The IT environment of modern businesses includes a variety of hardware, software, and cloud solutions from a number of different vendors. Effectively managing this diverse range of assets, keeping the infrastructure secure, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements while meeting business goals and objectives is a huge challenge not just for the IT department but for the entire organization.
Remote and hybrid work environments, a heterogeneous mix of brands and technologies, and the functioning of IT operations, finance, procurement, and human resources in silos all add to the complexities of managing the organization’s IT assets.
This blog post addresses the challenge of effectively managing IT assets within an organization through the use of an IT Asset Management (ITAM) system.
What Is IT Asset Management (ITAM)?
IT Asset Management (ITAM) is a system used to track and manage IT assets. The goal of ITAM is to ensure the efficient use of IT assets. Additionally, it also helps organizations reduce costs by optimizing the total number of assets in use, extending the useful life of assets, and optimally timing technology upgrades. ITAM is an end-to-end solution involving procurement planning, inventory management, maintenance, and disposal of end-of-lifecycle devices.
When choosing one item over another, the buying decision of most users is guided by the purchase price. However, the actual cost of the item is much greater than its purchase price and includes the costs of operation, maintenance, and disposal. This concept that considers the long-term cost of an item is known as the total cost of ownership (TCO) and is central to an effective ITAM system.
Thus, an ITAM system helps organizations make strategic decisions about IT assets by providing real-time data about IT assets, taking a bigger picture look at the end-to-end device lifecycle.
Before moving deeper into the topic of asset management, let’s first define an IT asset so that we are all on the same page.
What Is An IT Asset?
In general, an asset is anything that can be used to generate value. In information technology (IT), an asset is any piece of hardware, software, or data that an organization uses in the course of operating its business. The following are examples of IT assets:
Hardware assets- servers, network equipment, desktop computers, laptops, printers, etc.
Software assets- licensed software, cloud-based assets, SaaS applications, etc.
Data assets- documents, databases, proprietary information, codes, customer data, etc.
How Does An IT Asset Management System Work?
IT Asset Management system, in general, involves the following processes:
1. Asset Discovery and Inventory
An ITAM system needs to provide a comprehensive view of the organization's IT assets. For this, it creates an inventory of all assets, including hardware and software. Many ITAM solutions are able to scan the organization’s network, automatically identify connected devices, and add them to the asset inventory.
2. Asset Tracking and Documentation
An asset inventory is incomplete without detailed information about each asset. Information such as serial numbers, specifications, configurations, warranties, installed software, location, and value. All of this information is stored in a centralized and easily accessible database, which helps draw insights and make strategic decisions.
3. Asset Lifecycle Management
Asset lifecycle management involves managing assets at every stage of their life, from procurement and deployment to maintenance and replacement or eventual disposal. Monitoring devices across their lifecycle enables organizations to optimize the utilization of the assets and prevents underutilization or over-provisioning. It also enables organizations to schedule upgrades and replacements without any service interruption.
4. License Management
Where required, ITAM is also used for keeping track of software licenses and subscriptions to monitor and manage usage and ensure compliance with licensing agreements. This helps organizations cancel unused licenses and avoid unnecessary costs.
5. Reporting and Analytics
Ultimately an ITAM system needs to provide an organization with data from which insights regarding the current state of assets, their usage, and future needs can be drawn. Reports and analytics generated by ITAM systems help organizations make data-driven decisions regarding their current investments in IT assets and future needs.
What Activities Does IT Asset Management Involve?
In general, IT asset management involves the following activities:
1. Planning
In ITAM, planning involves making decisions regarding the acquisition of devices, technology, and applications. It also includes the evaluation of alternatives and cost-benefit analysis based on the total cost of ownership.
2. Procurement
IT assets may be procured by purchasing or leasing (in the case of mobile devices), building (in the case of servers or applications), as well as licensing or subscriptions (in the case of software or applications).
3. Deployment
Asset deployment includes a variety of technical as well as non-technical tasks. In the simplest form, deployment involves only the installation of an application. More complex deployment may involve configuring security settings, creating accounts, allotting privileges and access rights, as well as shipping and logistics to ensure the timely delivery of the ready-to-use device to the user.
4. Maintenance
Once the asset is deployed, ITAM is concerned with prolonging its useful life. So, activities such as maintenance, repairs, and updates that maximize the value of the assets and mitigate risks are an integral part of ITAM.
5. Retirement
At the end of an asset’s useful life, when maintenance is no longer feasible or technology becomes obsolete, it needs to be securely disposed of. The asset retirement process is never simple as it involves security and compliance requirements. The retirement of assets usually involves wiping the device, terminating license and support agreements, updating the inventory, and e-wasting.
What Are The Benefits Of IT Asset Management?
Effective IT asset management gives an organization the following benefits:
1. Asset Visibility
Organizations use a wide variety of assets. Even within an asset class, there are variations in brand, specifications, and configurations. Due to this, asset tracking is often done in several different places, which leads to inefficiency and lack of order, and ultimately impacts the organization’s ability to make informed decisions about planning and procurement.
ITAM serves as a single source of comprehensive information about all IT assets within the organization. The ability to see everything in one place makes it easier and more efficient to manage assets and make decisions about investments in new assets as well as the retirement of old ones.
2. Optimized Asset Use
An ITAM system gives an organization real-time visibility and comprehensive information across its IT assets. This enables the organization to make efficient use of its resources, minimize waste, and reduce costs.
3. Compliance
ITAM provides a centralized, comprehensive view of all the assets within an organization, facilitating hardware and software audits, which are needed for meeting security and regulatory compliance requirements.
4. Better Decision-Making
Comprehensive historic information about assets, including their procurement, deployment, location, and usage helps organizations to draw insights and make improvements to their asset management and other related business processes.
What Are The Key Features Of ITAM Solutions?
Typically, ITAM solutions offer features that give organizations better visibility and control over their assets. The following are some of the key features of an ITAM solution:
Request Management
Some ITAM solutions allow organizations to define asset request workflows as well as save standard specifications for devices, making procurement and warehousing easier.
Inventory Management
ITAM solutions maintain a record of all IT assets used within the organization. The record includes information such as serial number, purchase date, warranty, location, user, current value, etc.
Virtual Asset Management
ITAM software may also include the management of virtual and cloud-based assets.
License Management
One of the key features of an ITAM solution is license management, which includes recording and tracking software licenses, usage, and expiration dates. This alerts organizations about under-licensed or over-licensed software as well as upcoming license renewals.
Patch Management
An ITAM solution may also track the deployment of software patches and versions to help keep the assets secure and running smoothly.
Conclusion
IT Asset Management solutions give an organization an accurate view of its IT assets, helping you make optimal use of your investment in those assets. Additionally, they also help keep you audit-ready with comprehensive visibility and reporting on the allocation of assets across your heterogeneous, multivendor infrastructure landscape.
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About The Author
Hari SubediMarketing Manager at Jones IT
Hari is an online marketing professional with a focus on content marketing. He writes on topics related to IT, Security, Small Business, and Mindfulness. He is also the founder and managing director of Girivar Kft., a business services company located in Budapest, Hungary.