ITAM: What is IT Asset Management and how does it work?

What is ITAM?

IT Asset Management (ITAM) is an indispensable strategic practice for modern organizations. The goal of ITAM is to achieve control, efficiency, and governance over technological resources. Thus, asset management ensures that each IT asset is aligned with business objectives.

Thus, by implementing an effective information technology asset management strategy, organizations have the opportunity to improve their operational efficiency, increase security levels, and reduce financial costs. Furthermore, IT asset management can help companies maintain regulatory compliance and enable them to make informed decisions regarding the acquisition, maintenance, and updating of their technology assets.

Why invest in ITAM?

Adopting ITAM brings strategic and financial benefits to companies of all sizes. Here are the main benefits:

• Risk reduction: eliminates compliance failures and regulatory penalties.
• Investment predictability: smarter decisions about acquisition and maintenance.
• Operational efficiency: optimizes the use of assets and avoids waste.
• Governance and transparency: greater control over audits and compliance reports.

Types of IT Asset Management

IT assets can be classified into different categories. The main types of ITAM include:

1. Software: this kind of IT asset management is a bit more complex than the others, as it involves aspects such as compliance requirements, licensing, shadow IT, and IoT. In other words, software assets need to be continuously monitored and reviewed, and they must be flexible enough to follow requirements and meet the demands of a constantly changing market.
2. Hardware: Physical hardware also plays a fundamental role in an organization's IT ecosystem. For example, these physical assets include computers, printers, copiers, laptops, mobile devices, servers, and any other hardware used for data management within the company.
3. 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). Thus, tAll of these resources are considered assets to be managed for cost and compliance in ITAM. 

See also: SaaS, PaaS and IaaS, which is the best option?

ISO Standards for IT Asset Management

To identify the dimensions of ITAM, ISO (International Organization for Standardization) created an official family of standards for IT asset management. Known as ISO 19770, it consists of five parts:

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. Therefore, each of these stages is crucial to ensuring that IT assets are managed effectively and meet the company's needs.

Effective asset management involves six fundamental phases, each with distinct responsibilities and controls:

1. Request and definition of requirements: IT needs assessment.
2. Acquisition and execution of contracts: negotiation and purchase of assets.
3. Implantation: installation and configuration of hardware and software.
4. Operation: daily monitoring of asset performance and usage.
5. Maintenance: preventive and corrective, ensuring continuous updating.
6. Safe disposal: responsible deletion, prioritizing data security.

Thus, with the support of integrated ITAM software, each phase is precisely monitored, bringing clarity to audits and efficient use of resources.

Benefits of ITAM: efficiency, control and strategic value

IT Asset Management (ITAM) is essential for companies seeking control, visibility, and efficiency in managing IT assets. By centralizing information and automating processes, ITAM provides a single source of truth, eliminating disparate data and reducing manual tracking and monitoring.

With constantly updated information, ITAM software enables better resource utilization, risk reduction, and waste elimination. Furthermore, this enhanced visibility strengthens information security and ensures compliance with corporate standards and policies, minimizing penalties and regulatory failures.

Furthermore, ITAM increases productivity and operational reliability, especially in environments that adopt DevOps and SRE. With effective asset management, teams can predict impacts, optimize consumption, and make more assertive decisions.

Another key point is the support ITAM offers to ITSM and ITIL processes, integrating with change, incident, and problem management practices. This empowers IT teams to act proactively, anticipating risks before they impact the business.

Companies that implement mature ITAM practices reap measurable results. For example, according to Gartner, it's possible to reduce software costs by up to $301,000 in the first year. A ServiceNow case study showed that a global manufacturer saved over $1,000,000 by eliminating underutilized licenses.

In short, investing in ITAM solutions transforms asset management into a driver of operational efficiency, governance, and strategic value, positioning IT as a true agent of business growth.

Read also:

ITAM Components: A Complete Guide to Understanding and Applying in Your Company

6 Practices to Ensure Security with ITAM

5 Steps to Optimize Your ITAM Processes Before the End of the Year with ServiceNow

IT Asset Management avoids waste in your company

Best practices to ensure ITAM security

1. Complete Inventory in order to maintain an accurate record of all IT assets, including hardware, software and licenses, to ensure control and compliance.
2. Policies and Procedures: Establish clear guidelines that guide the management and use of assets, ensuring consistent and safe practices.
3. Training and Awareness: Promote continuous training of teams to recognize and mitigate risks related to IT assets.
4. Continuous Monitoring: Implement tools that allow constant monitoring of assets, identifying suspicious or non-compliant activities.
5. Updates and Patches: Ensure that all assets receive regular updates and security patches, minimizing vulnerabilities.
6. Risk Management: Assess and mitigate risks associated with IT assets, including financial, legal, and operational risks.

Therefore, adopting these practices strengthens the organization's security posture, reducing risks and promoting efficient management of IT assets.

ITAM in Software and Hardware: SAM and HAM

Asset management can be implemented in both Software (SAM), as well as in Hardware (HAM). Know the main differences.

Cloud resource management (Cloud Insights) 

1. SaaS: the management of SaaS (Software as a Service) can help companies maximize the value of the applications they use by ensuring they meet business needs and are utilized optimally. 
2. IaaS: The Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) model involves monitoring the use of computing resources available in the cloud, such as storage capacity and processing power. 
3. PaaS: Platform as a Service is a cloud computing model that provides a cloud-based development and deployment environment for building applications. It allows developers to build and deploy applications without having to manage the underlying infrastructure.

Benefits of IT asset management

Companies that implement a well-structured ITAM report concrete benefits:

1. Presents a single font. ITAM provides a system that consolidates asset data, eliminating the need to manually track artifacts, monitors usage, and interprets asset dependencies more efficiently.
2. Improves utilization, reduces risks and reduces waste. With asset management, information is updated regularly, allowing teams to identify and eliminate unnecessary or underutilized assets. Additionally, asset control helps ensure that security and compliance requirements are met, reducing the risk of regulatory penalties associated with security violations or noncompliance.
3. Increases productivity without losing reliability. With increased reliance on infrastructure and platform services, effective asset management is crucial, enabling better management of resource consumption and utilization.
4. Supports business and IT practices and empowers teams. Asset management supports asset management processes. ITSM and ITIL, including change, incident and problem management. 
5. Reduces costs through constant analysis. After all, constant analysis and consolidation of assets can provide valuable information about resource consumption, including licenses, instances, and other resources that may be underutilized or overused.

FAQ – ITAM 

1. What is ITAM?
It is the practice of managing all of a company's information technology assets, from software licensing to hardware disposal.

2. What are the main benefits of ITAM?
Cost reduction, operational efficiency, regulatory compliance and better decision making.

3. Are ITAM and CMDB the same thing?
No. ITAM manages the asset lifecycle; the CMDB (Configuration Management Database) controls their configurations and relationships.

4. Is ITAM only suitable for large companies?
No. Small and medium-sized businesses can implement ITAM in a scalable manner, achieving a rapid return on investment.

5. What ITAM software does 4MATT recommend?
Leading solutions like ServiceNow ITAM and Snow Software, integrated with corporate governance and CMDB.

Next steps for ITAM management in your company

• – Assess the maturity level of your current ITAM.
• – Implement automation for software and hardware management.
• – Establish key performance indicators (KPIs).
• – Train teams in compliance and best practices.
• – Talk to a 4MATT consultant and transform your IT governance.

4MATT: ITAM specialist for your company

In short, implementing an IT Asset Management strategy requires experience, technology, and methodology, with no room for error. This is precisely where 4MATT stands out as an ITAM specialist in Brazil.

After all, besides being the best choice of IT consulting, 4MATT stands out in ITAM and CMDB. With comprehensive solutions, we help your company reduce IT costs and waste, optimize the asset lifecycle, and increase operational efficiency. 4MATT also helps you stay in compliance with standards and regulations.

Download our Free ebook Learn about the ITAM & CMDB Journey and access key information on practical and effective implementation. 4MATT also helps your organization gain full control over IT assets, reduce costs, and increase operational efficiency.

Talk to our experts and discover how to strategically boost your IT governance.