We’re proud to announce that Livingstone has once again been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Software Asset Management (SAM) Managed Services. This marks the fifth consecutive year of recognition, and for the first time, we’ve been positioned highest for Ability to Execute.

The Gartner Magic Quadrant is an industry leading research framework that evaluates technology providers within a specific market. 

Lisa Maines, Managing Director of Livingstone Group said:

“For us, this is more than a placement on a quadrant. We believe that placing highest on the Ability to Execute axis is recognition of the trust clients place in us to deliver real-world outcomes: measurable savings, reduced risk, and the confidence to make better software and cloud investment decisions in the face of shifting market conditions."

Why execution matters now more than ever

The software and cloud market is changing fast:

• Microsoft is phasing out traditional licensing discounts, making renewals more expensive particularly for EA customers.
• Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware has led to disruptive changes in licensing and support models.
• Adobe has changed its Creative Cloud products, with AI credit tiers that drive prices up.
• Oracle, SAP, and IBM continue to evolve their audit and licensing strategies, catching out unprepared organizations.
• All vendors are pushing for a move away from perpetual licenses to subscription models

In this climate, it’s not enough to simply track compliance. Organizations need measurable results: lower spend, better contracts, and smarter reinvestment strategies. That’s why we believe Livingstone has been recognised for Ability to Execute, because in our opinion our clients see real impact and forward planning, not just backward-looking reports.

Gareth Redshaw, Livingstone Executive Director – Strategy and Commercial Consulting, said:

“For us, this year’s placement highlights how our investment in evolving the client experience from compliance to measurable outcomes, powered by our Acuity platform, is delivering impact at scale. At a time of rising software and cloud costs and shifting vendor models, we enable clients to stay in control and drive meaningful savings."

 

From SAM to Software Investment Management

Were seeing a market that is shifting from traditional Software Asset Management to Software Investment Management (SIM). This broader, outcome-driven approach tackles software waste across mega vendors, SaaS, and tail spend. SIM is a more agile, modular approach, with effort focused on where the real value is. It has cross-departmental relevance spanning procurement, IT, finance, security and SAM teams.

Our new SAM Managed Service, powered by our proprietary Acuity platform, is designed for this new world and is adaptable year-to-year, allowing for focus areas to pivot as IT estate and business needs evolve. It combines enriched data, AI-driven insight, and expert-led delivery to help clients:

• Optimize major vendor contracts and negotiations
• Link fees directly to realised benefits with flexible, outcome-based commercial models
• Shift towards impact rather than traditional compliance-focused activities

For us the Gartner Magic Quadrant is an important recognition, but our focus is always on what comes next: helping organizations tackle software waste and make smarter technology investments.

Learn more

Download the Gartner report to read more about why Livingstone was named a Leader.

Register for our upcoming webinar ‘Shifting SAM’, where Gareth Redshaw will dig deeper into the Gartner Magic Quadrant findings, share insights on how the SAM space is evolving from SAM to SIM, and will give a brief introduction to Acuity, our Software Investment Management Platform, that powers our new SAM Managed Service.

Disclaimer

Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Software Asset Management Managed Services, Authors: Yolanda Harris, Jaswant Kalay, Rob Schafer, Charity Hooper; 29 September 2025

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s Research & Advisory organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. 

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. 

This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Livingstone