IT Asset and Inventory Management

What is IT Asset Management (ITAM)

ITAM is also known as IT inventory management. It ensures the organization’s resources are used efficiently to support the needs of users and business functions. Its process involves gathering detailed hardware and software inventory data, which is then used to make purchasing and asset utilization decisions. 

Having an accurate IT asset inventory allows businesses to make better use of their assets and avoid unnecessary asset purchases by repurposing existing assets. IT asset management also allows businesses to reduce the risks and costs associated with unknowingly launching new IT operations on outdated infrastructure foundations.

Traditionally, businesses have relied on spreadsheets when organizing IT inventory. This is a time-consuming process. The inventory catalog alone includes a lot of information such as product numbers, quantities, users, locations, and other information. It takes a long time to fill out a spreadsheet every time there is a change in inventory. This problem resulted in the birth of IT asset management software (ITAM) which provides automation that is more convenient and beneficial.

IT Asset Management (ITAM) softare

ITAM is in charge of the IT infrastructure. By tracking the status of each asset as it depreciates over time, it helps businesses in maximizing the value of IT equipment and software.

ITAM tool is very common nowadays, especially to companies that use numerous IT assets that can be challenging to monitor manually. What an ITAM tool

does is automatically detects and records the hardware and software information of computers and other devices on a network for management and compliance purposes. It’s a very powerful tool and fundamental in IT asset management. Whenever management requires computer or network data for an audit or even regular asset management, they can simply pull out information from the ITAM software.

In the past, people who manage IT assets used to spend their time on-site. They would walk around manually counting everything and looking for a spreadsheet that had the information they needed. Because of the arrival of modern technology, they do it a lot less now. They can now simply pull out the software that contains extensive and accurate asset information and filter out the items they need to inspect or report on.

ITAM Challenges

Despite the fact that ITAM tools can easily detect all devices and software connected to your network, there are still loophole in the process. What makes ITAM complicated nowadays is the fact that most employees now work from home. IT people monitor not only the devices they have but also how these devices are spread across multiple locations and users. They should maintain the right allocation of devices and make sure every asset is being useful to its assigned user. 

It’s crucial to be able to track down where your company’s assets are at any given time, not just the computers, but also the peripherals such as keyboards, mice, monitors, and headsets. Only then will you be able to effectively allocate and manage your company’s resources as well as make informed decisions about IT asset optimization and management.

Increasing Inventory Visibility

With the current situation where most people work remotely, having inventory visibility is undeniably tough. Where your assets are located and who’s using which device are the common questions you may have. Whenever you need information about the quantity and location of each asset you have in the entire network, how confident are you that you’ll be able to locate them easily and make an accurate report about them? The following items might help you.

The Map

Inventory visibility plays a major role in a remote work environment. Making a visual drawing, a visual map that allows seeing the assets and their location is one of the things IT technicians would do to get more visibility. A map gives a comprehensive view of all assets in the IT bubble. It makes things easier and not confusing to look at because assets are placed on the map as they were in real life.

IT infrastructure can have multiple locations such as rooms, shelves, bins, vehicles, and remote users that require constant monitoring. Having a birds-eye view over your resources, knowing the quantity and who’s using them can help you better allocate assets to meet business needs. 

How it works is that all the IT assets discovered by the ITAM software in the network are automatically imported and synchronized to the inventory map. This way, you can track and organize them based on how they are assigned or moved in real life. 

When your inventory dashboard is a map, you can transfer or assign items by dragging and dropping them between locations. To ensure the asset counts are accurate and distributed properly, you can do quick cycle counts at any of the locations by looking at the location on the map.

Activity History

People that work at home, require multiple items to perform their job. Hundreds of employees multiplied by the number of assets can be cumbersome to monitor when moved between locations or users. To make things easier, a record of who has which items and documentation of activities and changes is a must-have. 

Having an activity history is great for a company that requires accountability to every asset they have. Activity history has a record of every change made including who made the changes, the date and time, and the assets involved. 

The Takeaway

Every business has IT assets that need to be monitored, hence, accurate IT asset management should be aimed. With numerous assets an organization has, it is important to consider the best way to minimize effort and errors as it affects the overall financial situation of the business. 

Automation is highly beneficial in capturing, analyzing, and reporting asset information. It allows operational processes and decision-making to be established based on accurate data. 

Like common inventory management, IT asset management requires a high level of asset visibility. 

Asset mapping is an emerging feature an inventory software can offer. It is like having a birds’ eye view, it helps to easily locate and count assets in multiple locations.

Activity history is another catch. It records information in every change and movement of assets within the organization.