7 ideas to automate IT Asset Management

In this post, we’ll look at the following seven ITAM automations:

1. Monitor health status.
2. Detect unapproved software.
3. Identify underused software and reclaim or redistribute licenses.
4. Automate new device staging.
5. Receive end-of-life and warranty alerts.
6. Detect duplicate assets.
7. Assign locations via IP range or owner.

#1. Monitor health status

With health status, you define what a “healthy” asset looks like by setting the conditions it must meet. The system then automatically flags any asset that falls short, so you know right away which ones need attention.

You can automate this by configuring thresholds in the asset details, so monitoring runs in the background without manual checks.

How to create a global health rule

1. Go to Settings > CIs > Health.
2. Click Add to add a new health rule.
3. Provide the following information:
   • Name: Global health rule.
   • Description: Global health rule that warns about potential risks based on the status of the antivirus, firewall, time since the last update, and associated tickets.
   • Global: Enable to make sure it affects all computers.
4. Set the following rules:
   • When > Antivirus is deactivated > Set > Warning.
   • When > Antivirus is not installed > Set > Critical.
   • When > Firewall is deactivated > Set > Warning.
   • When > Firewall is not installed > Set > Critical.
   • When > Time without update is > 7 days > Set > Warning.
   • When > Time without update is > 14 days > Set > Critical.
   • When > Number of open requests is > 2 > Set > Warning.
   • When > Number of open requests is > 3 > Set > Critical.
5. Click Save to save the health rule.

How to check an asset health status

1. Go to Assets (or search for it using the search bar).
2. Click on any asset.
3. Find the Health status section.
4. Check the asset’s status.

#2. Detect unapproved software

Whenever colleagues install software that hasn’t been authorized, you can automatically flag the asset for review. This helps prevent security risks, license violations, and productivity issues.

You can automate this by setting rules that tag any machine running unapproved titles, prompting your IT team to take action.

How to create a rule that automatically detects unapproved software

1. Go to Settings > CIs > Automations.
2. Click Add to add a new automation.
3. Provide the following information:
   • Name: Unapproved software.
   • Description: This rule will automatically tag machines with unapproved software installed and send an email to take corrective action.
   • Event: Asset updated (this automation will run every time the asset is updated).
4. Set the following conditions:
   • Assets > Computer > Software Name > contains > Steam.

How to send an automatic email to take corrective actions

1. Scroll to the “Actions” section and click Add action.
2. Fill in the email details:
   • Type: Send email.
   • To: Select the recipient (e.g., your Security or IT Compliance team).
   • Subject: Blacklisted software detected.
   • Body: Briefly describe the alert and include the variable CI_LINK to insert a direct link to the asset where the software was found.
3. Click Save to activate the automation.

#3. Identify underused software and reclaim or redistribute licenses

Unused or underutilized applications can waste both licenses and budget. By monitoring software usage, you can spot when tools aren’t being used enough to justify their cost.

You can automate this with the software compliance dashboard, which highlights where licenses can be reclaimed or reassigned — ensuring you stay compliant while optimizing spend.

How to quickly identify underused software and reclaim licenses

1. Go to Contracts > Software compliance.
2. Review the license usage metrics to identify applications with low or no usage.

How to create a rule that automatically detects unapproved software

1. Go to Settings > CIs > Automations.
2. Click Add to add a new automation.
3. Provide the following information:
   • Name: Underused software.
   • Description: This rule will automatically flag machines with approved but underutilized software so licenses can be reclaimed or reassigned.
   • Event: Asset updated (this automation will run every time the asset is updated).
4. Set the following conditions:
   • Software > Software Installations > Average used in the last 60 days > is less than > 1 > Hs.

How to send an automatic email to take corrective actions

1. Scroll to the “Actions” section and click Add action.
2. Fill in the email details:
   • Type: Send email.
   • To: Select the recipient (e.g., your Security or IT Compliance team).
   • Subject: Underused software detected.
   • Body: Briefly describe the alert and include variables CI_LINK to insert a direct link to the asset where the software was found.
3. Click Save to activate the automation.

#4. Automate new device staging

Adding new hardware to your environment can be time-consuming if every detail has to be updated manually. By automating device staging, you can make sure each new asset is properly tagged with its location, user, and status the moment it’s created.

This way, your IT team saves time, avoids errors, and ensures every device is ready for the next step in the lifecycle. Once the device is on your instance, follow the next steps.

How to automate new device staging

1. Go to Settings > CIs > Automations.
2. Click Add to create a new automation.
   • Provide the following information:
   • Name: New machine setup.
   • Event: Asset created (this automation will run whenever a new asset is added).
3. Set the following conditions:
   • Assets > Type > is > Computer.

How to automatically assign status, location, and owner

1. Scroll to the “Actions” section and click Add action.
2. Select the following options to automatically set the status:
   • Type: Update asset status.
   • Status: In stock (or any other status you prefer).
3. Click Save to activate the automation.

How to create a ticket from the device to track its changes

In addition to assigning status, location, and owner, you can also generate a ticket to track the entire staging process.

There are two main ways to automate this: you can configure the automation to send an email that triggers ticket creation, or you can set up a web service call to create the ticket directly in InvGate Service Management.

#5. Receive warranty alerts

Keeping track of warranties, contracts, and asset lifespan manually is both tedious and error-prone. Automating these alerts ensures you never miss an important milestone that could impact security, compliance, or budget.

With InvGate Asset Management, you can set rules to receive notifications when warranties or contracts are about to expire, when devices reach a specific age, or even when they drop below a certain residual value. Here is how to do it.

How to automate warranties expiration alerts

1. Go to Settings > CIs > Automations.
2. Click Add to create a new automation.
3. Provide the following information:
   • Name: Warranty Expiration.
   • Description: This rule will send an alert when a device is close to its warranty end date.
   • Event: Scheduler (this will allow you to choose the start date for the execution and the frequency of repetition).
4. Set the following conditions (examples):
   • Assets > Warranty expiration date > is exactly > 30 days.

How to send alerts automatically

1. Scroll to the “Actions” section and click Add action.
2. Select the following option:
   • Type: Send email.
   • To: Choose the recipient (e.g., IT Asset Manager or Procurement team).
   • Subject: Warranty alert.
   • Body: Briefly describe the alert and include variables like CI_LINK for quick access to the asset details.
3. Click Save to activate the automation.

You can create as many alerts as you need as part of your IT Asset Management plan. For instance, you could add a custom field with the EOL date of a specific software title and then trigger an alert based on that field.

Another option is to set up a notification when a device reaches a certain age. This automation uses the “Acquisition date” condition and is extremely useful for your hardware refresh plan, since it tells you the exact moment when hardware should be replaced.

#6. Detect duplicate assets

Duplicate records can make your inventory messy and lead to mistakes in reporting or decision-making. By automating duplicate detection, you can keep your asset database clean, reliable, and easier to manage. Here is how to do it.

How to enable duplicate asset detection

1. Go to Settings > CIs > General.
2. Enable “Assets geolocation”.
3. In “Duplicate assets detection”, select “Advanced”. This option also compares manufacturer and model.
4. Enable the automatic merger. This option will automatically merge new assets that trigger a conflict with a previously existing one at the moment of creation.
Note: It’s recommended to select “Advanced” in the “Duplicate assets detection” settings and enable the automatic merger. However, you can also choose other options that better fit your team’s current situation.
5. Go to Assets > Discovery. Here you’ll find the newly discovered assets that have entered your IT environment.
6. Find the “Conflicts” column to view the assets that encountered conflicts when entering your inventory.

How to create a rule for duplicate assets

1. Go to Settings > CIs > Automations.
2. Click Add to create a new automation.
3. Provide the following information:
   • Name: Duplicate asset detection.
   • Description: This rule will flag duplicate records so the Asset Management team can review and correct them.
   • Event: Asset created (this automation will run whenever a new asset is added).
4. Set the following condition:
   • Assets > Has conflicts > True.

How to notify your team automatically

1. Scroll to the “Actions” section and click Add action.
2. Select the following option:
   • Type: Send email.
   • To: Choose the recipient (e.g., Asset Management team).
   • Subject: Duplicate asset detected.
   • Body: Briefly describe the alert and include the variable CI_LINK for a direct link to the duplicated asset.
3. Click Save to activate the automation.

#7. Assign locations via IP range or owner

Manually updating an asset’s location can be repetitive and error-prone, especially in organizations with multiple offices or networks. Automating this process ensures every device is assigned to the right place the moment it’s registered.

With InvGate Asset Management, you can automatically set the location based on the asset’s IP range or on the location of its assigned owner.

How to create a rule that assigns locations automatically

1. Go to Settings > CIs > Automations.
2. Click Add to create a new automation.
3. Provide the following information:
   • Name: Automatic location assignment.
   • Description: This rule will automatically assign a location to assets based on their IP range or their owner’s location.
   • Event: Asset created (this automation will run whenever a new asset is added).
4. Set the following condition (example with IP range):
   • Assets > IP address (Default) > is in subnet range > 192.168.2.0/24.
   • OR Assets > IP address (Default) > is in subnet range > 192.168.3.0/24.
   • OR Assets > Source > is > Texas Discovery.

How to automatically update the location using IP

1. Scroll to the “Actions” section and click Add action.
2. Select the following option:
   • Type: Update asset location.
   • Location: Choose the location linked to the assigned owner (e.g., Headquarters, Branch Office).
3. Click Save to activate the automation.