IT ASSET MANAGEMENT 101: WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

Information Technology has brought about a massive revolution in the business market. Everything from bills to data to conversations to contacts is online and taken care of by IT. That makes IT assets quite important for any business. But the problem is, how to keep track of these assets? How to know where a particular asset is on the office premises? What is their health? When do they need an update or replacement? Well, that’s what IT Asset Management (ITAM) is for and what IT Asset Management services provide you with.

Let’s have a better look at what ITAM really entails:

IT Asset Management

You bought some new desktop systems for your office. You have to put them in place of the old ones and figure out what to do with the old ones. This is all called asset management. In simple terms, tracking your assets and having a constantly updated record of their whereabouts and their health status is what IT asset management is. ITAM takes care of each asset of your inventory its entire lifecycle. This cycle includes the following steps:

Planning

This stage includes creating a strategic framework of what kind of, where and how many assets are required, where to get them from, and the budget aspect.

Acquisition

This stage includes procuring the required assets from the vendor and taking care of the licensing these assets.

Installment

• The next stage includes installing these new assets replacing the old ones and marking them to update the record and add them to the tracking process. In other words, making it functional in your IT ecosystem.  

• Maintenance
• This step includes all kinds of maintenance procedures including regular checks, license renewal, lease renewal, system updating, repairing any damages. In other words, it includes ensuring a smooth functioning of the assets.  

• Disposal
• This final stage includes preparing and arranging proper disposal of the used assets that have completed their lifecycle. This stage also includes canceling the licenses and leases of these assets and updating the record.

The final stage is then followed by the planning of new replacements for the disposed off assets thus creating a cycle.

Why ITAM?

          You’d be thinking why is it important to track each of your asset and where they are in their lifecycle. Well, because planning pays off. In this case, it literally saves you a lot of money. Once you start tracking your assets, you know how many unused assets you have and how mnay new you want.

This planning will help you manage your asset budget well in an efficient way.

Moreover, the tracking will help you keep an eye on assets and thus there are fewer, if not none, chances of any loss or stealing of the assets.
The constant tracking and the updated records help you create better policies and plans for the future investment as well as helps your IT department run smoothly with up to date information on any asset at any given point of time. This in turn also reduces any legal risks or security issues in case of a mishap or accident that ends up damaging your assets.

Having an efficient ITAM system can be very stressful and time taking. This is why most businesses prefer to outsource and hire IT Asset Management services in their town. Not only does the process become considerably easy, but the hiring cost is also easily made up for the bad investment they save you from by making sure each asset is used to its full potential and by creating a strong and integrated IT ecosystem in your office.