What is IT Asset Management Software?

Introduction

IT Asset Management (ITAM) software is used to manage all elements of hardware and software used by an organization. It allows enterprises to implement business practices that include IT assets across the firm’s business units. You can combine ITAM with risk, contractual, inventory, and financial management processes to efficiently handle the lifecycle of these assets, including tactical decision making.

ITAM software helps to collect detailed software and hardware inventory information which is utilized to make informed decisions on purchases and how assets are leveraged. Precise IT asset inventory assists businesses to more effectively use their existing assets and avoid needless asset buys by re-utilizing current resources. ITAM also allows enterprises to reduce the expenses of unknowingly developing new IT projects on unknown or outdated infrastructure foundations.

ITAM software uses digital records and metadata to categorize and track a company’s assets. Metadata refers to the description of a digital or physical asset and any supporting details that is required to make educated decisions on asset management. The depth of metadata can differ depending on an organization’s needs.

Features of IT Asset Management Software

Inventory Management

This is the chief module of ITAM software. It’s a centralized database where management can view all important details of their company’s IT assets, including their position on the replacement cycle.

Hardware Monitoring

Displays the active state of linked hardware, including information on its uptime/downtime. This feature is leveraged to track the status and health of enterprise servers, and can assist to avoid sudden malfunctions and surprises.

Support Ticketing

Open and complete requests for solutions to abnormal issues, common problems, monitoring resolution speed, IT support etc. This feature is typically provided within a bigger IT service management or help desk system.

License Management

This feature enables firms to efficiently use the software solutions for which they’ve bought licenses. Software licenses stipulate the number of concurrent users and permitted installations, therefore license management is important to gain maximum ROI from your software investments.

Device Discovery

This feature saves effort and time by scanning your organization’s networks for linked devices. After discovery, you can automatically enter the devices into the module for computer inventory management.

Benefits of IT Asset Management Software

Standardization

Non-standard IT software and equipment can be costly for a company. It affects the productivity of IT staff as they do not have the expertise to manage non-standard assets. Therefore, standardization of IT assets is important as it improves the productivity of IT employees as well as business users who can interact with familiar data and systems.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

An IT asset’s cost is more than just its purchase price. To gain full value from IT assets, they need to be operated, maintained, and supported throughout their lifespan. TCO indicates the overall expense of owning and using an asset. By effectively managing TCO, your firm can eliminate expenses due to assets duplication or not utilizing them efficiently after purchase.

Subscription and License Compliance

IT organizations face the task of tracking cloud subscriptions and software licenses to ensure they use only resources that they are paying for and to make certain they do not pay for unnecessary resources. Non-compliance poses financial and legal risks for an enterprise and it is also a potentially expensive issue to resolve.

Business Continuity

Outages and disasters can wreak havoc on a company’s image and profitability. IT asset and configuration information can assist management to identify the effect of these disruptions and make informed and confident decisions to restart services to customers. You can also use asset data to develop IT architectures that are resilient and redundant to many scenarios.

Educated Buying and Deployment Decisions

ITAM software helps you to understand what assets your company has and for what purposes they are being utilized. It allows you to consistently maintain precise ITAM data so your organization can assess past buying and implementation decisions, and get guidance on future actions. The software can help you to choose the best software providers based on product price, service/product quality, and after-sale support. Lastly, ITAM software can also aid to enhance implementation decisions and avoid buying of needless resources.