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What Exactly Are IT assets?
IT assets can be defined as hardware, software licenses and data that an organization takes great pride in possessing.
Atlassian's IT department highly values the computers, licenses and servers used for developing, supporting and selling our software products as assets of great significance to us.
IT assets only remain useful for so long. Effective asset lifecycle management can maximize value to an organization over its useful lifespan, usually including planning, procurement/deployment/maintenance/retirement/retirement and disposal.
IT Asset management app encompasses applying processes across their entirety in order to optimize assets while understanding the total costs of ownership.
Prior to this, IT departments were capable of overseeing assets within their domain; asset management now doesn't just apply to IT-approved hardware but includes subscription-based software and employee expectations that their tools be customized through app stores and marketplaces.
Modern teams require IT to be flexible enough and adapt its asset management practices in order to support business operations.
Asset management becomes even more essential as teams strive to select the ideal tools for their work, providing current information that reduces costs and risks while streamlining budgeting procedures, supporting lifecycle management processes and making business-wide decisions.
Asset management creates one source of information that allows organizations to optimize budgets while supporting lifecycle management functions and making vital organizational decisions more easily.
Asset management has become more relevant outside the IT department as companies adopt service management. Asset tracking software allows organizations to keep an eye on everything from fish tanks and fleets of cars to insurance policies and musical instruments.
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What Is IT Asset Management (ITAM)?
One Source Of The Truth
Asset tracking often occurs across many locations and among various individuals; no single individual owns anything, nor can one software collect and centralize the information, thus leading to chaos and inaccurate data that makes informed decision-making challenging.
Some companies employ people solely dedicated to tracking IT assets. In contrast, this work should be handled automatically so IT staff can dedicate their energy and brainpower towards issues more crucial to their organization rather than spending valuable resources tracking artifacts and usage monitoring.
Asset management provides order and an organized source of truth within IT departments, managers and, ultimately, organizations as a whole.
Improve Utilization And Eliminate Waste
Asset management updates information so teams can efficiently eliminate waste and improve utilization by eliminating unnecessary purchases, licensing fees and support needs; savings are realized as unnecessary purchases are eliminated or reduced, support needs enhanced and risks reduced through tightened control enforcement policies that make sure security protocols are followed closely resulting in positive effects for productivity and costs within an organization as a whole.
Productivity Without Compromise
Modern asset management goes well beyond tracking computers and mice; digital transformation has dramatically transformed business operations, necessitating effective asset management tools and processes to effectively deliver functionality and services without compromising reliability.
Teams have adopted DevOps principles and SRE methodologies as part of releasing features quickly and reliably without risk to reliability. "Prepare Your IT Asset Management for 2020" emphasizes this fact while noting how organizations increasingly rely on infrastructure services, with effective asset management allowing them to control consumption by controlling overprovisioning or idle instances effectively.
Supporting ITSM And Enabling Team Members Throughout An Organization
ITIL processes such as change, incident and problem management are supported by IT asset management. IT teams enable an organization to be more innovative while quickly providing value.
Teams have access to data that enables them to move swiftly while anticipating the effects of change before it occurs, providing more value faster by sharing insights faster - an advantage the organization gains competitive by doing. In order to keep pace with modern innovation, any organization must remain strategic when controlling, tracking and mastering IT information.
Also Read: Creating a System for IT Asset Management
IT Asset Management Process
Asset management isn't something you complete once and expect it to be complete; ITAM should be an ongoing practice that adjusts as goals, assets and tools change over time.
Teams may develop ITAM processes as goals change or new tools come out onto the market.
- Inventory Assets: To begin IT asset management effectively, start by compiling an extensive inventory list. Include in it every asset owned, their location and when and how much each one cost.
- Calculate Lifecycle Costs: The next step should involve calculating the lifecycle costs of all of your assets, taking into account maintenance, capital spending and disposal. A life cycle cost calculation makes it possible to accurately and effectively manage assets over their life.
- Tracking: For your third step, asset tracking software provides the solution. By monitoring IT assets from their inception until their eventual retirement - keeping an eye out for contract, warranty, license expiration dates etc - and keeping up with maintenance needs by monitoring, you will ensure their continuous existence and ensure no surprises arise from unexpected situations.
- Maintenance: Maintenance includes asset repairs, upgrades and replacement. Therefore, all these activities must be recorded using ITAM software so the data collected can help understand how an asset performs over time.
- Planning Financial: As a final step of planning, financial planning is the fifth step of this process. Achieving maximum effectiveness when doing financial planning is to have an accurate view of all IT assets across their lifecycle stages and performance in any one life stage. Financial planning establishes budget requirements necessary for improving or maintaining service levels provided to critical assets by your team - assets managed successfully with a dedicated service team or service desk may need the same level of services in the future, while underperformed assets could need greater services as soon as they appear;
IT Asset Management: How To Start
Launching IT asset management may seem intimidating at first. Still, by adhering to ITIL 4's "Start Where You Are" principle, you'll put yourself on the road to success.
Evaluate existing processes and infrastructure rather than trying to reinvent everything at once; identify any areas for improvement with gradual implementation changes to optimize asset-management strategies while prioritizing important aspects and relieving pain points quickly for quick wins.
Your software solution must meet both current and anticipated future business requirements; its flexibility should allow it to adapt as your needs shift over time.
Successful IT Asset Management relies upon cultivating an environment that fosters collaboration and transparency, giving all involved access to necessary information when required - creating an ideal working environment with productivity in mind. Discover our Asset and Configuration Management Handbook for further insight into IT Asset Management.
What To Consider When Selecting IT Asset Management Software
Asset Management Software: Assessing It Before searching for different vendors of asset management software, first assess why your asset management requires improvement, and these may be indicators that it might be time for implementation.
Do You Want To Reduce Costs?
Optimizing spending on software licenses and infrastructure services is one way of cutting expenses, as these services have become increasingly critical to modern society.
According to Gartner research, organizations may reduce spending up to 30 percent by following best practices for optimizing licenses; manually accomplishing this task may prove more costly due to the special knowledge required and its inflexibility compared with SAM tools, which automate manual processes as well as speed them up; they're usually cost-effective alternatives which often pay for themselves."
Do You Rely On Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets remain one of the primary ways companies track assets. Do You Think They Stay Accurate Long Term (or Ever?!) Although initially accurate, spreadsheets quickly become unwieldy or inaccurate as soon as you incorporate variable costs like interest or maintenance into them - Sage Accounting discovered that organizations using spreadsheets for asset tracking could spend as much as $50,000 annually on "ghost items," meaning items which cost money but don't exist physically at all - this number alone would add up quickly! Yikes!
Your Business Might Struggle To Adapt Quickly To An Ever-Evolving Industry Landscape
Today, five headsets were delivered, and in Tuscaloosa, four employees' laptops were stolen from a restaurant. Next month, ten printers will be replaced by our leasing firm, as will fourteen laptops; you must establish a system to help any employee, even part-time ones, keep track of all this information.
Shadow IT Has Quickly Become An Emerging Concern
Applications, licenses and assets purchased or utilized without notifying IT's central team. Collaboration software provides IT with valuable visibility into other teams' activity while helping reduce unnecessary costs or risks.
Once it becomes time to implement new asset management practices in your company, visualizing how they'll implement their approach will assist with selecting software best suited to meet your requirements.
An inventory is one effective method of understanding exactly what assets exist as well as their costs; then, your finance team can map lifecycles for these assets with potential cost estimates in mind.
IT Asset Management goes further, covering routine asset tracking as well as self-service portals where employees can request subscriptions to common software using self-service portals that may then be processed using pre existing policies before being sent out as links that give access to users.
It allows IT departments to focus on high-level work while decreasing the effort spent supporting tasks.
Effective asset management also relies on collaboration. A collaborative tool enables employees to submit requests while other departments, like procurement, can approve or comment upon these submissions.
If possible, connect the asset management software with existing services that employees utilize, such as Slack, for making quick requests with just a few keystrokes; IT teams can improve visibility by streamlining this intake process and increasing the visibility of requests made within it.
An effective service desk provides employees with an effective mechanism for easily seeking assistance, and IT staff can manage those requests efficiently.
A service desk connected with asset management software also enables better customer service: when someone submits their laptop for repair, information such as purchase date and past problems become immediately accessible; it can also see all tickets associated with that laptop.
Asset management must keep pace with IT advancement. As services migrate towards SaaS providers and outsourced providers become a greater source of critical services, it becomes essential to stay abreast of changes.
You should select tools that support and enable service management practices for optimal service provisioning practices.
Each organization is distinct; you may need to identify complex dependencies within an organization in order to reduce risks, like licenses and compliance documents.
In contrast, your needs might simply require tracking computer inventories.
Asset management software comes in various flavors - from affordable solutions that simply track equipment on a network to complex enterprise-level systems that automatically identify equipment like IP phones or dirty dishes in an office kitchen - there are multiple choices when selecting asset management services software for your office or workplace.
One key decision point should be whether to go for simple trackers or more robust enterprise solutions.
The Most Popular Asset Tracking Technologies
Asset tracking technologies have become indispensable tools in virtually all business industries, providing valuable information about business operations while optimizing efficiency, as well as protecting against losses or theft of assets.
Here are the five most widely used tracking solutions. There are multiple approaches for tracking assets (some were briefly discussed above), and reading this article will enable you to choose the optimal method for your company based on its needs.
Pen And Paper
Pen and paper was the original asset tracking method when other technologies weren't readily available, and some organizations continue using this primitive means for asset tracking today, even though other solutions exist.
This method may seem simple to implement, yet its drawbacks outweigh its advantages: Employees needing information on assets can hinder productivity.
Spreadsheet
The spreadsheet is almost as intuitive and efficient as pen and paper for managing information. Still, it has additional advantages, such as providing access for multiple staff members at once and speedy searches.
Multiple employees using one spreadsheet may seem convenient; however, this can create problems such as incorrect asset data being entered by too many different individuals.
Barcode
Barcode was an impressive technological advance that revolutionized asset tracking systems in 1970 but remains valuable today.
Barcodes are convenient, low-cost solutions that are accessible across various technologies. Their disadvantage is requiring a direct line of vision when scanning, which could make scanning challenging for those unable to see the code in its entirety.
RFID (Radio Frequency ID)
Radiofrequency ID technology relies on radio frequency tags or chips that transmit product data when they're scanned by scanners, similar to barcodes but more sophisticated as it offers advantages that cannot be gained with standard barcodes.
RFID offers many advantages over barcodes, including remote scanning and the capability of simultaneously recognizing multiple objects.
Unfortunately, however, its price tag exceeds barcodes due to using smaller scanner devices that increase error risk by users due to missed scans or incorrect items being identified as valid scan targets.
Near Field Communication (NFC)
NFC technology resembles RFID technology but without the requirement of special scanning equipment; employees can simply use smartphones to track assets and inventory.
This method stands out for its ease, efficiency and effectiveness. However, its limited scanning range (a couple of inches) means it cannot be used from afar.
Bluetooth Low Energy
This method excels when an asset is in motion but still within range of devices that are receiving signals, like devices in an infrastructure grid.
Hologram.io states that BLE tags last up to 10 years while being an affordable and attractive combination.
Global Positioning System (GPS) technology
Satellite systems use triangulation to locate assets on Earth's surface. Each satellite receiver device receives a signal that then helps pinpoint an asset - similar to cell phone technology.
GPS can have significant reliability issues when the signal from all satellites is unavailable to it.
Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN)
This technology offers long battery life, reliable connectivity, and a long range of asset-tracking devices. Available technologies include NB-IoT, LTE-M (Long Range IoT), Sigfox and LoRa.
LPWAN tags may be more costly, yet their capabilities do not require as much infrastructure. One such technology, known as NB-IoT, connects directly to cell networks without needing an intermediary gateway; this works great for check-ins but cannot be tracked in real time.
Also Read: Utilize Asset Management Solutions To Track IT Assets
Are You Facing These 5 Common Asset Tracking Challenges
Asset tracking can be challenging at times for organizations. In order to stay compliant and prevent issues like asset theft, financial loss, or productivity losses from occurring, it's vitally important that everything owned is tracked accurately using various means, such as the ones mentioned herein.
Fix any asset-tracking problems plaguing you and your business by selecting the ideal system.
Excess Production Or Untimely Stockout
Stock management can be challenging. You may have encountered shortages or an excess of certain assets that cause delays to workflows or unplanned expenses.
Sometimes, it comes down to an inadequate method for estimating the stock quantities required.
Businesses should employ an inventory system with alerts that allow them to set minimum threshold levels for assets.
An excess inventory can also be harmful, taking up valuable warehouse space while becoming obsolete over time. Therefore, accurate calculation and study of consumption patterns is crucial in order to avoid this scenario.
Equipment Failure And Maintenance Problems Occur Frequently
Recent research uncovered two primary culprits behind unscheduled shutdowns at industrial facilities - outdated equipment and insufficient time available for maintenance - which cause unscheduled shutdowns.
Businesses struggling with equipment breakdowns need to increase their maintenance programs in order to prevent equipment wear and tear and ensure it lasts as long as expected.
Doing this may include developing routine repairs and upkeep procedures so as to prolong equipment lifespan as much as possible. Preventative maintenance should always be prioritized to lower unexpected downtime and save costs.
- Tools designed to increase productivity and efficiency.
- Reduce maintenance costs
- Extend the uptime and life span of your assets for less money spent on maintenance fees.
- Reduce Labour Downtime Now
Assets Lost Due To Theft Or Misplacement
Poor security practices have the power to cost companies up to $10M in revenue annually. Asset thefts and losses affect every industry, yet proper asset management could save enormous sums of money.
Asset managers can utilize tracking systems to tag their tools with appropriate technology, as well as assign each asset a serial number that uniquely identifies it so they can keep tabs on its ownership should something go amiss or become lost or misplaced.
Equipment theft or loss can have devastating repercussions for any business, disrupting operations and delaying project deadlines while having an immediate negative effect on both productivity and the bottom line.
Human Error
Unfortunately, mistakes will always happen no matter our best efforts; more traditional asset tracking methods make this more likely, leading to wasted effort and leading to costly inaccuracy reports.
Spreadsheet tracking methods such as Excel are cost-effective and user-friendly; however, their manual inputting of data by multiple individuals at once can lead to errors reducing productivity overall.
Wasted Resources
Asset or equipment loss could have devastating repercussions for any business due to lost hours, work stoppage, and delays in delivery.
Unable to locate needed assets can have disastrous repercussions for an operation: either delays in progress or reduced efficiency, as workers must wait until an alternative asset becomes available for use.
Asset Tracking Benefits You Should Understand
There are numerous advantages associated with asset tracking, which all add value to an organization when implemented properly.
Proper asset management will have many positive results on an organization's bottom line as a result. Asset tracking provides numerous advantages to organizations.
Track Assets with Multiple Technologies: The primary advantage of asset tracking lies in its versatility: you can choose among various technologies depending on where and the size of an organization, from RFID tags and GPS to barcode labels to monitor assets.
Control movement: Administrators of companies using asset tracking will realize several advantages by tracking asset locations and inventory movement.
Gaining insight into where assets reside allows employees to make future corrections more quickly.
Organization and efficiency: Asset tracking provides users with all of the data needed for effective organization and efficiency in warehouses, inventories or any storage area much faster.
Tracked items allow them to improve efficiency by decreasing time spent searching and creating better filing and organization systems; users also benefit from forecasting future purchases using barcodes, RFIDs and GPS numbers easily accessible on devices like smart watches.
Here are more benefits of asset tracking worth noting:
- Asset tracking systems allow businesses and institutions to keep tabs on assets with limited resources efficiently.
- Administration costs can be decreased as administrators no longer need to track assets and locate them themselves manually.
- Track and Manage Assets to Limit Loss and Maximize Usage.
- As your business expands, so can its asset tracking system.
- Enhance customer service by improving asset management and monitoring practices.
- Asset loss management demands accountability and accuracy.
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In Conclusion
The benefits of utilizing IT asset management solutions are undeniable. From cost savings to improved security and efficiency, these tools empower organizations to take control of their IT assets.
So, suppose you're looking to optimize your IT infrastructure and stay ahead of the curve. In that case, it's time to consider integrating IT asset management into your business strategy.
