What are the Benefits of Asset Management Solutions?

Implementing IT asset management (ITAM) software is one of the smartest moves any size organization can make. This guide gives you an overview of what asset management as a service can do for your business and as well as the best practices for utilizing an asset management solution. 

Before you can choose an asset management tool, it is important to understand how it works. Your hardware, software licenses and services are all considered network assets. If you produce physical products, asset tracking can also be used as a form of inventory management and auditing. When you use an asset management solution, you have an organized asset tracking system that can operate, maintain, upgrade and, if necessary, recommend disposal of assets on the network in the most cost-effective manner possible. 

A key feature to look for in asset management software is the ability to implement strategic planning and forecasts for future costs of maintaining your current IT infrastructure. This method enables your organization to make realistic budgets and plan for adding additional software or hardware assets to your inventory to keep up with growth. 

Security policies are another important feature that should be included when planning your asset management setup. This feature ensures that unapproved or malicious downloads do not occur on the network and helps automate security and compliance practices. It also allows system administrators to target and contain vulnerabilities and eliminate risks. 

Some of the best practices for IT asset management come in the form of combining this flexible solution with other areas. For example, your internal IT service desk can use asset management to capture what hardware or software is generating the most support tickets and identify failures in service that can be fixed. Asset management systems help you discover which elements of your IT infrastructure are costing the organization money in downtime or repairs so changes can be made.

Patch management is another service that should be implemented as part an ITAM solution. Patch management scans the system for at-risk software and third-party applications that need updating. All changes are documented in the central asset management repository.

Network change logs combined with asset management tools are an excellent way to stay on top of changes to the network at large, ranging from routers, switches or changes implemented to the firewall. Everything is noted and stored in a centralized asset management system, so all the services report to a central location and nothing falls through the cracks. 

From young startups to established organizations, implementing an ITAM program is a great way to ensure that every aspect of your IT infrastructure, including hardware and software, is documented and tracked from the first day of service to the last. The scalability of this type of configuration is infinite and grows with your organization, especially if the ITAM solution is cloud-based. If you're ready to take total control of your network, hardware, software and services, talk to one of our experts about what asset management software can do for your organization. 

There are many perks to switching to an ITAM process as part of your business practice.

When you invest in hardware and software licenses, you want to be sure you get a full return on your investment. Designated asset tracking repositories can record everything from the location to the model and specifications of each asset in your inventory.

It is vital to have the ability to not only identify every asset in your IT infrastructure, but also the ability to track any changes or additions to your network. End-to-end tracking of devices for the entire asset lifecycle helps ensure business value while keeping assets, asset data and your endpoints secure.

One of the key features of an asset tracking solution is to know what assets reside in your enterprise-wide infrastructure at all times and when new assets are added. Asset management systems create reports that let you see all assets on your network in real time, helping you maintain compliance, breeze through technology audits or just manage inventory. You can even automate reports for easier tracking.

Lapsing warranties and leases on software or equipment can lead to expenses. Knowing ahead of time what maintenance needs to be performed or lease renewals need to be done can keep costs in check. This asset tracking practice is especially useful for system admins to make sure all users are running the same version of the software and keeping operating systems current.