competing cloud productivity suites.
Vendor A offers a lower per-seat price but charges for storage and API calls separately.
Vendor B has a higher flat rate with all-inclusive features.
What analysis should drive the decision?

Accepted Answer

Model total cost of ownership based on projected actual usage of storage and API calls

Answer

Choose Vendor A because the base price is lower

Answer

Choose Vendor B because flat-rate pricing is always simpler

Answer

Request that both vendors match each other's pricing before deciding

Question 2

A SAM team discovers the organization has been paying maintenance on software licenses that were retired 18 months ago. What process failure does this most likely indicate?

Accepted Answer

Absence of a software decommissioning workflow linked to contract management

Answer

Inadequate license harvesting procedures

Answer

Over-reliance on vendor invoices for license tracking

Answer

Failure to conduct annual vendor audits

Question 3

Which negotiation principle is MOST effective when a vendor claims their software pricing is 'non-negotiable'?

Accepted Answer

Shift the negotiation to non-price terms such as payment schedules, additional services, or expanded use rights

Answer

Accept the price since enterprise vendors rarely negotiate

Answer

Threaten to switch to a competitor to force price concessions

Answer

Escalate to the vendor's CEO to bypass the sales team

Question 4

What is the MAIN risk of accepting a software vendor's standard terms without legal review?

Accepted Answer

Unfavorable clauses such as automatic renewal, uncapped liability, or broad IP ownership grants may bind the organization

Answer

The organization may miss volume discount opportunities

Answer

Standard terms always contain hidden usage restrictions that increase compliance risk

Answer

The vendor may interpret standard terms differently than the customer in future disputes

Question 5

A procurement manager wants to add a new software vendor that handles employee payroll data. Which due diligence step is NON-NEGOTIABLE before contract execution?

Accepted Answer

Completing a data processing agreement (DPA) and security assessment

Answer

Verifying the vendor's D&B credit rating

Answer

Confirming the vendor's market share and customer reference count

Answer

Ensuring the vendor offers a free trial period

Question 6

What does a 'right to audit' clause in a software vendor agreement entitle the vendor to do?

Accepted Answer

Inspect the organization's software deployments to verify compliance with license terms

Answer

Review the organization's financial statements to verify payment history

Answer

Access source code developed by the organization using their platform

Answer

Audit the organization's IT security practices on an annual basis

Question 7

Which SAM KPI BEST indicates that the organization's software procurement process is aligned with actual business demand?

Accepted Answer

License utilization rate — ratio of actively used licenses to total licenses owned

Answer

Percentage of licenses purchased under volume agreements

Answer

Number of vendor contracts managed per SAM FTE

Answer

Average discount achieved versus vendor list price