IT Asset Management (ITAM) is a vital business discipline that provides insight into a company’s information infrastructure and enhances the ability to control the performance of IT assets. With ITAM, organizations control a blend of processes and technologies to achieve a greater understanding of what assets exist, where they are located, and measure their usage.
With these abilities, ITAM enables organizations to more efficiently manage IT assets throughout their lifecycle and simplify maintenance and administrative related tasks. Unfortunately, many ITAM projects fail to meet their objectives, with an industry average success rate of only 40 percent to 60 percent. The blog summarize the steps IT Asset managers can take to progress performance and accomplish a success rate of 95 percent or better.
1. Get support from senior management: ITAM crosses organizational boundaries, so it involves top management to get all the stakeholders on board.
ITAM program classically correspond to a considerable fiscal investment in addition to commitment by the parties, so top management support is critical to succeed in the process.
2. Dedicate competent and trained professional resources to the ITAM implementation: ITAM programs call for the attention of trained and skilled professionals in order to be successful. The company processes that maintain data accuracy must be implemented then persist to advance as the business changes and nurture.
Without the trained eye of a professional with technical and business process knowledge, you could be risking the time and money you’ve invested in the ITAM program.
3. Prioritize ITAM requirements: Organizations have a trend to rush into the inventory and software implementation aspects ahead of taking the time to sufficiently identify and define the goals of the ITAM program.
The ITAM program’s measures of success should be clearly defined and agreed upon with top management and pertinent stakeholders prior to embarking on any execution.
4. Start small: Many large projects fail because the organization anticipates too much and bites off more than they can chew.
Identify that ITAM needs adherence to a new discipline. Easier said than done. Put ITAM into operation in pragmatic phases in which each phase gains credibility and builds toward the ultimate goal.
Scoping the project too large risks failure and loss of credibility that can be difficult to overcome later.
5. Scrutinize the asset lifecycles: Once all the needs, requirements and restraints have been defined, study the lifecycle of the assets in inquiry. Processes must be developed to capture the suitable data at each stage of the lifecycle of each asset.
Since ITAM is 90% process, and only 10% tools, spend adequate time and energy to identify the data elements which must be captured and the flow of data all the way through the asset’s life.
6. Pick apt software tools: Software tools must be cautiously chosen to convene all of the defined needs as well as put up your organization’s flow of data. The software should articulate to fit your organization fairly than your organization adapting to an inappropriate tool.
7. Implement ITAM process auditing and assessment procedures: Imposing ITAM processes takes discipline and constant monitoring to guarantee that all staffs, departments and stakeholders are appropriately following and adhering to the agreed upon events.
Without process auditing or appraisal mechanisms, ITAM projects can get derailed without achieving their value proposition. This makes it complex for you to spot and fix problems.
8. Build in mechanisms for correcting ITAM data inaccuracies: Data integrity is imperative to any successful ITAM program, so you need mechanisms for analyzing and proficiently correcting inaccuracies when they occur.
Inaccuracies can be caused by deviations from ITAM procedures or by unpredicted events or situation that interrupt the ITAM process. Hand-held scanners and emerging RFID tags are examples of tools that can quickly make out database inaccuracies so they can be reconciled and corrected.
9. Periodically assess the ITAM program: Like any system that is fundamental to your organization’s operation, ITAM programs should be periodically assessed to make sure achievement of the defined goals, objectives and benefits.
A quarterly assessment of the ITAM program is recommended so that successes can be measured and problems can be identified and corrected. Further, this assessment time can be used to discover new uses for the data to benefit additional areas of the organization.
10. Promote your success. Demonstrate the value of the ITAM program by sharing data with suitable personnel at diverse levels within the organization. Then endorse your successes within your organization to get continued support from top management as well as other departments.
