What is IT Asset Management?

Organizations lacking an ITAM strategy expose themselves to significant risks from compliance issues to wasted resources, lack of direction and costly investments.

Effective IT Asset Management brings several benefits to organizations, including:

• Asset Cost Savings: Identifying and eliminating unnecessary assets and optimizing software licenses can result in cost savings.
• Labor Cost Savings: More efficient IT asset management increases the productivity of the IT team reducing the time spent and cost of managing IT assets.
• Risk reduction: Proper management of IT assets helps reduce security and compliance risks associated with hardware and software.
• Efficiency: Streamlining asset-related processes improves overall efficiency and helps in avoiding downtime or disruptions.
• Compliance: Ensuring compliance with licensing agreements and regulatory requirements prevents legal and financial consequences.
• Strategic planning: Informed decision-making regarding IT investments and upgrades based on the analysis of asset data.
• Prevents the loss of assets: Tracking assets in real-time, to know where they are and detect any unusual activities like service downtime or missing devices minimizes the risk
• Prolonged asset life: Effectively plan for the various stages of the asset lifecycle like maintenance to keep your assets in good condition and to extract the maximum value.
• More sustainable: Maximizing use of existing assets through their life and avoiding over purchasing minimizes waste. Manage asset off-boarding and responsible disposal.

IT Asset Management can be implemented through dedicated ITAM software solutions, which automate many of the processes associated with asset tracking, inventory management, and reporting. These tools help organizations maintain accurate and up-to-date information about their IT assets.

IT Asset Management has a set of core processes that organizations use to manage their IT operations efficiently and effectively. These processes are designed to ensure that IT services align with business needs, deliver high-quality service, and promote continuous improvement.

Key components and activities of IT Asset Management include:

• Inventory Management: Keeping a detailed inventory of all IT assets, including computers, servers, networking equipment, software licenses, and peripherals.
• Asset Tracking: Assigning unique identifiers to each IT asset to track its location, status, and other relevant information.
• Software License Management: Managing and tracking software licenses to ensure compliance with licensing agreements and avoid over-licensing or under-licensing.
• Lifecycle Management: Managing the entire lifecycle of IT assets, from procurement and deployment to maintenance, upgrades, and eventual retirement or disposal.
• Risk Management: Identifying and mitigating risks associated with IT assets, such as security vulnerabilities, compliance issues, and potential disruptions to services.
• Cost Optimization: Optimizing IT spending by identifying underutilized assets, renegotiating contracts, and making informed decisions about hardware and software investments.
• Vendor Management: Managing relationships with IT vendors, negotiating contracts, and ensuring that vendor performance meets expectations.
• Compliance and Governance: Ensuring that IT assets and activities comply with regulatory requirements and organizational policies.
• Security: Addressing security concerns related to IT assets, including protecting sensitive data, managing access controls, and securing hardware and software.
• Reporting and Analytics: Generating reports and analytics to provide insights into asset usage, costs, and performance. This information helps in making informed decisions and optimizing IT resources.

ITAM is essential for organizations to ensure that their IT operations are reliable, maximizing availability, and aligned with business goals.

There isn't a single dominant IT Asset Management (ITAM) framework like there is for some other areas of IT, such as IT Service Management (ITSM) with ITIL. However, there are widely recognized best practices and guidelines that organizations often follow to implement effective ITAM processes.

Here are some popular frameworks and guidelines for IT Asset Management:

• ISO/IEC 19770: Software Asset Management (SAM): The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) provides standards related to ITAM, with ISO/IEC 19770 specifically focusing on Software Asset Management. It outlines best practices for managing software assets throughout their lifecycle.
• ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library): While ITIL is primarily known for IT Service Management (ITSM), it includes guidance on IT Asset Management within its broader framework. The ITIL framework provides recommendations for managing the lifecycle of IT services, including assets.
• IAITAM (International Association of IT Asset Managers): IAITAM is a professional organization that offers education and certification programs related to IT Asset Management. It provides a set of best practices and standards for managing IT assets.
• COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies): COBIT is a framework that provides guidelines for the governance and management of enterprise IT, including ITAM. It offers a set of controls and processes for effective IT governance.
• CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration): CMMI is a framework that provides a set of best practices for process improvement across various aspects of an organization. It includes a maturity model that can be applied to ITAM processes.
• Microsoft SAM (Software Asset Management) Optimization Model: Microsoft provides a framework for Software Asset Management that helps organizations optimize their software assets, ensuring compliance with licensing agreements and maximizing value.
• US Federal Government SAM Playbook: The U.S. federal government has published a Software Asset Management (SAM) Playbook that provides guidance for federal agencies and other organizations on implementing effective SAM practices.
• NIST Special Publication 800-53: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) publishes guidelines, including Special Publication 800-53, which includes security and privacy controls for federal information systems. It addresses aspects of IT asset management related to security.

When implementing ITAM, organizations often tailor these frameworks and guidelines to meet their specific needs and compliance requirements. Additionally, the landscape may evolve, and new frameworks or updates to existing ones may emerge, so it's essential to stay informed about the latest developments in IT Asset Management practices.

ITAM and CMDB (Configuration Management Database) can seem very similar, especially as they are often associated with each other. While there may be overlaps, they have different practices and functions.

• ITAM (IT Asset Management) keeps track of all IT assets and where they are in the asset lifecycle. The ITAM approach is often from the organization’s financial perspective. Cost of ownership, license expirations, and length of warranties are just some of the considerations addressed in ITAM.
• The CMDB (Configuration Management Database) is a record of information on configuration items (CIs). A configuration item is anything necessary to run and deliver an IT service, like settings, relationships and dependencies. The CMDB is a tool used for Configuration Management, which is the process of ensuring all necessary components for the day-to-day operations of IT services run smoothly.

While all Configuration Items can be considered assets, not all assets are CIs. Due to this, some organizations use CMDBs as part of their IT asset management, while others practice configuration management without ITAM.

Successful IT Operations Management and IT Service Management are reliant on knowledge of IT assets. While some specific ITAM solutions are available, it is therefore often more practical to choose a single solution that also includes IT Asset Management.

IT Asset Management software capabilities should include:

• Asset Discovery and Inventory Management: Automatically discover and catalog all IT assets across the organization, including hardware devices, software applications, cloud and virtual assets.
• Hardware and Software Asset Tracking: Track detailed information about each asset, such as hardware specifications, software versions, license details, and ownership.
• License Management: Manage software licenses, track usage, and ensure compliance with licensing agreements.
• Lifecycle Management: Support the entire lifecycle of IT assets, from procurement and deployment to maintenance, upgrades, and eventual retirement or disposal.
• Configuration Management: Maintain and update configuration information for assets, including relationships between different components.
• Automated Discovery and Scanning: Automatically scan and discover new assets as they are added to the network, ensuring the asset inventory is continuously updated.
• Integration with ITSM and Other Systems: Integrate with IT Service Management (ITSM) systems, procurement systems, and other relevant tools to streamline workflows and data exchange.
• Reporting and Analytics: Generate customizable reports and analytics on asset usage, compliance, costs, and performance.
• Alerts and Notifications: Provide alerts and notifications for events such as license compliance issues, warranty expirations, or changes in asset status.
• Security and Compliance Monitoring: Monitor and enforce security policies, ensuring that assets comply with regulatory requirements and organizational security standards.
• User and Access Management: Manage user access to ITAM software, defining roles and permissions based on responsibilities.
• Mobile Accessibility: Provide mobile access to ITAM data and functions, allowing users to manage assets from various locations.