A storybook approach to successful ITAM in 5 chapters

Reading Time: 6 minutes

An organization’s struggle with IT asset management is a tale told as old as time itself—if time started with the advent of the computer. It’s a story that follows each asset from cradle to grave, tracking the entirety of its journey. Whether your protagonist is a heroic piece of hardware or a sensitive, strong-willed bit of software, the same questions arise: Where did these assets come from? Why were they acquired? How were they treated? Who claims ownership and responsibility?

Did they ultimately live up to their potential?

Depending on how you write it, your ITAM story could turn out to be a fairy tale with a happily ever after, a Greek tragedy, or a whodunit that goes unsolved.

Only an effective ITAM program can ensure that your assets are well-managed, secure, and worth the spend. If you’re still staring at a blank page, unsure of where to start, keep reading for tips on making your ITAM story one for the ages.

Chapter 1: Acquisition

In a fairy-tale world, the moment you decide to order an asset, it would be registered in the central repository. The vendor may even send you a waybill ahead of delivery with asset details like manufacturer, model, and serial number. That list could then be imported into the system, serving as validation of what was expected and what actually hit the dock.
However, failing to record this part of the process can be the beginning of an ITAM tragedy. If it is even logged, the record is usually misplaced on a spreadsheet. At this stage, if you find yourself asking, “Has my order been fulfilled?” your fairy tale has already morphed into an unfortunate whodunit.

Chapter 2: Receiving

When reconciling the ordered items with the delivered ones, a simple investigation can often uncover no clues. And so, the cycle begins again until the process and procedures are adjusted.

A well-conceived receiving process ensures that everything purchased ends up in the right place and allows an asset to gain its corporate identity. When an asset is first put into use, its manufacturer will have already assigned it a serial number. Through various machinations, though, it can be lost from the basic input/output system (BIOS) or scratched off the asset itself.

This is where asset tags come in, giving it a second form of identification. Recording both of these attributes in a centralized configuration management database (CMDB) allows for further identification in the event one has faltered. This is one instance where redundancy is the alternate ending we love.

It also offers a simple method when conducting physical audits. Manufacturers place their serial numbers in different areas and sometimes there is even more than one. For this, there is no better example than Cisco equipment. Take a look at the back of a Cisco firewall or switch, and you’ll find multiple serial number labels, all for different components. When auditing a data center, finding the right one can be challenging enough, but typing it in manually? That may result in mistakes. This is where barcode scanners and well-placed asset tags can remove any confusion.

So, where does that leave us in your ITAM story?

Let’s recap: You bought your asset, received it, assigned it a tag, and scanned it into the location it is going (maybe a stockroom or directly to a user). Now, someone at the other location must validate that they received it and confirm receipt of the asset.

Your vision has been realized, the plot has been streamlined, and now the person at the other end simply has to scan the asset tag, not identify a pesky serial number. Case closed.

Chapter 3: Deployment

Every character (and asset) needs a call to action. When the time comes and you decide that yours is ready, it will have companions such as monitors, keyboards, mice, and other accessories. Hardware assets can be loaded with software, some of which is free and some of which is not. As such, it is the job of software asset management practitioners (SAMs) to be on the lookout for software with restrictive end-user license agreements (EULAs) and contractual terms.

But what if one of these assets gets lost along the way?

How does the story continue? Do you just brush your character off, write it out, and replace it with another? Is the company still responsible for the OS and software that was installed? And what of intellectual property? Has this now presented a vulnerability or security violation for the business? Is the asset deployed to a dedicated user? Is it shared? Is it functional?

These unanswered questions certainly don’t bode well for a happy ending.

Here’s the bottom line: Knowing what software is installed—as well as its cost, redundancy, and age—will all affect how it’s leveraged and purchased. Your awareness of the asset’s story sets the stage for whether expectations and value will ever be realized. After all, how can you possibly know what you need when you don’t even know what you have?

Chapter 4: Operations, support, and maintenance

Imagine this: A help desk technician receives a call. The user is promptly identified, and all that user’s assets are displayed for the technician. Just like a reporter in a hard-boiled novella, the technician needs to answer the key questions: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How.

The user is the Who.

By having all the asset’s data readily accessible, they can quickly ascertain what the asset is in question, how old it is, and where it is located.

Only then can the technician solve for Y—as in “why the caller is experiencing a problem.”

It also helps to have key data populated in the CMDB, which allows for quicker assessment and resolution of the issue at hand. When we examine recent cyberattacks and software rollouts, identifying where the vulnerability exists is the main conflict. Having that data readily at hand to resolve the issue is more than half the battle.

To guarantee you win it, determine what information is crucial to your business and make sure that mandatory fields are attributed to that asset. Some key elements include functionality, application dependencies, owner, location, cost center, original purchase order (PO), service level, criticality, support group, end of support (EOS), and end of life (EOL).

Remember, each asset has its own story. Yours may warrant a unique approach, which is why the trick to effective asset management is designing tools to meet those needs.

The End: Disposal

If an asset is not lost or damaged along the way and has made it to its final chapter, it may have achieved its purpose. But we must respect those that pass. We can’t just dump them unceremoniously like an underdeveloped side character. They served you well and must be cleaned and wiped. They may even have some tax advantages and allow for depreciation write-offs. Like some of our most classic stories that are often rebooted, software can be mined and passed onto the next generation of assets waiting to take their place.

With the asset’s lifecycle meticulously tracked and recorded, this practice will benefit IT and impact every aspect of the business.

Ultimately, in your asset’s epic novel, ITAM is here to ensure that its end is as meaningful as its beginning.

But sometimes, when you’re writing a story, it pays to have a second pair of eyes. Luckily, SHI’s experts assist organizations like yours to leverage the full power of the latest technologies.

We are here to help you with an array of ITAM benefits like:

• Insightful advisory groups.
• Better contract terms and pricing.
• Licensing evaluation that can reduce waste.
• Improved utilization.
• Enhanced governance.

All SHI’s services and solutions are aimed at maximizing the value of your technology investments.

Reach out to our team to start telling a better ITAM story today.

 

Anne Watson is an ITAM Solutions Architect at SHI. With over 20 years of experience in IT asset management, she has held positions as a practitioner for large organizations and as a software optimization consultant for Flexera. Anne strongly believes that a well-implemented software asset management practice is an art form, and she is passionate about helping users bring their own to fruition.