Business models are evolving into dynamic and ever-expanding structures that include various work environments. Emerging technologies offer flexibility, enable supervision, and help employees remain productive, regardless of whether they are working in-house or remotely. Accordingly, organizations have been able to expand and manage globally dispersed teams.
Organizational growth and geographical dispersion pose the challenge of tracking IT assets. Managing IT assets is complex, especially in evolving and ever-expanding organizations. As the organization grows, properly managing IT assets becomes more crucial.
Losing track of hardware assets, overlooking software maintenance, and purchasing duplicates can pose serious security risks and lead to failed audits. Managers do not intend to overlook or neglect these challenges, but staying updated on thousands of IT assets can be difficult, as all protocols of IT asset management must be followed. Any asset mismanagement can lead to unexpected overhead costs in the long run.
Suppose an educational institution has experienced growth in students and staff, leading to increased IT assets. They face difficulties in managing asset life cycles, such as tracking asset location, ownership, and status. IT assets are outdated or running on unsupported software, leading to compatibility issues and reduced performance. There’s a lack of visibility into IT asset inventory, leading to prolonged downtimes, reduced student productivity, and increased user frustration.
Implementing IT asset management practices can help such organizations mitigate these challenges, maximize returns, and increase business value.
What is IT asset management (ITAM)?
IT asset management (ITAM) is the continuous practice of tracking and managing an organization’s entire IT assets throughout their lifecycle. Following ITAM processes ensures that each IT asset is accounted for, deployed, maintained, and disposed of at the right time.
IT assets are categorized into hardware, software licenses, and network assets that add value to business operations. They have a finite period of use, which is why organizations proactively manage the lifecycle of IT assets to maximize the value generated. An essential part of IT asset management is applying ITAM processes across all lifecycle stages to optimize asset usage and estimate the total cost of ownership.
Why is ITAM required?
Well-developed ITAM processes allow organizations to gain complete visibility into IT assets. These processes help track when assets reach end-of-service (EOS) or end-of-life (EOL) to ensure they are used cost-effectively and potential issues are addressed promptly. Organizations can also manage idle assets by repurposing or disposing of them as per policy by tracking hardware assets. Similarly, software usage monitoring assures adherence to licensing agreements and assists in identifying security risks.
How to get started with the ITAM process
Starting with the ITAM process can be challenging initially, but following a step-by-step process makes it easier to manage IT assets. A dedicated process that evolves with organizational needs and technology advancements helps IT managers better implement these protocols and execute actions on each asset relevant to their model and operations. Here are a few processes that should be followed:
IT asset management process
1. Asset identification and inventory database
IT managers assign tags to assets and maintain records of each asset to ensure the organization knows what it owns, where it is, and who has it.
The ITAM process helps IT managers create clear barcode labels that can be printed for IT inventory and easily scanned to get up-to-date information on devices, such as purchase cost, vendor details, and maintenance schedule. This helps accurately track and keep the devices in optimal condition throughout their lifecycle.
2. Manage and track IT assets
Managing the asset lifecycle from procurement to disposal helps organizations extract maximum value from their investments.
Scheduled maintenance and service alerts to determine the reassignment or retirement of IT inventory. Well-maintained and high-performing assets help organizations reduce overhead costs and prevent major breakdowns. They can be used longer, reducing the organization’s asset repair or replacement expenditures.
An ITAM tool can help accurately monitor device usage and ownership. It automatically checks out devices to users based on provisioning and sends custody verification requests to confirm asset ownership and carry out custody audits.
3. Financial planning and decision making
Organizations carry out day-to-day strategic planning activities to achieve long-term goals. This can be disrupted if IT professionals forget to renew software licenses, upgrade them to the latest version, or uninstall unused software.
IT managers are also keen to analyze key metrics according to the organization’s budget allocation strategy. An ITAM solution provides a customized dashboard where users can view and make informed decisions regarding KPIs, such as Mean Time to Resolve(MTTR), hardware lifecycle cost, and license management.
For example, an IT asset management system maintains a centralized database of software licenses installed on different applications. IT managers have access to real-time information on license types, the number of licenses purchased, and the expiration dates of all software licenses. Having complete visibility into software usage and license management helps organizations stay compliant, be audit-ready, and avoid unnecessary fines during audits.
How the ITAM process benefits each type of IT asset:
1. Hardware assets
Hardware assets include computers, laptops, keyboards, and other peripheral devices. ITAM helps manage these assets’ financial and physical aspects to forecast future asset investments and maximize their value. Here’s how implementing the ITAM process helps achieve this:
- Maintain accurate records of hardware purchases, contracts, and warranties. When any hardware asset is acquired, details such as vendor details, acquisition date, purchase cost, recommended lifespan, etc., are recorded. These records help identify underutilized assets and avoid unnecessary purchases. In addition, depreciation costs can be calculated so organizations can calculate assets’ true cost of ownership and track when they have reached end-of-life to comply with accounting standards.
- The process also involves using various hardware tracking methods, such as barcodes or RFID tags, to uniquely identify and label each asset. This helps IT managers locate and monitor asset locations, status, and conditions from procurement to disposal.
2. Software assets
Organizations use various software for regular business operations, including hybrid, on-premise, and cloud-based solutions. Each software has different regulations and license agreements that the organization must follow. ITAM keeps track of all software assets, including installed applications, licenses, subscriptions, and maintenance details.
For example, a new software version is released, and the previous version is no longer usable as per agreement. IT asset management tools can help IT managers set permission to access so users can only download the latest version and revoke access for downloading previous versions.
Organizations may not know whether they are underutilized or overutilized, resulting in significant cost overruns or underutilized assets. ITAM tool can help them track the number of licenses in use and the number of licenses purchased. Overutilization of licenses can raise the need for additional licenses purchased, whereas underutilization can lead to discontinuing unused licenses.
For example, a healthcare organization realized through IT asset management that they had many license seats for a specific application that was not being used. Reallocating these licenses to where they can be used can help the organization maximize its software investment.
Software audits assess an organization’s software needs, ensure compliance with required standards and regulations, and avoid hefty fines and legal issues identified during audits.
3. Network assets
These assets include routers, switches, servers, firewalls, printers, etc. Implementing IT asset management practices helps ensure consistent and proactive management of network assets in an organization.
Any office employee, on-site or remote, uses their laptops to access and connect to company WIFI or printers. With the help of ITAM processes, managers ensure users are provided with secure access when connecting to network assets, track who has requested access, and grant or revoke access according to job roles. A close check on unauthorized access or malicious activity helps the organization avoid network breakdowns and keep operations running smoothly.
ITAM best practices
1. Continuous and ongoing process
ITAM processes must be continuously improved to ensure that IT assets are frequently updated and monitored.
2. Prioritize IT assets
With increasing IT assets, managers often struggle to know what to manage first. Prioritize assets to business operations so that critical IT assets are always well-maintained and running smoothly.
3. Policies and procedures
Policies and documentation must support ITAM strategies and processes. A clear policy for asset usage, procurement, and decommissioning would help strategically manage IT assets throughout their lifecycle.
Factors to consider when choosing an IT asset management tool
Every organization has different requirements for choosing an IT asset management tool. An ITAM solution enables IT asset managers to do their jobs more efficiently and lower expenses. Here are some factors that can help you choose better:
1. Cost
Organizations aim to invest in software that reduces operational costs while maximizing returns. They optimize spending by relying on software, infrastructure, and platform services.
Deciding on which software package to buy requires in-depth analysis. IT managers need to fully understand each package and the features offered and ask for pricing. This helps decide whether organizational needs are met and whether the package is the best buy within the allocated budget. Free trials are an option that’s open for all packages before deciding to buy. Using the software firsthand can resolve queries and help make better decisions.
2. Tailored to specific processes
Consider an ITAM tool that allows you to customize fields, workflows, and reports that align precisely with your specific processes and requirements.
For example, the software deployment process may require multiple approvals before it is installed on employee devices. ITAM software can help set approval workflows at each stage, notify relevant stakeholders when action is required, and enable reports that track the progress of software deployments.
3. IT infrastructure is constantly evolving
Assets are always on the move with changing stages, custody, or locations.
Keeping accurate track and ensuring no thefts and losses can be overwhelming if the right software is not in place. Dealing with thousands of IT assets, each to be catered according to their lifecycle stage, can be chaotic and time-consuming.
Ensure the ITAM tool scales as your organization grows and IT asset inventory expands. It should smoothly manage additional assets, users, and features required without frequent upgrades.
Benefits of IT asset management software
IT asset management aims to keep track of all assets and utilize information on how best to use existing assets, when to invest in new ones, and how to dispose of retired assets to maximize returns. Manually managing this can be prone to human errors and result in inefficiencies.
IT asset management software is a centralized platform for tracking all IT assets in real-time and providing insights to address business and operational needs.
Here is how ITAM software can benefit your organization:
1. Improve asset utilization with real-time data
Organizations struggling with managing large databases of IT assets can leverage ITAM software to receive real-time information on any asset, such as its model, serial number, purchase date, warranty information, and physical location. IT teams label hardware assets with unique identifiers or barcodes. ITAM software can scan these barcodes and stay updated on asset status and ownership.
Discovery agents are deployed on computers and devices across the network that periodically collect hardware-related data, such as CPU, RAM, storage, and network configuration. Real-time asset information helps IT managers streamline asset tracking, custody, and maintenance processes.
2. Stay compliant and reduce costs
For software assets, ITAM software often includes software discovery tools that can scan networked devices to identify installed software. These tools collect information on the software name, version, installation date, and license key.
ITAM software also sends alerts about software renewals. IT admins can stay on top of renewal and extension dates so that the software is updated on time and operations run smoothly.
Many departments may use multiple software tool subscriptions that provide identical services. IT admins have to manage various vendor contracts at different prices, which increases total software spending costs. Having visibility into redundant software purchases can help negotiate better prices with one vendor.
3. Increased productivity
Organizations invest thousands of dollars in acquiring IT assets. They aim to manage these assets efficiently to prolong their use and maximize their value. A recent report suggests that organizations can save approximately 30% per asset in their first year of implementing an ITAM program.
When employees use centralized ITAM software, they can easily find the software they need or quickly identify available hardware for new projects. This reduces the amount of time spent looking for resources and ultimately increases productivity across the organization.
4. Control asset loss and theft
IT managers can prevent asset theft and loss with robust asset tracking methods. The software accurately tracks any IT device that is checked out. Managers can easily retrieve asset and location details from the ITAM system and prevent device loss or theft if the user does not check in the device.
IT managers also ensure the custody verification of IT devices. The users verify the possession of IT devices, proving that they own the device. The ITAM process helps managers improve accountability with custodianship reports that provide asset checkout details and user acknowledgment on device custody. This helps enhance the traceability of assets across the organization and reduce the number of missing or stolen assets.
5. Resolve issues faster with integrated ITSM tools
ITAM tools integrated with ITSM solutions, such as help desk and service management software, help with change, incident, and problem management. This enables teams to respond to changes and incidents proactively.
Implementing the right IT asset management tool provides better visibility into existing inventory, robust asset monitoring, simplified operations, and improved equipment lifetime. This benefits your organization by reducing costs, improving employee accountability, and quickly growing business and IT operations simultaneously.
