IT asset management (ITAM) is an excellent way to maximize the potential of the computer equipment a business invests in. Many business leaders who are looking to implement an ITAM system wonder what the responsibilities of asset management are.
This article will provide an in-depth look at the goals and responsibilities of asset management. By the end, you’ll have a better idea of where to start in implementing the right systems for success. Stick around to get all the details.
What Is the Goal for IT Asset Management?
There are typically three goals that asset management systems are built to achieve. Those goals are:
- Save money/manage financial needs.
- Create a more organized system to track and maintain computer equipment.
- Facilitate better communication between teams within the organization.
The next sections will provide more detail on how ITAM helps achieve these goals.
How ITAM Helps Save Money and Manage Financial Needs
The primary goal of ITAM is to get optimal value out of the equipment you invest in. ITAM teams and IT professionals can help with this in purchasing, maintaining, and disposing of assets. Essentially, you’ll want to stay on top of your investments in IT equipment from the beginning to the end of its lifecycle.
When purchasing equipment, IT asset specialists can work with vendors to choose the best equipment that fits your budget and negotiate a good price. ITAM teams often have relationships with vendors, making the negotiation process much easier.
Next, you’ll have routine maintenance. You want a complete maintenance system to ensure assets continue to work as they should. Continually keeping your equipment updated and performing at its best will help extend its lifecycle, saving you money and helping your business run at the highest levels of efficiency.
Lastly, ITAM will help in the disposition process when you need to replace old equipment and sell it to get value back from it. Asset specialists will again negotiate with vendors to sell old equipment for the best possible price to help with budgetary concerns.
How ITAM Creates a More Organized System
An IT asset management framework will deliver a more organized system for success. One of the first steps of ITAM is creating an inventory that helps you organize information about all the equipment you have on hand. That way, you know exactly where it’s being used and the amount of financial investment you’ve made.
Additionally, ITAM will organize processes for regularly auditing and maintaining assets. Every employee will know their role and have goals set to stay on track within the ITAM system.
How ITAM Facilitates Better Communication
It’s difficult to make systems successful if the team members involved don’t communicate properly. ITAM will help with that by defining processes for how team members should communicate updates and changes to the system. For instance, if your laptops are being upgraded, everyone affected should be notified to plan accordingly.
Having an IT asset specialist or management team in the lead role can help with this. They can help coordinate systems and act as a bridge to proper communication that gets everyone on board with the framework.
IT Asset Management Roles and Responsibilities
Now that you know the goals of ITAM, you’re probably wondering about the depth of responsibilities that go into creating an effective IT asset management framework. Here’s an overview of the roles and responsibilities that ITAM has in an organization:
- Creating and managing the inventory: As mentioned earlier, having an inventory is one of the keys to success in ITAM. Your IT team will be responsible for facilitating the creation of an inventory and regularly updating it over time.
- Working with vendors: IT asset specialists and managers will be responsible for working with vendors whenever necessary to ensure you purchase the right equipment at the best price.
- Managing the asset lifecycle: Asset lifecycle management is critical to the ITAM system. You want to track your investments from the moment you purchase them to the moment they’re disposed of. ITAM puts a framework in place that makes this process easy.
- Managing financial concerns and expectations: Computer equipment can be a hefty investment, so it should be constantly tracked and managed appropriately. ITAM will help plan and address financial concerns to ensure spending meets the company’s needs.
There’s a lot to manage here and many detailed responsibilities for each of these areas of concern. If you’d like assistance in this process, Multiply is here to help.
How Multiply Can Help with the Responsibilities of IT Asset Management
Multiply is a team of IT consultants and senior service technicians. We have years of experience creating systems to manage the responsibilities of ITAM.
When you partner with us, we can assist in running company-wide audits, creating inventories, running asset discovery/recovery systems, and facilitating communication between teams.
Having our team manage this process will ensure it gets done right so you can shift your focus to other areas of concern within your business.
To learn more about how Multiply helps with ITAM, contact us today!
