Many companies are beginning to realize that organizing their systems for managing computer equipment is essential to success. The process that helps with that is called IT asset management (ITAM). It involves tracking and managing assets throughout their lifecycle.
While learning about ITAM, you’ll find there are different types of asset management. We’ll break it all down in this article to provide you with all the details about the types of IT asset management and resources that can help. Read on to get all the details.
What Is Asset Management in ITIL V4?
The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a system of best practices for companies to manage their IT assets and ensure proper compliance.
In the newest version of ITIL’s system (v4), ITAM is described as a practice that helps organizations protect, control, and manage IT assets and the common IT practices used during operations. This system controls costs, gets the most value from assets, makes processes more efficient, and facilitates better decision-making.
ITIL Asset Management Best Practices
Under ITIL v4, some standard best practices are listed that can help companies run an effective asset management system. ITIL asset management best practices are:
- Facilitate collaboration: ITIL v4 emphasizes the importance of collaboration and communication across teams in a business. Teamwork makes systems run smoothly and in the most efficient manner. Designating roles can help, such as one team working on servers and another managing personal computers.
- Upgrade your inventory system: The ITIL also recommends that businesses have a proper inventory system. When you partner with a team like Multiply, we can help you implement a complete inventory system with physical asset discovery and our IT asset management software that makes processes much easier.
- Focus on value: One of the main objectives of ITAM is to get the most value from assets, which is stressed by ITIL guidelines. You want to ensure assets perform at their best and always serve to make the business operate better.
- Scheduling and reporting: There should be scheduling and reporting systems to ensure all maintenance, audits, and updates are done at the right time. Partnering with teams like Multiply and implementing easy-to-use asset management software can all help organize these processes.
Multiply can help each step of the way if you’re confused about where to start with ITIL best practices. Our team can help bridge communications throughout a company, implement physical asset management software and storage systems, and conduct audits to ensure compliance.
What Are the Types of IT Asset Management?
There are several different types of asset management. They typically correlate with the different kinds of IT equipment used throughout a business. Here are the most common ones:
- Hardware asset management: Managing your company’s hardware is a crucial step. Many of your daily operations require hardware like personal computers, hard drives, SIM cards, switches, and more to run effectively. It’s why we choose to focus on this type of asset management at Multiply.
- Software asset management: The modern business uses lots of software on a daily basis. That can range from programs like Quickbooks that help with accounting to CRM software like HubSpot for marketing and customer service, among many others. All this software should be tracked, managed, and updated regularly.
- Fixed asset management: Many businesses forget that fixed assets like storage cabinets, server rooms, cooling units, and more must be managed to ensure the success of an IT system. This type of asset management often involves creating effective floor plans and storage systems to ensure success in daily operations.
- Cloud-based asset management: Nowadays, many storage systems are cloud-based. It’s the best way to save hard drive space and keep computers running at top speeds. All cloud-based storage systems and software should be managed and updated regularly to avoid any loss of information that could be devastating for a company.
As mentioned, hardware asset management is very important in a business. Multiply can help with all your hardware asset management needs, from creating inventories to implementing physical asset management software and storage solutions. To see how we can help, check out the following example.
What Is an Example of IT Asset Management?
An example of IT Asset Management is Paige, an IT technician who loves her job. However, recently she’s become more frustrated with the systems within her company. An increasing number of service request tickets are coming into the IT department, but they aren’t organized in a way that’s easy to manage. As a result, Paige and her team have to scramble to come up with solutions.
Since company operations are slowing down due to these issues, Paige knew she needed to find a solution. So she decided to partner with Multiply.
Upon Multiply coming on board, a new system for communication and daily processes was implemented. This involved:
- Creating a new device selection, forecasting, and scheduling system with Multiply’s software.
- Delivering a daily digest of what Paige’s team needed to tackle and manage for the day.
- Facilitating a new touchless system that made processes more efficient.
- Allowing Multiply to act as a bridge for communication between teams.
With this new system in place, Paige was able to manage her team’s work much more efficiently, speeding up company operations and making them more profitable.
What Are the 3 Main Deliverables of IT Asset Management?
While all this information is great, you may still be wondering what the main deliverables of ITAM are. The three main deliverables go as follows:
- Get the most value from computer equipment by buying and selling it for the best prices and extending its lifecycle through regular maintenance.
- Facilitate communication throughout teams involved to create a more productive and happier work environment.
- Create an organized system that tracks inventories, schedules, and reports, to ensure everything operates in a timely manner.
If you want a partner to help achieve these deliverables, Multiply will be an excellent resource for your needs.
How Multiply Can Help
Multiply is a team of IT consultants and senior service technicians. We have years of experience in IT asset and data management. We can help:
- Bridge communications between teams.
- Conduct audits.
- Set up inventories.
- Ensure compliance with regulations.
- Manage physical asset discovery and storage.
- Simplify management systems for efficiency.
Contact us today to learn more about how our team at Multiply can help!
