Creating and nurturing an IT asset management (ITAM) program is one key to long-term success for any organization. ITAM allows you to make the best possible decisions as you work towards your goals. It ensures control over your IT environment and helps you stay organized while also managing end-of-life assets in a way that protects your data. When it comes to managing your IT assets, here are some best practices:
Successful IT asset management requires designating an ITAM team.Â
When you put your team together, do so carefully. Choose employees who are detail-oriented, motivated and tech-savvy. Allow them to build your ITAM practice from scratch. Nurture your practice and invite feedback from other employees. Be committed to constantly improving your asset management process and allow it to evolve into a cornerstone of your organization.
Successful IT asset management requires making ITAM ongoing.
Instead of viewing your ITAM practice as a project-based initiative, embrace it as an ongoing process—proactive as opposed to reactive. Instead of simply ramping up your asset management leading up to an audit or inventory assessment, stay on top of your company’s assets with a proactive approach.
Here are some important ways you can be proactive with your ITAM practice:
- Implement process documentation to record when an employee is hired, changes departments or leaves your company.
- Determine your data destruction requirements.
- Select an ITAD vendor before you need to retire assets or destroy data.
- Work with procurement to identify and purchase new equipment.
- Establish and track asset life cycles.
Want to learn more about developing an effective, secure and profitable ITAD disposition program for your business? Download our free guide here!
Successful IT asset management requires automating ITAM processes.
Assess which tasks you perform repetitively and seek out ways to automate them. Implement a license management system to keep track of your license agreements and receipts and facilitate sending email alerts and compliance reports to your team members. A license management system allows you to do away with tedious Excel tracking, and makes patching and application deployment easier, saving you time and money.
When your company stores or disposes of old hardware, unless the asset went through a proper license removal process, the software on that device is still considered active and allocated to that device. License management software will help you keep track of current licenses so you maintain compliance and avoid over-deployment of software which can result in hefty fines.
Successful IT asset management requires taking a lifecycle-based approach to ITAM.
IT asset management is a process, not something implemented on a project by project basis. It starts at the time of the purchase requests and persists until devices are properly discarded. It includes the reclaiming of any software licenses and accurate records of the disposition process. Short-circuiting your IT asset management process could result in disorganization, inefficiency, data breaches and fines.
Successful IT asset management requires gathering feedback about your ITAM process.
Your ITAM process isn’t static. Seek to continually improve upon and refine your process. Keep open communication with your designated ITAM team. Solicit their feedback about how things are going and what they need from you to operate more effectively. Solicit feedback from employees outside of the ITAM team and ask them how they perceive the program to be operating.
Do they feel like communication from the ITAM team is clear and effective? Do they understand the chain of command if they encounter IT asset issues such as damaged or malfunctioning devices? Do they know how to maintain compliance with company protocol as it relates to company assets in their possession?
When you effectively communicate ITAM rules with employees, you help avoid scenarios that could make your company’s data susceptible to security breaches. Including this information in your company handbook and holding regular ITAM touchpoint meetings are two great ways to keep everyone up to date on your company’s ITAM policies.