What is IT Asset Management (ITAM)?

Assets have a limited amount of time for use, and an organization can maximize their value with ITAM and proactive management. Phases of the lifecycle generally include planning, procurement, deployment, maintenance, retirement and disposal.

ITAM encompasses both hardware asset management and software asset management, but both are conceptually different. Hardware management revolves around the management of physical assets, such as servers, laptops, PCs, mobile devices, printers, etc. Software assets include anything like software downloaded directly to a computer, licenses for use of the software, and cloud services. 

The International Standards Organization (ISO) has an official family of standards for ITAM: ISO 19770, which consists of five parts:

1.  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.
2. ISO/IEC 19770-2: Help companies identify software on a given device; a standard for software ID tags.
3. ISO/IEC 19770-3: Details the entitlements associated with a piece of software and the method for measuring consumption.
4. 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.
5. ISO/IEC 19770-5: An overview of ISO ITAM standards and vocabulary.

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. 

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. That said, asset discovery 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’re supposed to be. And in the event that an asset turns up missing, these location trackers are invaluable in locating and securing the asset in question. 

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. 

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 that 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

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.

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, 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, and effective asset management provides the ability to 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 of the resources, and whether they are draining more money than is needed.

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 won’t 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.