We all recognize that no business can run successfully without technology. Do a quick calculation of the sum value of your IT asset costs. How well are you utilizing them? Your technology is integral to the vast majority of the work accomplished by your team which is why IT asset management (ITAM) should not be ignored.
When every aspect of your organization is touched by technology, make sure you are implementing these five best practices for ITAM.
Best Practices for IT Asset Management
- Implement ITAM on an Ongoing Basis.
Don’t only worry about ITAM when there’s an audit. ITAM isn’t just a project you do once a year but rather a process to help your organization maintain consistent and appropriate usage of your technology. Your asset management activities should be fully embedded into your normal business operations and processes. - Define Your Critical Assets.
You can’t get started without a clear starting point that includes what assets are critical to your business production and goals. Evaluating from the top down will help you best align your IT landscape to your business strategy. In turn, this will prevent your team from becoming overwhelmed by the data, software and hardware by having a clear order of attack of what deserves their attention first. - Have an ITAM Team.
Without active members of your team supporting the efforts for ITAM, your initiatives are likely to take a backseat to shifting priorities and budget adjustments. Your team will be responsible for implementing assets as well as supporting inventory management for your business. - Automate Your ITAM System.
The more you can automate, the better. The sooner you can introduce automation, the sooner you can alleviate some of the repetitive and routine tasks your team is doing manually. This will free up some of the time your team has for process changes, asset budget forecasting or integration of new initiatives into your business. - Adopt a Lifecycle Management Process.
Rather than being trapped in a product-by-product purchase model, make sure you are able to use the full worth of your asset licensing, products and capabilities by aligning your business assets in a way that brings better value to your organization. Every IT asset goes through a lifecycle from procurement and deployment to maintenance and end-of-life management. Our team at Computer Solutions can provide you with support in developing adaptable Lifecycle Management solutions.
Contact us today if you are ready to strategically align your technology with your business goals.
