IT Asset Management (ITAM) is an essential process for the entire IT area of an organization.
Through the implementation of an effective information technology asset management strategy, organizations have the opportunity to improve their operational effectiveness, raise the level of security and reduce financial expenses. Additionally, IT asset management can help companies stay compliant with regulations, as well as allow them to make informed decisions regarding the acquisition, maintenance and upgrade of their technology assets. IT asset management represents a fundamental element in current business management, capable of optimizing the value of technology investments.
Types of IT Asset Management
Generally speaking, IT assets can be classified into one or more of the following categories: physical, software, hardware, mobile technology and cloud. ITAM was created with the goal of ensuring the successful deployment and ongoing support of these assets.
There are three main types of IT asset management:
Software: this kind of IT asset management it is a little more complex than the others, as it involves aspects such as compliance requirements, licensing, shadow IT and IoT. Software assets need to be continuously monitored and reviewed, and they must be flexible enough to follow the requirements and meet the demands of an ever-changing market.
Hardware: physical hardware also plays a key role in an organization's IT ecosystem. These physical assets include computers, printers, copiers, laptops, mobile devices, servers and any other hardware used to manage data in the enterprise.
Cloud: ITAM monitors the cost and usage of cloud resources, including SaaS (Software as a Service), IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service). All these resources are considered assets to be managed in terms of cost and compliance in ITAM.
ISO standards for ITAM
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has created an official family of standards for IT asset management, known as ISO 19770, which consists of five parts:
- ISO/IEC 19770-1: Describes best practices for managing a company's IT assets. Organizations can use this standard to demonstrate that they are following best practices for managing IT assets and meeting governance requirements while supporting IT activities.
- ISO/IEC 19770-2: Helps companies identify software programs on specific devices using a standard for software identification.
- ISO/IEC 19770-3: Details the attributions associated with software and the method of measuring its consumption.
- ISO/IEC 19770-4: Allows for standardized reporting on resource usage. This is particularly important when managing more complex software licenses and cloud-based software and hardware.
- ISO/IEC 19770-5: Provides an overview of ISO standards and vocabulary for IT asset management.
The lifecycle of IT assets
The management of IT assets follows a lifecycle that involves several stages, such as Request, Execution, Deployment, Operation, Maintenance and Disposal. Each of these steps is crucial to ensuring that IT assets are managed effectively and meet the needs of the business.
The PRI
The first step is the request, where the company's IT needs are assessed and the requirements for IT assets are defined, including hardware and software standards and the creation of a budget for acquisition and maintenance.
In the second stage, execution takes place, where IT assets are purchased from selected suppliers and negotiated through purchase agreements.
The third stage is the deployment, where the installation and configuration of the acquired IT assets takes place, which may include the installation of hardware, software and network configuration.
The fourth step is Operation, where IT assets are used daily for business purposes, administering servers, providing technical support to end users and maintaining a stable and secure network.
The fifth step is Maintenance, where preventive and corrective maintenance is performed to ensure that IT assets continue to function properly and are always up to date, including installing security patches, updating software and repairing damaged hardware.
Finally, the sixth step is Disposal, where the secure removal of IT assets at end of life takes place, including the recycling or safe disposal of hardware and the secure removal of sensitive data stored on IT assets.
Importantly, when it comes to hardware, “inventory” can be included as a separate phase to ensure proper control and management of IT assets. Successful completion of this lifecycle is critical to effectively managing a company's IT assets and ensuring they are used securely and efficiently.
Equipment check-in/check-out
Maintaining proper control of vital equipment is essential for efficient asset management. For this, it is important to have a centralized and detailed system for tracking and managing equipment. This system should allow authorized users to borrow assets and include fields that identify important information such as the person responsible for the asset, the location to which it will be supplied, the model of the asset, the period of intended use and the rationale for need. of the asset. Having a system in place to track and manage vital equipment helps ensure assets are utilized properly and efficiently.
Know who has what
Effective equipment loan management is important to ensure accountability for all assets and clarity about who is using what and for how long. However, asset discovery can provide additional information about the devices a company owns beyond what is expected, such as their configurations and the users who use them. Inventory detection and management should go hand in hand, with automation implemented so that all relevant information is automatically entered into a database, facilitating review.
Asset location tracking
Understanding who owns assets, as well as their availability, is crucial to effective IT asset management. However, knowing where they are located is equally important. Using technologies such as RFID, GPS or barcode scanning to track the location of assets can help ensure they are in the right location. Furthermore, should an asset be found to be missing, location trackers can be invaluable in locating and protecting it.
An ITAM repository
The ITAM repository is critical for storing and managing financial, physical, and contractual data for IT assets. However, an effective repository must not only serve as a storage location, but must also be capable of performing tasks related to IT asset management. It is important that the repository is integrated with other management tools such as inventory, software usage, IT service support, change management, configuration management and purchasing. This integration allows the repository to be automatically updated with accurate and up-to-date information, making it easier to manage and make decisions related to IT assets.
Hardware and software usage and inventory information
Successful IT asset management is directly tied to the ability to track relevant metrics. It's critical to identify which KPIs are top priority to ensure you're tracking the right metrics. In this way, it is possible to improve asset performance, reduce maintenance and repair costs, and ensure optimal asset use and effectiveness. There are several common metrics that can be tracked, such as:
- costs
- number of assets
- Licensed/unlicensed software
- Underused/overused licenses
- Expired Warranties
- data import
To ensure the success of ITAM, it is essential to have accurate and up-to-date data on assets, which can come from different sources, such as databases, servers, platforms and solutions. It is essential that this data is imported into a centralized location, as this is a crucial step in presenting an accurate picture of asset holdings.
SAM (Software Asset Management)
SAM (Software Asset Management) or Software Asset Management is a set of practices and processes that help companies manage and optimize their software assets. SAM is important because misuse of software can lead to legal and financial problems for companies.
Software Asset Management involves identifying all software used by the company, as well as managing licenses to ensure the company is in compliance with intellectual property laws. The ultimate goal of SAM is to ensure that the company is using its software assets efficiently and cost-effectively.
Software Asset Management is important for companies of all sizes, but it is especially critical for large companies with many employees and complex systems. SAM can help ensure that companies are not buying more software licenses than they need and that they are using software properly and efficiently.
HAM (Hardware Asset Management)
Hardware Asset Management (HAM) or Hardware Asset Management is a set of practices and processes that help companies manage and optimize their physical assets. HAM is important because inappropriate or inefficient use of hardware can lead to financial and security issues for companies.
HAM involves identifying and recording all of the company's hardware assets, as well as managing those assets throughout their lifecycle, from acquisition to disposal. Its ultimate goal is to ensure the company is using its hardware assets efficiently and cost-effectively, maximizing productivity and minimizing costs.
Hardware Asset Management is especially important for companies that have large amounts of physical assets, including desktops, laptops, servers and mobile devices. With HAM, companies can monitor and control the use of these assets, ensuring they are being used appropriately and not going to waste.
Cloud resource management (Cloud Insights)
SaaS
the management of SaaS (Software as a Service) is the process of overseeing and administering the SaaS applications used by an organization. Achieving effective management requires assessing business needs and selecting suitable SaaS providers, deploying applications, integrating systems, managing data and security, managing user accounts, and monitoring performance.
THE effective SaaS management can help companies maximize the value of the applications they use by ensuring they meet business needs and are used optimally. This can include conducting regular usage and cost-effectiveness assessments, carefully selecting SaaS vendors, integrating systems to ensure interoperability, and automating routine tasks.
Security is an important consideration in SaaS management, as many SaaS applications store important company data in the cloud. It is necessary to ensure the security of SaaS applications and protect company data from unauthorized access or security breaches. This may include implementing data security policies such as multi-factor authentication, data encryption, regular backups and monitoring for suspicious activity.
Another critical aspect of SaaS management is user account management. This involves controlling access to SaaS applications, adding or removing users, monitoring usage and analyzing trends to ensure users are getting the most value from the SaaS applications they use.
Finally, SaaS management also includes monitoring the performance of SaaS applications. This includes measuring application availability and uptime, as well as performance analysis to identify bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement.
IaaS
The model of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) refers to hosting computing resources in a cloud environment rather than in a traditional data center. Effective IaaS management involves monitoring the use of computing resources available in the cloud, such as storage capacity and processing power. This includes the ability to scale up, adding or removing features as your organization needs, as well as the ability to monitor usage to identify trends and predict future needs. IaaS management can also involve implementing security policies to protect data and applications hosted in the cloud, as well as monitoring performance to ensure resources are being used effectively and efficiently.
PaaS
Platform as a service is a cloud computing model that provides a development and deployment environment in the cloud for building applications. It allows developers to build and deploy applications without having to manage the underlying infrastructure. PaaS management includes carefully selecting a PaaS provider, purchasing resources as needed, and monitoring usage to ensure compliance with your budget and usage agreement. Management can also include deploying and configuring applications, integrating with other cloud services, and monitoring performance to ensure applications are working properly. In addition, PaaS management can also involve implementing security policies to ensure that application and customer data is protected from external threats.
Benefits of IT asset management
Provides a single source
IT asset management seeks to create an organized and efficient environment. IT assets are often monitored and tracked across many different sources, without a clear owner or centralized tool to consolidate all information. ITAM helps solve this problem by providing a system that consolidates asset data, eliminates the need to manually track artifacts, monitors usage, and interprets asset dependencies more efficiently. This results in a more organized and efficient environment, allowing companies to manage their IT assets more easily and effectively.
Improves usability, reduces risk and decreases waste
With asset management, information is updated regularly, allowing teams to identify and eliminate unnecessary or underutilized assets, which can lead to more efficient use of resources and therefore reduce waste. In addition, asset control helps ensure security and compliance requirements are met, reducing the risk of regulatory penalties associated with security breaches or non-compliance.
Increases productivity without losing reliability
As technology teams embrace DevOps and SRE principles, asset management tools become increasingly important. With greater reliance on infrastructure and platform services, effective asset management is crucial, enabling better management of resource consumption and utilization.
Supports business and IT practices and empowers teams
Asset management supports ITSM processes and ITIL, including change, incident, and problem management. With accurate information readily available, teams can move faster and better predict impacts before they occur. This approach is also useful for HR departments for onboarding and shutdown, finance for asset tracking, security for vulnerability remediation, and operations management for discovering critical assets and their dependencies.
Reduces costs through constant analytics
Constant analysis and consolidation of assets can provide valuable insight into resource consumption, including licenses, instances, and other resources that may be underutilized or overused. This practice helps you identify whether resources are consuming more money than necessary and allows you to make informed decisions about reducing costs and increasing operational efficiency.
What is an IT Asset Management database?
The three components
On the physical component, information is often collected through manual processes, such as using bar code readers or RFID systems. This data collection method aims to identify what is deployed, what may be in stock, and what is scheduled to be decommissioned.
The financial component of the ITAM database is usually obtained from systems or purchase orders. It indicates the purchase order number, quantity, make and model, depreciation, supplier name, and cost center. Collecting and tracking this information is critical to providing accurate data on total cost of ownership, ROI, and budgets assigned to projects and services.
Finally, the contractual component is made up of data collected from resellers, suppliers or contract management systems. Information includes the final version of an agreement, license assignment, number of devices, purchase price, vendor SKU, service and maintenance levels. Such information is important for contract management and helps in making decisions about acquisitions and renewals.
IT Asset Management Best Practices
- Get started with executive membership
- Start a team to pilot the project
- Define core assets
- Identify cloud resources
- Determine methods for data discovery and integration
- Use a lifecycle-based approach
- Be proactive in your tracking initiatives and continually track them to avoid over-deployment
- Decide whether to use a CMDB
- Automate as much as possible
- Integrate and make data available across IT
- Know your software licenses
- Gather feedback for continuous improvements
- Engage other teams in feedback
How do I know if ITAM is right for my organization?
There are several reasons why ITAM can support your organization, such as:
you want to save money
Optimizing spending on software, infrastructure, and platform services is a key strategy for reducing costs. By adopting best practices for optimizing software licenses and asset usage, organizations can realize up to a 30% reduction in spend.
You depend on spreadsheets
Even today, many companies rely on spreadsheets to track their assets, however, these spreadsheets are not completely accurate. In addition, they create data silos that make it difficult for all authorized users to access the same up-to-date information.
It's hard to keep up with the pace of change
Tracking IT assets can become a daunting task as these assets are in constant motion. Managing issues such as loss, replacement, decommissioning and receiving new assets can be quite chaotic, requiring close attention to detail.
“Shadow IT” is a reality
Shadow IT refers to applications, licenses and other IT assets that are being acquired and used without the knowledge of IT staff. Centralized ITAM software keeps IT on top of everything and prevents overspend, risk and non-compliance. Shadow IT is a reality that almost all modern companies face. How you manage it will make a difference in the level of control needed to reduce risk and expense.
Would you like to learn more about how to implement an effective ITAM system for your company? Contact us now to speak with an IT asset management expert and find out how we can help you reduce costs, improve operational efficiency and maximize your return on your technology investment. Click here to send a message or schedule one Free advice on your enterprise SAM Maturity.