Information technology is everywhere, and it plays an increasingly central role in business operations. But as organizations embrace the expanding capabilities of automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and other advancements, managing the sheer volume and diversity of assets within the IT infrastructure has become more challenging than ever. Without a comprehensive strategy, companies risk inefficiencies and security vulnerabilities.
To combat the dangers associated with IT sprawl, organizations of all kinds are turning to IT asset management (ITAM).
Software asset management involves tracking and optimizing the acquisition, licensing, and usage of software applications. This type of ITAM addresses compliance with licensing agreements and regulatory standards, reducing the risk of audits or fines. Examples include managing software installed on endpoint devices and monitoring the usage of enterprise applications to eliminate underutilized licenses.
Hardware asset management focuses on physical IT equipment, such as servers, laptops, mobile devices, and network hardware. This involves tracking the lifecycle of each piece of equipment to ensure they are properly accounted for and being used efficiently and appropriately. IT teams employ this strategy to manage physical inventory, monitor hardware performance, plan for hardware upgrades or replacements, and ensure the correct retirement of assets.
Cloud asset management oversees cloud-based services and resources, including software-as-a-service (SaaS), infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), and platform-as-a-service (PaaS). This type of ITAM helps organizations monitor cloud service consumption, manage costs, and ensure compliance with cloud provider agreements. Cloud asset management often overlaps with software asset management. Examples include tracking cloud storage usage and managing virtual machines hosted by third-party providers.
While ITAM focuses on IT-specific assets, related fields like fixed asset management, (also known as enterprise asset management or EAM), track broader physical assets within an organization. These include items like office furniture, network cabinets, and server room air conditioning units. Although not strictly IT assets, they are often managed by IT teams when they directly support IT infrastructure. EAM helps organizations monitor asset conditions, manage depreciation, and plan for maintenance, ensuring operational efficiency across IT and non-IT assets.
ITAM encompasses hardware asset management, cloud asset management, and software asset management, with each addressing different aspects of an organization's IT ecosystem:
Hardware asset management
The hardware side of ITAM focuses on the lifecycle of physical assets, such as servers, laptops, mobile devices, printers, and other equipment used for data processing and communication. It involves tracking the procurement, deployment, maintenance, and eventual disposal of these physical items to ensure they are properly inventoried.Software asset management
This deals with managing software assets, including licenses, compliance, and usage. SAM is typically more complex, as it requires continuous monitoring to ensure proper licensing, adherence to regulatory standards, and the ability to adapt to evolving requirements.Cloud Asset Management
This focuses mostly on managing the costs of cloud assets that are provided by cloud infrastructure companies, also known as hyperscalers, like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Services etc. Sometimes this is referred to as Cloud Cost Management, or Financial Operations or FinOps. This can include some types of SaaS software and is therefore closely linked to software asset management but cloud asset management seeks to optimize the use of cloud services.What is ITAM vs. ITAD vs. ITSM?
IT asset management focuses on managing IT assets throughout their lifecycle to optimize value and performance. However, it is important to understand how ITAM compares to related practices like IT asset disposition (ITAD) and IT service management (ITSM), as each serves distinct but complementary roles:
ITAD
IT asset disposition (ITAD) specializes in the secure and environmentally responsible disposal of outdated or unwanted IT assets. ITAM and ITAD work together when assets reach the end of their lifecycle, helping organizations recoup costs through refurbishment, resale, or recycling, while ensuring proper data sanitization and regulatory compliance.ITSM
IT service management (ITSM) is the practice of delivering and managing IT services efficiently to support business goals. While ITAM focuses on assets, ITSM encompasses a broader range of processes, such as change management and user support. ITSM often uses frameworks like ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) to standardize service delivery and includes asset and configuration management as part of its processes. A key connection between IT Service Management and IT Asset Management is change control. A change to a system configuration that has been initiated through IT Service Management, could have a significant impact on asset licensing. For example, increasing the number of processors to keep a service running could change the licensing model for applications running on that system and therefore the cost to the organization. A connection between ITSM and ITAM helps to identify issues like this during the change cycle and before they impact the bottom line.
In other words, ITAM manages the lifecycle of IT assets, ITAD handles their end-of-life disposal, and ITSM ensures the efficient delivery of IT services.
The International Standards Organization (ISO) has an official family of standards for ITAM: ISO 19770, which consists of five parts:
- ISO/IEC 19770-1: Outlines best practices for ITAM within a company. Organizations have the opportunity to prove that they’re performing ITAM procedures in accordance with the standards to satisfy governance requirements and support IT activities.
- ISO/IEC 19770-2: Help companies identify software on a given device; a standard for software ID tags.
- ISO/IEC 19770-3: Details the entitlements associated with a piece of software and the method for measuring consumption.
- ISO/IEC 19770-4: Allows for standardized reporting of resource use. This is particularly important when managing more-complex licenses and cloud-based software and hardware.
- ISO/IEC 19770-5: An overview of ISO ITAM standards and vocabulary.
Although individual organizations may define the IT asset lifecycle differently, most follow steps similar to the following:
- Request
- Fulfillment
- Deployment
- Monitoring
- Service
- Retirement
In short, the cycle begins as a need is recognized and a request is made. Important factors are defined, such as what assets are needed, how to obtain them, and how they will be used and funded. During the fulfillment stage, building, purchasing, leasing, or licensing of the asset occurs. This is followed by the deployment phase, which oversees the installation of the asset into the IT ecosystem. Once deployed, the monitoring stage helps ensure that assets are functioning effectively, and the service stage occurs in which assets are maintained and upgraded to prolong asset life. Finally, once the assets are no longer needed, they are retired and disposed of. This includes transitioning users to alternative resources, updating records, canceling agreements, terminating licenses, and planning for replacement assets.
When handling hardware, ‘inventory’ may be included as its own separate phase. IT Asset Management tracks and many cases executes most steps in this lifecycle, but it will also integrate with other systems to help perform the role. Examples of those systems include purchasing tools, ITSM, facilities software, and so on.
Tracking and managing vital equipment helps ensure that assets are being managed effectively. A detailed, centralized location where authorized users can request loaner assets is necessary, and should include fields such as whom the asset is being requested for, the location where the requested asset needs to be provided, the model of the requested asset, the date range covering how long the asset will be in use, and the reason or justification for why the asset is needed. With the advent of generative AI, request systems can now be augmented to help connect a request with the right resource through natural language requests, in the context of the person making the request, and without the need to search through catalogs etc.
Effective equipment-loan data can help ensure that every asset is accounted for, and that a business always has a clear idea of who is using what, and for how long. Very often this is managed during procurement or disposal. That said, asset discovery, through a IT Operations Management discovery tool, may provide additional information on what devices you have—potentially beyond what you think you have—how those devices are configured, and who is using them. Discovery and inventory management should go hand in hand; implement automation so that as you discover assets, all relevant information may be automatically entered into a database for easy review.
Knowing who should have the assets, who actually has the assets, and exactly what assets are available are all extremely important. But no less important is knowing exactly where the assets are. Asset location tracking, often using RFID, GPS, or barcode scanning can help verify that assets are where they are supposed to be. And, if an asset turns up missing, these location trackers are invaluable in locating and securing the asset in question. This is a major way in which asset management contributes to risk mitigation in an organization.
The ITAM repository is the central database for storing and maintaining essential financial, physical, and contractual data. But more than simply serving as a location for said data, an effective ITAM repository must be able to perform related IT asset management tasks. Repositories must be closely integrated with adjacent toolsets, including inventory, software usage, IT service support management, change management, and purchasing and configuration management. It is common for an ITAM repository to be linked, or related to, a configuration management database (CMDB).
Effective IT asset management depends on your ability to track relevant metrics. To do this, you must identify which KPIs are worth prioritizing. Tracking the right metrics helps ensure improved asset performance, reduced repair and maintenance costs, and optimal usage and effectiveness. Common tracking metrics include the following:
- Costs
- Number of assets
- Licensed/unlicensed software
- Underused/overused licenses
- Expired warranties
Asset management systems may integrate with other toolsets to help build a complete picture such as integration with Digital Employee Experience (DEX) solutions.
Successful ITAM relies heavily on accurate, up-to-date asset data which can come from multiple sources across databases, servers, platforms, and solutions. Importing data into a centralized location is a crucial step to painting an accurate picture of the asset estate.
Software-as-a-service management monitors the purchasing, onboarding, licensing, renewal, and onboarding of applications that a company uses.
Infrastructure-as-a-service is a model in which computing resources, which could normally be hosted in a data center, are hosted instead in a cloud environment. The management of IaaS involves monitoring storage, capacity, and the use of computing power from a cloud environment.
Platform-as-a-service provides a development and deployment environment in the cloud, which allows for the deployment of cloud-based apps of all sizes. Management involves purchasing resources from a provider and paying as you go, and monitoring usage to stay within a budget or usage agreement.
Asset management creates order. Assets tend to get tracked in many different places by many different people, no single individual owns assets, and there is not a solitary tool that centralizes information about the assets. ITAM offers data consolidation, providing systems that do the work without the need for endlessly tracking down artifacts, monitoring usage, and interpreting dependencies.
Information stays updated, which helps teams eliminate waste and increase utilization. Control also forces security and compliance around legal policies, or can connect to integrated risk management solutions, reducing your risks associated with regulatory penalties.
Asset management tools are extremely helpful as teams embrace DevOps and SRE principles. There is increased reliance on infrastructure and platform services; effective asset management provides the ability to help manage consumption.
Asset management supports ITSM and ITIL processes like change, incident, and problem management. With the right information readily available, teams can move more quickly and better predict impacts before they happen. Additionally, this supports HR (onboarding & off-boarding), finance for tracking assets, security for vulnerability remediation, and operations management through assisting in discovering and mapping certain critical assets and their dependencies.
Sometimes you can have multiple licenses, instances, or resources that are either being used too much, or not at all. Consolidating and constantly reviewing assets can provide information about all the resources, and whether they are draining more money than is needed.
The three components
- Physical: This information is typically gathered using more manual processes, like barcode readers or RFID systems. It accounts for what is deployed, what might be in the stockroom, and what may be scheduled for retirement.
- Financial: Generally coerced from purchasing systems or orders, the financial component of the ITAM database indicates the purchase order number, quantity, make and model, depreciation, vendor name, and cost center. Tracking this component is highly useful because it provides insight into the total cost of ownership, the ROI, and budgets that can be assigned to projects and services.
- Contractual: The data collected from contract data comes from the reseller, the vendor, or the contract management system. Information includes the final version of a contract with details such as the license entitlement, device count, purchase price, vendor SKU, service levels, and maintenance.
- Start with executive buy-in
- Kick off a team to pilot the project
- Define critical assets
- Identify cloud resources
- Determine methods for discovery and integrating data
- Use a lifecycle-based approach
- Be proactive with your tracking efforts and track continuously to avoid over-deployment
- Decide whether to use a CMDB
- Automate as much as possible
- Integrate and make data available to all of IT.
- Know your software licenses
- Gather feedback for continual improvement
- Engage other teams on feedback
There are several reasons why ITAM may help your organization thrive.
One of the key strategies to cutting costs is to optimize spending on software, infrastructure, and platform services. Organizations can cut spending up to 30% when they use best practices to optimize software licenses and asset use.
Companies still track their assets using spreadsheets, but there is a high chance that your spreadsheets will not always be accurate. Additionally, spreadsheets create data silos, making it difficult for all authorized users to access the same up-to-date information.
Assets are always on the move, and manual tracking can become overwhelming. Dealing with issues like theft, replacement and retirement of IT assets, new shipments, etc. can create a chaotic IT environment that demands closer attention to detail.
Shadow IT refers to applications, licenses, and other IT assets being purchased and used without the knowledge of the IT team. Centralized ITAM software keeps IT in the loop and prevents overspending, risk, and non-compliance. Shadow IT is a reality nearly all modern businesses face; how you manage it will make a difference in the level of control you still have to reduce risks and spend.
IT asset management is essential for optimizing the value, reducing waste, and minimizing the risks of today’s technology infrastructure. To manage the complexities of ITAM efficiently, organizations need a streamlined, integrated approach. ServiceNow ITAM offers a comprehensive solution that automates asset workflows and centralizes management on the industry leading ServiceNow AI Platform. The ServiceNow approach brings multiple asset management disciplines together on the same platform that you are already using to operate IT services. ServiceNow also provides the connectivity to other teams that relate to the asset processes like procurement, facilities, and so on.
With ServiceNow, you gain full visibility into hardware, software, cloud assets, and more. Automate asset lifecycle processes to reduce operational costs, increase productivity, and mitigate risks. Take control of cloud resources, right-sizing them to match real consumption and reduce unneeded expenses. Take advantage of built-in automated workflows to enhance compliance, mitigate vendor audit risks, and proactively address vulnerabilities. From tracking software license usage to managing hardware inventory across every company location, ServiceNow aligns IT investments with your business needs.
Experience seamless, automated asset management—schedule a demo today!