7 Obvious (And Not-So-Obvious) Uses for IT Asset Management
IT Asset Management (ITAM) is like an accounting system for your technology assets: It tracks what you own, who has it, and where is it. It provides tactical and strategic insight into both hardware and software assets and allows you to make better and faster data-driven decisions.
To provide a bit more depth, IT Asset Management provides transparency into your deployed technology, on-hand inventory, usage, costs, refresh cycles, software compliance position, and security status.
According to Gartner, “Clients who successfully execute IT Asset Management as a discipline typically achieve 30% cost savings in the first year of their initiative, and at least 5% cost savings in each of the subsequent 5 years.”
Gartner goes on to say that since hardware, software, and maintenance account for 30% of your IT budget, it’s crucial to maintain visibility to your IT asset inventory.
So that’s what IT Asset Management is. But what exactly can it do?
Here are 7 obvious and not-so-obvious uses for IT Asset Management at your organization, broken down by hardware and software applications.
HARDWARE ASSET MANAGEMENT
1) Enterprise Asset Management
The most common use of ITAM is to track hardware at large enterprise organizations as the scale and scope of owned, leased, and licensed assets grows and becomes unmanageable in spreadsheets, home-grown databases, and the like. Enterprise organizations typically have the IT sophistication and maturity, as well as the budget, to implement a proper – and automated – solution.
2) Small and Medium Sized Business Asset Management
SMBs can also benefit from IT Asset Management because the same needs apply (tracking deployments, on-hand inventory, usage, costs, refresh cycles, software compliance, and security status).
One aspect of ITAM that enterprises and SMBs might be unaware of is that it can be leveraged for scheduling and deployment of assets. That’s a headache in and of itself for many IT teams, and ITAM can be a huge help to alleviate some of the stress of a deployment or hardware refresh.
3) IoT Devices
The Internet of Things (IoT) encompasses products that have computing capabilities embedded, enabling them to send and receive data. As the number of connected devices needed to do business grows, so too does the challenge of managing them. Examples of IoT devices include smart watches, industrial monitoring devices, connected manufacturing machinery, tracking devices in warehouses and supply chains, and security cameras, to name just a few. IT Asset Management is the perfect solution to account for each device ordered, stored, deployed, and disposed of.
4) Mobile Devices
Tracking and monitoring mobile devices is an increasingly important role (and burden) for IT teams. IT Asset Management can track and account for not only smartphone and tablet inventory, configuration settings, software (apps, operating systems), but also their cellular plans and data usage, as well as cellular usage and plans for IoT devices.
5) Warehouse
We don’t mean using ITAM to manage things in a warehouse, but the things that make the warehouse work, like barcode scanners, printers, RFID tags and readers, beacons, pick / pack robots, etc. If it’s connected hardware, it can (and should) be managed under an Asset Management program.
SOFTWARE ASSET MANAGEMENT
6) Application Software
Software spend makes up a large portion of IT spend. An organization of only 2,000 people typically has been 500 and 750 unique software titles in the environment. Software asset management helps your organization stay compliant with the legal agreements required to use application software and helps you monitor usage and reallocate licenses as needed to maximize your software spend and avoid overspending on software titles.
All publishers perform compliance audits on their titles. If your organization uses software from VMware, HPE, SAP, Oracle, IBM, Autodesk, or Microsoft, for example, proactive software asset management can help reduce risk by tracking your license compliance.
7) Digital Certificates
Managing digital certificates is a pain point for many organizations but IT Asset Management tools can keep track of renewal or expiration dates, validity, and costs for your digital certificates.
IT Asset Management benefits nearly all aspects of an organization, from operations to finance to cybersecurity, and we hope that this look at some obvious and not-so-obvious applications of helps create a better understanding of just how powerful it can be.
If the concept of ITAM intrigues you but you just don’t know here to start, we can help. Working with a technology partner like MCPC can help you understand what you need to do to integrate Asset Management into your organization, and we can manage the implementation and integration across all your technology platforms. If you’re interested in having an introductory conversation, contact us.
We’re the Outcome Engineers. MCPC is a global endpoint management company, founded in 2002, and our approach inspires not just endpoint defense, but business offense. By protecting your devices, bringing simplicity to endpoint management complexity, and empowering employee performance, we reduce your business risk and increases digital innovation. Our consultative approach creates a true partnership where your endpoints are just the starting point.