Understand the 8 Common IT Asset Management Processes

Author: Charles Wilson

The ISO 19770 standard establishes principles that organizations need to understand which technology supports their overall IT strategy, lower costs, and supports productivity. It offers best-practice principles for ITAM. With ITAM in place, businesses can develop solid, repeatable processes for managing the lifecycle of all IT assets and make better technological decisions. The first ISO 19770-1 software asset management standard was published in 2006. There existed a market gap, which ISO recognized despite the difficulties and complexity of the situation. This standard's creation led to the development of the ISO 19770 procedures and policies that will support increasing compliance and control. So, here are mentioned some of the most common IT asset management processes:

Asset Discovery: It takes a lot of time, money, and effort to manually add each new IT asset to the inventory, and it can be costly. Some of the top ITAM systems can automatically find new software assets and add them to the inventory. For company-owned devices, the system will immediately identify any new software apps and assist in finding any unlicensed software.

Track Hardware and Software Metrics: The organization must monitor their KPIs if they want to manage its IT assets properly. The organization may have a variety of hardware and software assets depending on the type of the organization, so they must choose which KPIs to give top priority.

Organizations can track the following metrics most commonly:

  • Number of IT assets
  • Licenses that are over-utilized and under-utilized
  • Maintaining costs
  • Licensed and unlicensed software
  • Expired warranties

    • By monitoring these indicators, organizations can enhance the functionality of these assets, maximize their use, and lower the cost of repair and maintenance.

    Track the Complete IT Asset Lifecycle: The full lifecycle of an IT asset is tracked as one of the key ITAM procedures. The life cycle consists of:

  • Acquiring the asset
  • An employee requesting a new asset
  • Updating, repairing, and maintaining the asset
  • Managerial approval of the request
  • Retirement of the asset

    • An ITAM system makes it easy to efficiently prepare for and control each stage. Also, it reduces ghost IT assets when the staff has a way to submit requests (assets for which the IT department was not notified). Also, the procedure makes it simple to keep track of each asset's depreciation. In this manner, scheduling repairs and maintenance will be simple. Also, individuals can dispose of a tangible asset promptly to receive its salvage value when it is almost time for retirement.

    Track Usage of IT Assets: The organization can determine how much each of the IT assets is used using the ITAM method. Using ITAM, they can quickly identify usage patterns and decide if an asset is being utilized excessively or insufficiently. organization can also decide whether to renew or terminate a software license and whether it is worthwhile to invest in improvements.

    Track Equipment Loan: If an organization gives equipment to their employees, such as tablets, phones, and other gadgets, then the organization must know who loaned what and when they will return it. The IT department will have more control over the lent equipment, and security threats will be reduced. The ITAM tool can assist in streamlining this procedure. Also, the staff may request equipment through a single portal, and the organization can simply track each IT asset's borrowing, maintenance, and repair time.

    Asset Location Tracking: The procedure is advantageous for businesses with multiple locations. Tracking asset location allows the organization to better manage its inventory by knowing which assets are accessible and where they are situated. This allows them to plan the distribution of each asset. If an organization has too many unused laptops in one place, for example, and new employees seek similar devices in another location, the organization will be able to observe this and manage the resources appropriately.

    Track Asset Access: The IT department can use this ITAM process to determine which personnel have access to which IT assets. This is an excellent security strategy if an employee leaves the organization. The organization will be able to determine which software and hardware assets the former employee had access to and revoke them using the ITAM platform.

    Manage Warranties: An ITAM tool can assist organizations in keeping track of hardware warranties. In this manner, an organization may quickly arrange for the IT equipment's repair or maintenance dates.

    Manage Software Licenses: Proper software licensing management is a crucial step in the management of IT assets. When the time for an audit arrives, making sure their compliant and not abusing a license could save the organization from paying high fines. The risk of non-compliance and maintenance expenses can be greatly decreased through the management of software licenses and warranties.