Your comprehensive guide to IT asset management

Imagine you’re in an office. Look around – how many computers do you see? How many smartphones, tablets, printers, and screens? Then try to picture all the digital resources you can’t see: software, apps, Wi-Fi routers, servers. Finally, factor in the devices and software used by employees working remotely across different locations worldwide. Now you have an idea of the breadth and complexity of a modern enterprise’s IT ecosystem. To ensure this ecosystem stays efficient and secure, each component needs to be identified and managed by an IT team, a process known as IT asset management. In this comprehensive guide, we’ve compiled insights into the challenges, benefits, stages, and best practices of IT asset management to give you a better understanding of the process.

What is IT asset management?

IT asset management, or ITAM, is the process of monitoring and optimizing the use of IT assets throughout their lifecycle within an organization. IT assets include any kind of hardware, software, network devices, and systems that are of value. As the digital landscape becomes more complex, with more users operating multiple devices, and employees working from home, it gets harder for IT and procurement teams to keep track of all deployed IT assets. IT asset management solutions can help them identify, monitor, and manage assets effectively.

Why does IT asset management matter?

Regardless of the industry, nearly every SMB and enterprise operates in a complex digital environment that is constantly changing. To keep up with the pace of digital transformation without getting lost in the weeds, IT teams need to have clear visibility of their entire digital ecosystem. At the same time, managers need up-to-date data to make informed decisions about adopting new technologies or setting IT budgets. Establishing a reliable and comprehensive asset management system enables businesses to keep pace with technology trends while at the same time optimizing costs and productivity.

What types of IT asset management are there?

IT asset management can encompass many different types of assets: software assets, cloud-based assets, hardware assets, mobile assets, servers, networks – the list goes on. Here are three main types of IT asset management:

Software asset management

Software assets are digital tools and programs that create value within an organization. They can include operating systems (OS), business applications, productivity and collaboration software, and development tools.

Software asset management involves software asset discovery, usage monitoring, license and subscription management, update, and patch deployment, and ensuring compliance with internal policies and software vendors’ terms of use. Software asset management can also encompass tracking the usage of cloud resources if the company has enlisted software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS).

Hardware asset management

Hardware assets are physical devices and equipment that are used for business purposes. Common hardware assets include desktop computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets, servers, printers, and the likes.

Hardware asset management is the process of discovering, tracking, and managing these assets, performing maintenance, and ensuring they comply with internal security and usage policies. It also includes the management of hardware upgrades and warranty extensions.

Network asset management

Network assets are components of your organization’s digital network that enable or regulate the information flow between devices. Network assets can be physical assets such as routers and switches, or digital assets like firewalls and virtual private networks (VPNs).

Network asset management involves the discovery, tracking, and management of network assets to ensure efficient and secure data transfer within your network. This can include managing configurations, monitoring network traffic, and identifying network assets that require maintenance or troubleshooting.

What are challenges in IT asset management and how can they be overcome?

Managing a vast variety of IT assets across an enterprise can seem like a daunting task. Indeed, IT technicians face several challenges when it comes to asset management but if you know how to tackle these challenges, they don’t necessarily pose a problem.

Managing change and complexity

In IT management, as in life, change is the only constant. People, devices, software, and regulations in your company are always evolving, so maintaining oversight of your IT infrastructure can be difficult. Asset management software that lets you automate tasks like deploying software updates and changing user permissions can help you keep up with your IT landscape.

Managing a hybrid workforce

Asset management was demanding enough when IT assets were confined to company premises. But since the proliferation of remote work and bring your own device (BYOD) policies, IT asset management has become even more complex. Choose an asset management solution with remote access and management capabilities to have all your assets accessible from one place.

Managing shadow IT

Despite your IT team’s best efforts to provide employees with the IT assets they need, employees still use hardware or software that wasn’t authorized by IT – also known as shadow IT. This poses security risks because the IT team remains unaware of these assets and therefore can’t address software vulnerabilities or verify that they comply with data protection policies. As a result, shadow IT is particularly vulnerable to exploitation by cyber criminals. You can eliminate shadow IT by running an automated asset discovery with the help of your asset management solution. This enables you to identify any IT resources being used without your knowledge and take appropriate action.

What are the benefits of using an IT asset management solution?

With the right tools, you can streamline your asset management processes and ultimately improve efficiency throughout your entire organization. Discover the benefits of using an automated asset management solution.

Centralize information

An IT asset management solution not only identifies the assets in your ecosystem and collects asset data but also provides you with a central place where all this data is stored. In addition to that, many asset management solutions can filter out important information and visualize data such as the number of deployed mobile devices or missing software patches. This saves time for your IT team and enables managers to make informed, data-based decisions.

Optimize costs

The upfront investment in asset management software is quickly offset by the cost savings made possible through the optimization of asset usage. The asset management software helps you track the usage of each deployed piece of hardware and software, so you can reallocate underused assets to ensure you are getting the most out of each resource. Usage monitoring also lets you avoid overprovisioning and identify unauthorized assets (shadow IT) that weren’t budgeted for.

Boost productivity

A central, automated asset management solution improves productivity across your entire organization. Your IT department saves time by automating administrative tasks and managing every asset from one dashboard. At the same time, optimized asset provisioning and faster identification and resolution of issues minimize end user downtime and keep everyone working productively.

Ensure security and compliance

With an asset management solution that can detect and monitor all IT assets in your infrastructure and generate automated reports, you can mitigate the risks associated with shadow IT. We recommend you set up monitoring checks and device policies to certify every device and software package complies with your security standards. You can eliminate software vulnerabilities by detecting and deploying software patches automatically.

How are IT assets managed along their lifecycle?

A good asset management system continuously monitors IT assets throughout each stage of their lifecycle. The lifecycle may be defined differently by every organization, but a common approach is to divide it into six stages: planning, procurement, deployment, operation, monitoring and maintenance, and retirement and disposal.