Information Technology Asset Management (ITAM) represents all of the processes, systems and checks and balances used to manage and measure a business, company or organization’s IT assets. Three of the main benefits of effective IT asset management include:
1. Control of IT assets through visibility ITAM provides the ability to understand the potential impact of IT assets upon an organization, business or company. This involves knowing about configurations that are best suited in operations, so that adjustments may be made as become necessary. IT asset visibility may be enhanced to improve infrastructure management through the following:
- Specific manual processes and integrations
- Creating and accessing sources for asset reporting and decision making
- Developing solutions for asset lifecycle challenges
One other way ITAM works is by providing a way to view which assets are experiencing the highest level of service desk requests. Once identified, certain assets may either be repaired and continued, or retired and replaced, which can greatly reduce the IT budget.
2. Compliance with licensing, audit and regulatory requirements Organizations that maintain proper compliance prevent violations from disrupting key operations. Preparing for internal and external regulatory audits is another very important factor in IT asset management.
The ITAM lifecycle process includes solutions to provide support for:
- Analysis of hardware and software inventory
- Hardware and software license tracking and management
- Contract and agreement management
- Negotiation leverage
- Informational reports
The above aspects provide a comprehensive understanding of the IT infrastructure designed to reduce compliance risks across physical and virtual environments. ITAM provides a data resource about current business assets so that accurate and informed decisions may be made that serves users and drives change.
3. Cost Reduction IT asset expenditures may be minimized through combining analysis with information to determine the best practices for any given organization. ITAM solutions also enable businesses to see if assets contain installed, though unused and wasted hardware and software. Doing this allows organizations to greatly economize through reducing typical hardware and software expenses.
Many firms refresh their IT hardware approximately every 12-18 months. When businesses dispose of old hardware, this may provide a funding resource from corporate sustainability programs. This, in turn, supports IT budgets.
IT Asset Management is a key element of an effective service management strategy. Organizations must become more focused on acquiring the maximum value from their hardware and software IT assets, especially in unpredictable economic climates.