What is IT Asset Management?

As a business or organisation grows, inevitably so does the use of information technology.

More employees mean more laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. That new killer sales management system means new servers, storage, and licences. Business growth means new printers, network appliances, and don’t even start on BYOD! What used to be a few tens of assets to manage, is soon a hundred, thousand and even more.

As the scale and diversity of IT assets increases, the complexity of managing them accelerates even faster. Understanding the IT assets a business has, where they are, when they need maintenance and very importantly, what software licences they are using, is critical. Getting it right is vital to maximising the return on investment of a business’ IT infrastructure. Get it wrong and something like an external software licensing audit could prove costly. How does a business or organisation stay in control?

Welcome to the world of IT Asset Management (ITAM).

What is ITAM?

IT Asset Management is a set of business practices and processes designed to manage the lifecycle and inventory of an organisation’s IT assets. ITAM involves using financial, contractual, and inventory data to help a business or organisation make the right decisions at the right time, ensuring that the assets are used effectively and efficiently. Although ITAM is often underpinned by an application and associated database, it is far more than simply keeping a record of what equipment a company has.

What is an IT Asset?

An information technology (IT) asset is any hardware, software or indeed data that an organisation uses for business purposes. Hardware assets include physical equipment such as servers in data centres, networking devices, desktop computers, laptops, tablets, mobiles, keyboards, and printers. Software assets include applications for which licences are typically issued per user, server, or processor unit. The proactive management of software licences is an important part of ITAM, ensuring that penalty charges from exceeding agreed user limits, are not incurred. Software assets also include those that are cloud-based, such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications.

What are the stages of IT Asset Management?

ITAM looks at the complete lifecycle of an IT asset, maximising productivity and return on investment (ROI). The main stages within ITAM are:

Planning: The lifecycle starts before the asset is first purchased. ITAM helps an organisation understand what types of equipment or software are needed, their intended use, and the best way to acquire them. A business should also consider alternatives and carry out total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis of possible options. TCO planning data can then be used to track actual costs throughout the lifetime of the asset.

Procurement: Evaluating both the assets to be acquired, as well as the most effective way of financing them, for example building, purchasing, or leasing. Comparing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) cloud options to inhouse systems. Tracking service level agreements and warranties.

Deployment: Asset deployment includes aspects such as installation, integration into existing systems, providing users with appropriate access, and technical support and training. Redeployment is included, where an asset is either assigned to a new user, or repurposed, for example a server running a new application.

Maintenance: Proactive maintenance, including functional and security updates. Upgrading and repairing systems as required. This helps extend the effective life of an IT asset and improve the ROI.

Retirement: Asset retirement involves disposing of old assets within WEEE guidelines. Support and software agreements may need to be updated, transferred, or terminated. The retirement process feeds back into planning, where new IT assets may be considered.

What are the benefits of ITAM?

ITAM systems help organisations make better decisions and in doing so, save money. Important benefits include:

Comprehensive asset tracking

This is the key to ITAM. Knowing what IT equipment a business has, where it is, who is using it and when it needs replacing, ensures users have the tools they need, in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

Software licence compliance management

This can be a major issue for a business. When an organisation licences software for multiple users, the third-party supplier will have the right to check you are compliant with the terms of your service-level agreements. If an audit reveals there are excessive users for an application or service, there are often financial penalties in addition to the cost of purchasing additional licences. A good ITAM process can also monitor and highlight areas where there is an excess of licences, allowing for the possibility of reducing costs at the next breakpoint in a software agreement.

Improved cyber security

Improving your cyber security comes from ensuring that all assets have the right patch levels, regular updates applied and that users have the correct access authorities. ITAM allows an urgent security patch to be quickly and efficiently rolled out.

The benefits of ITAM for the channel

ITAM is an important area for any business or organisation that has a growing IT infrastructure. Helping your customer understand and manage their IT assets, using ITAM, and unleash the benefits we have discussed, makes an excellent channel offering. One very important area is performing an initial audit, to understand what IT equipment is in place, where it is deployed, gathering key data such as serial numbers, software versions and firmware levels.

SCT offers a range of Smart Audits, delivered by us, working alongside the channel partner. Our IT auditing services will fully examine, analyse, and evaluate entire IT infrastructures and systems to identify opportunities for growth, development, and potential budget savings. If you would like to find out more about how ITAM or our Smart Audits can help your customers, please get in touch.