Many businesses start to realize the complexities of managing and maintaining computer equipment as their operations expand. If you’ve been looking into systems that can help, you’ve probably come across the term IT asset management (ITAM). But what role does ITAM play in a business environment?
In this article, we’ll dive into the role that asset management plays for businesses and the main deliverables of implementing this system. Keep reading to get all the details.
What is the Role of IT Asset Management?
The role of ITAM is to create an organized system that allows you to:
- Keep track of computer equipment.
- Manage its lifecycle.
- Ensure compliance in operations.
- Get the most value from the investments you make in IT resources.
At first glance, that can sound easy, but then business owners start to realize just how many hardware assets are used daily to operate their business efficiently . Plus, this process requires daily attention to ensure everything is tracked appropriately. That’s where an ITAM system comes into play.
What is an IT Asset Management System?
The ITAM system plays a big role in the success of your company. It essentially helps track and manage computer equipment throughout its lifecycle. It goes as follows:
- Creating an IT asset inventory: Your IT asset inventory will play a big role in business operations. You want to always account for every asset your company owns. When you begin ITAM, this involves using discovery systems to ensure all assets are located and creating a spreadsheet system that manages all the information in one place.
- IT asset procurement: There will always be times when you have to invest in new IT assets. Technology is always growing and changing, along with the needs of your business. ITAM will help budget ahead of time for new purchases and create a system for your IT team to negotiate with investors for the best price on new equipment.
- IT asset deployment: The point in the system where many businesses can have bumps in the road is setting up new equipment. It isn’t uncommon for new equipment to have malfunctions when you aren’t used to using it. However, a high-quality IT team can ensure equipment is set up correctly to prevent this from happening.
- Regular audits and maintenance: Computer equipment will require regular maintenance. This ensures it continues running smoothly, is up to date, and helps extend the equipment’s lifecycle. In addition, you’ll want to consistently run audits to track asset value and ensure everything is being managed using proper regulations.
- IT asset disposition: All computer equipment sees a point in its lifecycle where it doesn’t work like it once did. Disposition involves ITAM professionals working with vendors to sell old equipment for the best possible price, clearing data from hard drives, and disposing of equipment that can’t be sold using proper regulations.
Overall, ITAM plays many roles in a business. It can be challenging to manage all this on your own, which is where teams like Multiply come in to help with this process. If you’re in search of a partner to help implement this system and facilitate communication between the teams involved, our team at Multiply is here to help with all your needs.
What Are the 3 Main Deliverables of IT Asset Management?
Putting a full ITAM system in place can feel like a daunting task. It’s common to wonder what all the effort involved will actually deliver. The three main deliverables of ITAM are:
- Get the most value from IT resources: ITAM is meant to benefit your bottom line. ITAM teams negotiate with vendors to buy and sell equipment for the best prices, extend asset lifecycles through maintenance, and help equipment run at peak performance so your business processes can run faster and more smoothly.
- Organize your operations: Managing computer equipment isn’t easy, so you need a system to organize everything. This is common with large companies that have many locations they operate from. Teams like Multiply can help set up a system that efficiently manages assets across national or global business settings.
- Facilitate communication: An ITAM system is meant to help all the team members involved develop better communication methods. Everyone in the company should be notified when changes are made. This helps everyone work together and alleviates a lot of the stress in the process.
Implementing an ITAM system will deliver a lot of value to your business. If you’re looking to partner with a team that can help, Multiply can be by your side every step of the way.
How Multiply Helps Manage the Various Roles of IT Asset Management
Managing the many roles of ITAM can be tricky. If you’re a business owner or leader, it can feel like an impossible task with everything else you have on your plate. Partnering with Multiply can take the ITAM tasks off of your plate, leaving you more time to focus on the bigger picture.
Multiply is a team of IT consultants and senior service technicians. We have years of experience in the field and know the best practices to set up an effective ITAM system from the ground up. If you need help conducting audits, implementing the system, creating an inventory, or facilitating communication between team members, we can do it all.
To learn more about how Multiply helps with ITAM, contact us today!
