What Is IT Asset Management (ITAM)?

As your business scales, it is increasingly important to efficiently manage your software and hardware assets throughout their lifecycle. Doing so helps reduce risks, plan your budget more effectively, minimize business disruptions and understand how effective your IT infrastructure is in driving success for your organization.

IT asset management (ITAM) provides a systematic approach to achieving this goal in an organization. In this comprehensive blog post, we will discuss the various aspects of ITAM, including its types, components and best practices. We will also explore how Kaseya VSA can help you streamline your IT asset management processes and boost their efficiency.

What is IT asset management?

IT asset management is a process (and a set of technologies) that ensures an organization’s assets are deployed, tracked, patched, maintained, upgraded and eventually disposed of. These assets include hardware, software, cloud resources and other technology components that support business operations.

An important aspect of IT asset management is determining how well your IT infrastructure supports your unique business needs. Essentially, the purpose of IT asset management is to maximize the value created by the IT equipment within the organization by monitoring its status throughout its lifecycle.

Why is IT asset management important?

The main goal of IT asset lifecycle management is to determine when an asset is likely to reach its peak performance and how long it can be utilized optimally before it can eventually be disposed of. This data-driven approach helps businesses ensure that they can keep their assets operational for as long as possible.

Here are some other key reasons why ITAM is important for your organization:

  • Cost reduction: By keeping track of all IT assets, organizations can avoid unnecessary purchases and make better use of existing resources.
  • Compliance: ITAM helps ensure that all software licenses and hardware assets comply with regulatory requirements and vendor agreements.
  • Risk management: Proper ITAM practices help identify and mitigate risks associated with asset failures, security breaches and non-compliance.
  • Improved and informed decision-making: With accurate and up-to-date information on IT assets, organizations can make informed decisions about upgrades, replacements and retirements.

What should be included in an IT asset management database?

An effective ITAM database should include detailed information about every asset in an organization. This information can be categorized into three main components:

Physical data

Physical data includes details about the hardware assets such as servers, desktops, laptops and networking equipment. Information like serial numbers, model numbers, locations and asset conditions should be documented to facilitate tracking and maintenance.

Financial data

Financial data pertains to the cost, depreciation and total cost of ownership (TCO) of IT assets. This includes purchase prices, lease terms, warranty information and maintenance costs. Tracking financial data helps organizations budget for future expenses and evaluate the financial impact of their IT investments.

Contractual data

Contractual data encompasses the terms and conditions associated with software licenses, service agreements and vendor contracts. This includes renewal dates, usage restrictions and compliance requirements. Managing contractual data ensures that organizations remain compliant with their agreements and avoid penalties.

What are the types of IT asset management?

ITAM encompasses various types, each focusing on different aspects of asset management. Here are some common types:

Software asset management (SAM)

As the name suggests, software asset management involves managing and optimizing processes such as the purchase, installation, utilization, monitoring, maintenance and disposal of software applications in an organization.

  • License compliance: SAM helps organizations track and manage software licenses to ensure they are compliant with licensing agreements. This includes monitoring license usage, avoiding under-licensing (which can lead to legal issues) and over-licensing (which results in unnecessary expenses).
  • Cost optimization: By understanding software usage patterns, organizations can identify unused or underutilized licenses and reallocate or discontinue them, thus optimizing software spending.
  • Security and updates: SAM ensures that all software is up-to-date with the latest patches and updates, reducing vulnerabilities and enhancing security.

Hardware asset management (HAM)

Hardware asset management entails the strategies, processes and tools used to manage the physical components of an organization’s IT infrastructure. These physical components include desktops, laptops, servers and other devices.

  • Inventory management: HAM provides a comprehensive inventory of all hardware assets, including their locations, configurations and conditions. This helps in efficient asset tracking and management.
  • Lifecycle management: From procurement to disposal, HAM manages the entire lifecycle of hardware assets. This includes regular maintenance, repairs, upgrades and eventual decommissioning.
  • Cost control: By monitoring hardware usage and performance, organizations can make informed decisions about upgrades and replacements, optimizing their investment in physical assets.

Cloud asset management (CAM)

The process of controlling and managing the cloud infrastructure of an organization, including the application data stored within the cloud, is known as cloud asset management. In other words, cloud asset management helps with tracking, maintaining and complying with an organization’s cloud inventory.

  • Usage tracking: CAM helps organizations track the usage of cloud services, ensuring that they are utilized efficiently and cost-effectively. This includes monitoring resource consumption and identifying underutilized services.
  • Cost management: By keeping an eye on cloud spending, organizations can optimize their cloud investments, avoid unnecessary expenses and ensure they are only paying for what they use.
  • Security and compliance: Managing cloud assets includes ensuring that they meet security and compliance requirements. This involves monitoring access controls, data security measures and compliance with regulatory standards.

Mobile asset management (MAM)

Mobile asset management focuses on managing mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops. MAM ensures that these devices are secure, up-to-date and used efficiently.

  • Device tracking: MAM tracks the location, usage and status of mobile devices, ensuring that they are accounted for and properly managed.
  • Security management: MAM includes security measures such as remote wipes, encryption and access controls to protect sensitive data on mobile devices.
  • Application management: MAM manages the deployment, updating and usage of mobile applications, ensuring that they are used efficiently and comply with organizational policies.

The IT asset management process

The ITAM process, also known as the IT asset management lifecycle, involves several steps to ensure that IT assets are managed efficiently throughout their lifecycle. These steps include:

  1. Plan: Planning involves identifying the need for new IT assets and creating a strategy for their acquisition and deployment. This includes assessing current assets, forecasting future needs and budgeting for new purchases.
  2. Develop/Acquire: The acquisition phase involves procuring the necessary IT assets based on the planning phase. This includes selecting vendors, negotiating contracts and purchasing or leasing the assets.
  3. Integrate/Deploy: Deployment involves installing and configuring the new assets within the organization’s IT environment. This includes integrating the assets with existing systems and ensuring they are ready for use.
  4. Maintain/Improve: Maintenance involves regular monitoring and upkeep of IT assets to ensure they remain functional and secure. This includes applying updates, performing repairs and optimizing asset performance.
  5. Retire: The retirement phase involves decommissioning and disposing of IT assets that are no longer needed or have reached the end of their useful life. This includes securely wiping data, recycling or disposing of hardware and updating the ITAM database.

IT asset management standards

The ISO/IEC 19770 family of standards provides guidelines for IT asset management. These standards ensure that organizations follow best practices in managing their IT assets. Key standards include:

  • ISO/IEC 19770-1: This standard provides an overview of IT asset management processes and requirements, helping organizations establish an ITAM system that aligns with best practices.
  • ISO/IEC 19770-2: This standard focuses on software identification tags, which help organizations accurately identify and manage their software assets.
  • ISO/IEC 19770-3: This standard provides guidelines for software license entitlements, ensuring organizations comply with licensing agreements and optimize their software usage.
  • ISO/IEC 19770-4: This standard covers resource utilization measurement, helping organizations track and optimize the use of their IT resources.
  • ISO/IEC 19770-5: This standard provides an overview and vocabulary for IT asset management, helping organizations understand and implement ITAM practices.

Benefits of IT asset management

Some of the major benefits of IT asset management are listed below. IT asset management helps organizations:

  • Predict their IT needs more effectively: ITAM provides organizations with comprehensive insights into their current IT infrastructure, including hardware, software and network resources. This enables them to predict future IT needs more accurately and plan for expansions or upgrades well in advance.
  • Make smart decisions regarding IT asset purchases: With a clear view of their existing assets and their utilization, organizations can make informed decisions about new IT asset purchases. IT asset management systems provide data on asset performance, lifespan and usage patterns, helping organizations determine when it’s time to invest in new assets or replace outdated ones.
  • Proactively replenish resources as required: One critical advantage of ITAM is its ability to enable proactive resource management. By continuously monitoring the status and health of IT assets, organizations can identify when resources are nearing their end-of-life or when their performance is degrading.
  • Enhance the quality of their IT services: Quality IT services are essential for maintaining smooth business operations and ensuring customer satisfaction. IT asset management contributes to this by ensuring that all IT assets are well-maintained, up-to-date and functioning at their best.
  • Accurately evaluate the TCO of any given asset: Understanding the TCO of IT assets is crucial for effective financial planning and management. IT asset management systems track not only the purchase price of assets but also their ongoing costs, such as maintenance, support and energy consumption.

IT asset management best practices

To ensure successful ITAM, organizations should follow these best practices:

  • Audit and track regularly: Regular audits and tracking of IT assets are essential for maintaining an accurate ITAM database. This includes conducting physical inventories, verifying software licenses and updating asset records.
  • Document and report: Proper documentation and reporting are critical for effective ITAM. This includes maintaining detailed records of all IT assets, generating reports on asset statuses and performance, and sharing this information with relevant stakeholders.
  • Encourage stakeholder feedback: Engaging stakeholders in the ITAM process helps ensure that the system meets the needs of the organization. This includes gathering feedback from IT staff, end-users and management to identify areas for improvement and address any concerns.
  • Automate ITAM processes: Automating ITAM processes can significantly improve efficiency and accuracy. This includes using ITAM software to track and manage assets, automate routine tasks and generate reports.

What is IT asset management software?

ITAM software plays a crucial role in automating ITAM processes and improving overall operational efficiency. The software helps organizations track and manage their IT assets, automate routine tasks and generate detailed reports. Key features of ITAM software include asset tracking, software license management and integration with other IT management tools.

How does an RMM or endpoint management solution help with IT asset management?

Many folks consider remote monitoring and management (RMM)/endpoint management to be a solution for troubleshooting and monitoring your assets. These solutions of course are great, but a best-in-class RMM can do so much more to supercharge your IT asset management.

You can’t manage what you can’t see. Here is a list of ways in which an RMM or endpoint management solution can help with IT asset management.

Automated diagramming and topology map

Network monitoring enables deep, continuous network scanning to understand all of your network assets. If your RMM/endpoint management solution integrates with your IT documentation solution, your asset management is even easier. It can then discover all endpoints and assign them to the organization, department or machine groups set up in IT Glue. This synchronization also ensures that, should you off-board a workstation, it will be updated in your IT documents.

Patching

Asset management is all about ensuring your IT assets are safe and performing at their best. Effective patch management is vital to effective IT asset management. Efficient IT asset management helps improve visibility and reduce the risk of ransomware and other cyberattacks.

Automated software deployment, user onboarding and user configuration hardening

An RMM/endpoint management solution can help improve the productivity of end users, expedite new user onboarding with automated software deployment and improve security by hardening user configurations. You can leverage policies to perform all these functions. You can set policies for unique user groups as well. Your finance team likely needs radically different software solutions than your creative/design team would. Ensure you’re effectively delivering the right tools while protecting the respective teams.

Want to learn how to get complete real-time visibility into your entire network via a centralized dashboard? Download this whitepaper.

Manage IT assets and your hybrid environment with Kaseya VSA

Kaseya VSA is a next-generation, unified RMM solution that maximizes IT operational efficiency with complete IT asset discovery, monitoring and management. It gives you the visibility and functionality you need to manage all of IT in a single UI. If your endpoint management solution can’t manage your hybrid IT ecosystem, it’s time to upgrade. Get your 14-day free trial today.

Kaseya Delivers More Value to BMS and Vorex Users With AI-Powered Features at No Additional Cost

Discover how Kaseya’s AI-powered features, Collision-Free Ticketing and Cooper Copilot, enhance BMS and Vorex to streamline workflows and boost efficiency.

How RMM Automation Reduces Ransomware Risk, IT Burnout and Cost

Automating cybersecurity processes helps organizations effectively defend against ransomware and other threats. Read the blog to learn more.

Ransomware Horror Stories of 2024 and How to Avoid Them

Ransomware attacks surged in 2024, casting a formidable threat to businesses across industries. Recent developments like open-sourced versions and theRead More

Top Compliance Standards and the Differences Between Them: SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIST and PCI DSS

Businesses cannot afford to ignore IT compliance any longer. Not only does it help organizations meet regulatory requirements and avoidRead More

Archives

Categories