What is IT Asset Management?

Lana works for a small independent insurance agency in California, but she has never set foot in the office. Instead she works from her home office in Virginia, using equipment provided by the company to access the company’s network. To clients, it appears that Lana is just another employee of the agency. She has a VoIP phone with an extension of the company’s main line. She uses software to fax documents from the company’s internet-enabled fax line. She shares access to all the same data that other employees have access to. Lana is just one example of the growing number of remote employees working for companies worldwide.

This increase in remote positions, along with other changes in the way that organizations operate, have created unique challenges for companies. Now more than ever, organizations need to see the complete picture of their business assets. They need to know the details of every asset under the organization’s control to optimize their business management functions. This is where IT asset management becomes important.

In this guide, you will learn:

· What is IT Asset Management?

· The challenges of IT Asset Management

· Who should worry about IT Asset Management?

· Tips for successful IT Asset Management

What is IT Asset Management?

IT Asset Management is the system that a business uses to manage all assets within the organization, and to integrate all the activities associated with those assets. It covers not only physical assets, such as hardware and real estate, but also digital assets and information. Software licenses, contracts, proprietary information all fall under the title of business assets. These assets are tracked and recorded in a database, along with all their identifying information. Every detail about every asset is recorded and accessible.

For example, Company X purchases a laptop for use by a contract employee at an offsite location. The laptop is labeled with an RFID tag and scanned into the system. the location, make, model, serial number, date of purchase, vendor, cost, contract number, maintenance information, user access, and any associated software information for a laptop is recorded in the system. This data is made searchable by every category so that at any time the information can be sorted and searched as required.

IT Asset Management allows businesses to use the information stored for their assets to assist in the overall operation of the business. The data can be accessed to assist in purchasing and planning for new assets, managing service contracts, managing inventory and maintaining compliance with government and contractual regulations and obligations.

Challenges with IT Asset Management

Information technology is getting more complicated with users accessing multiple devices, storing data in multiple places, storing information in the cloud, uploading information to websites, thumb drives, portable hard drives, cell phones, and accessing web mail from unsecure networks. As technologies continue to grow and change, so must the IT Asset Management plan, to ensure the continued security of company assets.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

How can a company secure asset that are accessed on a device not owned by the company? It seems like an impossible task. Many companies don’t allow access to the company network with personal devices to minimize the potential risk to the network that outside devices bring. Setting policies such as this within the IT Asset Management system of the company help to eliminate problems before they become a problem.

Internet of Things (IoT)

Technology has advanced on so many levels to the point where we have a complicated web of devices all interconnecting and communicating without any assistance from humans. From refrigerators that make store lists and livestream their contents to their owners, to cars that transmit data to manufacturers on their own, the internet has become a complicated place. These interrelated devices may contain company proprietary data or communicate with other machines on networks that do not offer the same level of security. For example, if you have the ability to access your company email through your personal cell phone, and your refrigerator contacts you through an app on your personal cell phone, the potential exists that the two may inadvertently communicate information in error. Accessing your employer’s secure network (say, via a code generating key fob) on your laptop from your home network, while your WIFI printer also accesses your laptop from the same network provides an opportunity for breach of information.

Multiple worksites and remote workers

Like we learned about Lana at the beginning, many companies are choosing remote workers as the best available option, especially with the COVID-19 situation, and the closing of many physical work locations. To stay in business, many companies have been forced to move employees to work-from-home roles.

Other companies have multiple locations, contract sites, ships at sea, workers in remote mountain villages. At any point in time, people could be working from literally anywhere in the world. One of the greatest challenges of IT Asset Management is maintaining accurate records of what asset is in what location, when, with whom.

Who Should Worry About IT Asset Management?

Any company that has multiple assets across multiple platforms should worry about controlling their assets. Any company that holds sensitive information and must adhere to compliance standards and regulations should have an IT asset management system in use. Any company that recognizes a need to control their assets should implement policies and procedures for asset and information security through an IT Asset Management system.

Tips for Successful IT Asset Management

· Identify all potential vulnerabilities

· Account for every asset known to the company

· Evaluate multiple platforms and IT Asset Management tools

· Choose the correct tools for your organization

· Involve key players throughout the organization

· Create a workable plan and stick to it

· Inform and educate all users on the system being used

Every company should have control of their organization’s assets. That’s just good business practice. Using a system designed and focused around your organization’s specific needs will allow you to successfully integrate the plan into the organization’s standard operating procedures. When the plan works for the organization it will be much easier to perform the tasks associated with managing the life cycle of the organization’s assets. IT Asset Management helps organizations operate more effectively, by securing data, eliminating loss, and avoiding unnecessary spending through reuse of owned resources.