What Exactly Is IT Asset Management (ITAM)?

IT asset management (ITAM) is the end-to-end tracking and management of IT assets to ensure that they are utilized, maintained, updated, and disposed of correctly at the end of their lifespan.

ITAM entails tracking and making strategic decisions regarding IT assets using financial, contractual, and inventory data. The major goal is to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of IT resources. ITAM also saves money by lowering the total number of assets in use and increasing the life of those assets, avoiding costly upgrades. Understanding the total cost of ownership and developing solutions to maximize asset utilization is an essential aspect of ITAM.

What is an IT asset?

Any piece of information, software, or hardware that an organization employs in the course of its business activities is an information technology (IT) asset. Physical computing equipment such as physical servers in data centers, desktop computers, mobile devices, laptops, keyboards, and printers are examples of hardware assets. Software assets, on the other hand, include programs with per-user or per-machine licensing, as well as software systems and databases constructed with open-source resources. Cloud-based assets, such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications, are also considered software assets.

What is the procedure for managing IT assets?

The following steps are commonly included in the IT asset management (ITAM) process:

1. Asset identification: The creation of a complete inventory of all IT assets is the first stage in IT asset management. This makes it easier to identify redundant assets and ensures that they are utilized for maximum efficiency.
2. Tracking: This entails regularly monitoring IT assets using an ITAM tool or system. Financial (asset costs), contractual (warranties, licenses, and service-level agreements (SLAs)), and inventory data are all gathered for each asset (location and condition of physical assets).
3. Maintenance: IT assets are maintained at different stages of their lifespan. Asset repair, upgrading, and replacement are all part of maintenance. As part of the ITAM process, all maintenance operations done on an IT asset are documented so that the data may be utilized to evaluate the asset’s performance.

Lifecycle stages of an IT asset

Every IT asset has a certain lifespan. IT asset management (ITAM) is the process of managing the lifespan of an asset to maintain optimal productivity. While each company’s lifecycle phases may differ, an IT asset’s lifespan typically contains the following stages:

1. Planning: This includes making judgments regarding the assets an organization need, their intended use, and how to acquire them. While planning for asset purchase, organizations also analyze competitive alternatives and conduct cost-benefit and TCO (total cost of ownership) studies of all feasible solutions.
2. Procurement/Acquisition: Assets can be purchased (including Software as a Service), built, licensed, or leased.
3. Deployment: Installation, integration with other tools, user access, and technical assistance may all be part of asset deployment.
4. Maintenance: To optimize their utilization and maximum value, preparations should be established for ongoing maintenance, upgrades, and repairs once the assets have been deployed. This will help them live longer, save money, and reduce danger.
5. Retirement: When depreciation has set in and upkeep is no longer viable, an asset is retired. That is, when an IT asset reaches the end of its lifespan, maintenance becomes more frequent and the business devotes more resources to it than it did previously. If there are superior options in the market, an organization may elect to retire an asset. Disposing of obsolete assets, updating asset information, canceling support and license agreements, and creating arrangements to transition to new assets are all part of asset retirement.

Benefits of IT asset management

IT asset management (ITAM) may assist a company in making better business decisions. The following are some of the primary advantages:

• Centralized asset database/inventory: When assets are monitored in many locations, it becomes challenging to manage them. Inefficiency and bad business judgments may result from inaccuracy and disorganization. Asset monitoring becomes easier and more efficient when there is a single source of truth. The company can view all of the assets that need to be destroyed, updated, or optimized for optimal efficiency in one spot.
• Optimized asset used: IT asset management optimizes resource use, lowers risk, decreases waste, and saves money. A business may acquire real-time data on the status of all its assets and make educated decisions regarding asset utilization by using an ITAM process.
• Software license compliance: Software suppliers frequently conduct software audits of businesses that license third-party software to ensure compliance with the licensing terms and conditions. Failure to comply with the agreements might result in significant penalties. As a result, ITAM software is used by businesses to automatically monitor all software installed on all machines on their networks and verify compliance with the necessary licensing agreements.
• Informed decision-making: ITAM data aids in the evaluation of prior purchases and deployments, which then guides future actions. ITAM may help with IT asset acquisition as well as business procedures.

IT asset management software

Manual, paper-based, or spreadsheet-based systems become inefficient when an organization’s IT assets develop. IT asset management (ITAM) software is a centralized program that manages and tracks assets throughout their existence.

Features of ITAM software

IT asset management software often includes capabilities that provide businesses more control over their IT environment and allow them to track assets both on-premises and in the cloud:

• Automated detection: Most IT asset management solutions recognize all hardware and software installed on a company’s computer network automatically.
• License management: IT asset licenses are stored in ITAM software. These are then compared to relevant inventory data to determine if the organization is under-licensed and at risk of violating a licensing agreement, or over-licensed and in the process of obtaining software it seldom or never uses. This feature may also keep track of licensing agreement expiration dates and alert the company.
• Version and patch management: Asset management software keeps track of new software patches and versions to maintain an organization’s computer network safe, secure, and up to date.
• Request management: Some ITAM software can keep track of all requests for IT assets and allow businesses to create asset request procedures. They assess the assets’ license needs and manage the procurement and deployment procedure.
• Inventory management: ITAM software keeps track of all assets used by a company. The inventory keeps track of asset information such as name, licensing agreement type, and version.
• Configuration management database (CMDB): ITAM software keeps track of all assets used by a company. The inventory keeps track of asset information such as name, licensing agreement type, and version.
• Fixed asset management: For handling fixed asset data, most ITAM platforms offer a separate repository. Hardware is the most common fixed asset.
• Digital asset management: The administration of digital rights and rich media is a component of ITAM software (e.g., multimedia content like videos, music, and photos).

Factors to consider when choosing ITAM software or an asset management solution

• Purpose: An company should understand why it requires ITAM software and what goals it intends to achieve by digitizing asset management. If at all practicable, management should convene meetings with representatives from all key IT departments to solicit their input.
• Cost: After identifying software products that suit an organization’s goals and expectations, the next step is to compare pricing to its budget. Understanding what each bundle includes and excludes from the pricing may be beneficial. Before you decide to buy, take advantage of a free trial period.
• Technical support: Choosing a software vendor that provides technical help when needed is critical. This assistance can take the shape of a self-service platform, an online user community, in-app or web chat with a bot, phone help, or social media chat with a customer care assistant.
• Reviews and ratings: Reading evaluations of current and former customers of a software package on third-party sites (such as app stores and software rating organizations) might assist a business in making the best decision.

IT asset management (ITAM) vs. IT service management (ITSM)

IT asset management is concerned with the management of IT assets throughout their lifecycles, whereas IT service management (ITSM) is concerned with the management and delivery of IT services.

The process of managing IT services in an organization is known as IT service management. It entails a number of steps, from designing and installing IT services to monitoring and auditing them to ensure that they are functioning properly. Help desk and service desk support (such as assisting a user in changing their password) are examples of IT services, as are change management processes, which entail the effective handling of changes to IT infrastructure.

IT service management’s purpose is to deliver dependable, high-quality IT services that fulfill the demands of the company and its end-users, such as customers, workers, and business partners. ITSM seeks to boost user satisfaction and service quality.

The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is often regarded as the most effective method of delivering ITSM. It’s a collection of best practices and frameworks for effective ITSM. The most recent ITIL edition, ITIL 4, consists of five volumes that explain 34 ITSM practices: Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operation, and Continual Service Improvement.

ITSM includes ITAM in several ways. One of the many ITSM activities is asset and configuration management, and a CMDB — the tool dedicated to this process — is a centralized repository of an organization’s IT assets and their connections.

IT asset management and IBM

The management of hybrid IT infrastructures, which include software, hardware, and cloud solutions from a variety of suppliers, is growing more difficult. The organizational and platform barriers between IT operations and procurement teams are a hindrance to the successful administration of these complex systems. Any changes made by one team will almost certainly have an influence on the other, but neither team lacks visibility into the impact of change. How can you manage your IT system with confidence if you don’t know how the changes you make will affect licensing compliance and perhaps result in overprovisioning? Will moving an application burden to another cloud or server knock you out of compliance or result in unexpected billings or true-ups? What impact would not moving workloads have on the performance of apps and services?

Most firms respond by overprovisioning IT resources and limiting license allocations to create buffers. Licensing is, understandably, complicated, and IT resource utilization can fluctuate by the second. How can you make the most of your IT resources and licenses to meet application performance goals?

Flexera One with IBM Observability, for example, may deliver an accurate picture of IT asset inventory and keep you audit-ready with insight into asset allocation throughout your hybrid cloud, multivendor environment. You can automate and optimize licensing compliance and IT expense with IBM Turbonomic® integrations.

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