IT spending worldwide is expected to reach $3.8 trillion by 2019 and enterprise software systems will constitute 8.3% of this total. Enterprise systems help corporations streamline daily operations across multiple departments. They range from applications for customer relationship management to enterprise resource planning. An increasingly popular choice among enterprises these days is the IT asset management software.
What is IT asset management software?
IT asset management (ITAM) software keeps a centralized database of an enterprise’s IT assets, both hardware and software applications. It manages the interplay of the IT infrastructure with employees and business processes. It aims at lowering administrative burdens relating to the tracking, organizing, and monitoring of IT assets across locations and departments.
On premise vs cloud based
Most enterprise software solutions, including ITAM systems, are deployed in two ways.
- On premise software is installed locally on clients’ own computers and servers on their organization premises.
- Cloud based software is hosted on the vendor’s servers and can be accessed online from anywhere.
Why do enterprises demand On Premise ITAM software?
With increasing digitization and cloud computing, critical enterprise data is more vulnerable to account hijacking, DoS attacks, and cyber threats. This is why enterprises are wary of hosting their internal information on the public cloud. 2020 will be an even crucial year for data governance, security, and privacy with regulations like GDPR demanding stringent security compliance from enterprises.
Tighter security and greater control
On premise software means an enterprise can have greater control over the design, implementation, and maintenance of its data servers and applications.
Hosted on an organization’s premises, the software also translates into tighter security measures. Enterprises can protect their data from external use and malicious ‘outsider’ data. They can also define user access policies, install firewalls and antivirus software, and implement security patches against cyberattacks.
Dedicated servers for on premise software also ensure low latency and faster data processing. Hence, on premise IT asset management software gives enterprises the confidence that their IT data is secure and readily available for use at all times.
However, an on premise IT asset management system comes with some challenges. Here are some of them:
How does cloud based ITAM software tackle these challenges?
You can use cloud based ITAM software to sidestep these challenges.
1. Affordability
Cloud based ITAM software is hosted on the vendor’s servers. Therefore, the vendor is responsible for bearing the maintenance and ownership costs of the software. It is also priced under a monthly or annual subscription and is, therefore, more affordable. Cloud based ITAM software is an overhead that an enterprise has to pay on a recurring basis. Not to mention, the subscription can be canceled at any time.
2. Agility
Unlike on premise software, a cloud based ITAM solution is more agile. It offers you the ability to scale up and innovate based on your enterprise’s evolving needs. You can upgrade your package as needed to accommodate a larger number of users and IT assets. A cloud based system also offers greater flexibility. You can always request your cloud provider to integrate with third-party applications of your choice. This facilitates increased collaboration between different tools and seamless operations.
3. Mobility
Many enterprises have thousands of employees across multiple offices and work sites. A lot of them run international operations. Cloud based ITAM software enables mobility in such cases. Employees can access IT data from anywhere on their personal handheld devices and take actions remotely. This ensures that none of your employees are ever left out of the loop and you have complete oversight over all your operations.
4. Dedicated IT support
Most cloud providers have IT teams dedicated entirely to technical support. These are available round-the-clock. In case of unexpected system breakdowns, these teams release rolling updates so your operations never lag.
With cloud based ITAM software, you no longer need to hire an IT team of your own. You can get premium onboarding and comprehensive training of the software, all while paying the monthly subscription fee. This ensures that your enterprise gets the most value out of the cloud based ITAM software.
Okay, but what about security and performance in the cloud?
As discussed earlier, data security and high performance are a major concern for enterprises. Cloud based ITAM software solves these concerns with a virtual private cloud.
A virtual private cloud (VPC) is a secure and single-tenant cloud hosted within a public cloud. It stores the data of only one enterprise and is guarded by various security protocols, for instance, VPNs, IP address ranges, and data encryption. This means that your critical IT data is stored away from the data of other companies and it can only be accessed by authorized users.
Many leading cloud based ITAM providers host their private clouds on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Ranked as one of the world’s best computing services, AWS is designed to meet several security standards. These include:
- ISO 27001, 27017, 27018;
- SOC 1/ISAE 3402, SOC 2 and SOC 3;
- FISMA, DIACAP, and FedRAMP; and
- PCI DSS Level 1.
This ensures the minimum possible risk of security breaches while you operate in a secure environment.
Dedicated access to your own instance in a VPC also ensures low latency. You can process higher volumes of data and get 99.999% uptime at all times. Most cloud based ITAM providers also integrate VPC with monitoring tools to simplify oversight of an enterprise’s IT infrastructure.
Many market leaders use cloud based systems
According to a report by the Cloud Security Alliance, nearly 70% of enterprises have migrated data from on-premise applications to the cloud. Many are also using hybrid cloud systems that combine aspects of both on premise and cloud to give you the best of both worlds.
Here are some leading examples of enterprises that host their IT infrastructure on the cloud.
Enterprises that migrate to the cloud have reported annual cost savings of up to 43%. Not just this, affordable cloud computing is also paving the way for many SMBs to streamline their processes and grow.
Migrate your ITAM data to an AWS-built private cloud now!
A virtual private cloud built on AWS facilitates data hosting via a shared responsibility model. While AWS manages the security of the cloud itself, it gives you the freedom to manage data security within the cloud. You can choose to implement security controls suited to your own needs.
AWS also hosts various third-party applications and enables you to scale and innovate by building integrations using APIs. Furthermore, its subscription model means you do not have to bear any upfront investment as you would when hosting an on-premise system. A VPC combines the affordability, flexibility and scalability of a cloud based ITAM solution whilst giving you the freedom and control of an on premise ITAM solution. So, migrate your ITAM information to a VPC built on AWS now!
About AssetSonar
AssetSonar is the leading cloud based ITAM software built on AWS. It offers a virtual private cloud to enterprises with strict data governance needs. Get extensible IT asset management, fast-track system performance, high security and premium support with our enterprise private cloud offering.
Read more: Solving enterprise challenges with enterprise-level IT asset management
For more assistance, drop us an email at support@ezo.io.
