IT Asset Management (ITAM): A Definitive Guide

IT Asset Management (ITAM): A Definitive Guide

IT Asset Management (ITAM) is the process of planning and managing the full lifecycle of all IT assets. In other words, it's the framework that allows organizations to keep track of all their software and hardware from acquisition to disposal, ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks and that they don't waste money.

While ITAM often receives less attention within IT Service Management (ITSM), its adoption has steadily grown in recent years. Organizations increasingly recognize the importance of managing asset-related costs and reducing waste. In fact, the ITAM software market was valued at USD 6.60 billion in 2022, with an estimated compound annual growth rate of 7.91% anticipated during the forecast period spanning from 2023 to 2030. As per projections, this sector is expected to reach a value of USD 12.14 billion by the end of the forecast period.

We created this definitive guide to help you catch the wave and enjoy all the benefits ITAM can bring to your organization. Keep reading to discover more about the IT Asset Management framework, its relation to ITSM, processes, best practices, and implementation tools.

Let's begin!

What is IT Asset Management (ITAM)?

Let's start by expanding on the definition of ITAM. As we mentioned, IT Asset Management is the practice of managing an organization's information technology assets throughout their entire lifecycle, from acquisition to disposal.

The primary goal of ITAM is to optimize the value of an organization's IT investments while minimizing the risks associated with their use. ITIL – the most popular body of Service Management best practices – states that it serves multiple purposes, including:

• Value maximization.
• Cost Management.
• Risk Management.
• Decision-making support about purchasing, re-using, retiring, and disposing of IT assets.
• Regulatory and contractual compliance.

But before moving on, we need to establish what an asset is in this context.

What is an IT asset?

IT assets can be any tangible or intangible resource an organization relies on to support its IT infrastructure and operations. They are technology-related components owned, operated, or managed to support business processes and procedures.

In ITAM, IT assets include:

• Hardware assets – Desktops, laptops, networking equipment, printers and other peripherals, and mobile devices, as well as data center hardware (for example, servers, storage, and uninterruptible power supplies) and network and telecoms equipment (routers, load balancers, switches, and VoIP/videoconferencing equipment).
• Software assets – Software installed on both physical hardware and virtual machines (VMs) across all environments, including operating systems, middleware, server applications, and personal applications.
• Cloud-based assets – Although cloud services are provided and managed by third parties, they also entail customer ITAM obligations and requirements. This type of asset includes software licensing and subscriptions.
• Data assets – Corporate data that needs protection against leaks and cyber attacks, as well as data compliance (particularly relevant when creating an inventory in compliance with the ISO 27001 standard).

The importance of IT Asset Management

There are several reasons for the relevance of IT Asset Management for all companies – whether big organizations or small businesses. For once, it provides them with a single source of truth: a complete, up-to-date IT inventory that allows them to see what they own or lease, the Total Cost of Ownership of their assets, and their current status.

In line with that, implementing an ITAM framework reduces waste – including unnecessary procurement costs, extraneous third-party support and maintenance costs, "shelf-ware," and the internal maintenance of assets that should have been decommissioned. Hence, optimizing the business investments and saving unnecessary bucks spent on vacant software and hardware.

Lastly, having a defined IT Asset Management process improves productivity and supports all the other ITIL practices, like Incident Management , Problem Management, and Change Management .

Recommended reading

IT Asset Lifecycle Management: The 9 Stages to Manage Your IT Assets

ITAM vs. ITSM: What's the difference?

ITAM and ITSM have traditionally been treated as separate IT management disciplines, but there has always been some overlap. However, in 2019, ITAM was added to the ITIL 4 IT Service Management best practice guidance as one of its 34 management practices.

When it comes to the key differences between ITAM and ITSM, we can mention the following:

• Assets generally differ from services (for instance, a desktop PC differs from a managed desktop service).
• Different organizations have traditionally created the bodies of best practice guidance for ITAM and ITSM (until ITIL 4 offered ITAM guidance to Service Management professionals).
• Their goals also differ since ITSM is focused on implementing and managing quality IT services, while ITAM concentrates on controlling the lifecycle of IT assets.

4 benefits of IT Asset Management

ITAM processes

How to implement an IT Asset Management strategy

IT Asset Management involves a range of activities, including asset discovery, tracking, and inventory management. It also includes all the practices related to managing the complete asset lifecycle: planning, procurement, deployment, maintenance, and retirement of IT assets. Moreover, it encompasses a variety of disciplines, such as Financial Management, procurement, software licensing, compliance, security, and Risk Management.

So, you must have an IT Asset Management strategy in place right from the start to coordinate all those different aspects. And to create one, the first thing you need to remember is that, ultimately, ITAM is a proactive practice. You don't do Asset Management to react to problems once they arise; you do it mainly to stay ahead of them.

More so, all the benefits and capabilities we listed in this guide won't materialize unless you design and stick to a plan. Now, where to start? A common advice is to start at the beginning, even before you decide to invest in an ITAM tool. It will help determine not only the need for an ITAM tool but also the required capabilities.

The basic steps to develop an ITAM strategy are:

1. Understanding your organization's need for ITAM - Here, it's essential to appreciate the many roles ITAM capabilities can play and the benefits they bring as a result. This will guide the creation of your ITAM plan, the definition of its goals, and the people/teams you need to involve.
2. Agreeing on the initial ITAM scope and focus - Identify what will deliver the best business benefits from the potentially long list of opportunities. For example, suppose your organization is looking to reduce IT asset costs in the short term. For this case, you can use ITAM to prevent expenditure on new assets unless absolutely necessary.
3. Pulling together an initial asset inventory - ITAM success will rely on your organization having up-to-date information and a centralized, trusted source for inventory data. So, start by finding existing asset inventories/registers. These are likely incomplete and inaccurate, but it's a good start.
4. Creating a policy and establishing defined processes - Give your practice a robust structure to avoid potential confusion, and design the strategies to analyze your assets' performance and utilization.
5. Using agreed-on metrics to measure success - Define the KPIs and the criteria to evaluate the success of your plan according to your initial objectives. This will probably involve things like financial savings, greater efficiency, improved governance and compliance, and improved employee experience and productivity.
6. Implementing a culture of continual improvement- ITAM is not something you can implement once and forget forever. In order to indeed be proactive, you need to be on top of the data to spot improvement opportunities as soon as they arise.

6 IT Asset Management software must-have features

If you're convinced to start working on your strategy, the one thing you absolutely need to succeed is IT Asset Management software. As you can imagine, you can't achieve any of what we just described with a spreadsheet – it's messy, incomplete, outdated, and lacks automation, among many other drawbacks.

On the contrary, an ITAM solution has the potential to assist you in reconciling licenses with services, enhancing security in your end-user environment, and lowering expenses – but only if it provides you with the right capabilities.

Let's take a look at the must-have features of ITAM solutions – and don’t forget that, if you need help with the implementation, this ITAM checklist might come in handy!

1. Inventory Management

An IT Asset Management platform worthy of its name has to provide users with a complete IT inventory and multiple ways to populate it (such as an agent, a Network Discovery feature, cloud synchronization, and file upload).

2. Software Management

It also must offer you multiple functionalities related to SAM. For instance, software metering to understand how much your licenses are being used and software deployment to install and update software remotely.

3. CMDB

A CMDB is another must-have feature to see how your IT assets are related visually, what can be affected in case of downtime, and improve your organization's security and compliance requirements.

4. Automation

Automation is indispensable today, especially for IT Asset Management, which can be intricate. By automating, you can cut down on manual processes and gain clearer insights into asset health, contract expiration dates, and more. It makes management simpler and more efficient.

5. Reporting

Having software that not only compiles your asset data but also organizes it comprehensively will save you countless hours of work. For instance, tracking asset lifecycle costs becomes effortless, enabling you to make informed decisions. Our advice is to search for tools that offer customizable dashboards and automated reports, which can help you monitor expenses, identify trends, and optimize your Asset Management strategy.

Implementing an ITAM strategy with InvGate Asset Management

Although IT Asset Management can seem daunting, two things will make its implementation seamless: a solid strategy and a robust solution.

So, if you develop the former, we have you covered with the latter! InvGate Asset Management has all the features listed above to help you:

• Organize your IT inventory in just 24 hours.
• Manage your assets from purchase to disposal.
• Help you be prepared for software audits.
• Extract data to make informed decisions.

Plus, its user-friendly interface makes the implementation quick and smooth, increasing your team's adoption rates.

And, of course, it integrates natively with InvGate Service Management so that your agents can benefit from having a centralized platform to see assets' data within a ticket and trigger actions on Insight from the Service Desk's workflows.

If you want to explore how Insight can help your organization, request a 30-day free trial!

IT Asset Management best practices

Our last stop before we finish aims to provide you with some ITAM best practices to make its implementation much easier.

When developing your plan, make sure to remember the following:

1. "Start where you are" - We borrowed this one from ITIL 4's seven guiding principles. There's no need to start from scratch; you likely already have something to leverage, like an Excel or Google Sheets list of hardware or some asset details recorded by the IT service desk or a network scanning tool.
2. Target quick wins - For example, identifying underused assets for redistribution or issues with your organization's leavers procedures.
3. Train your IT asset managers in best practices - Ensure they understand ITAM's relevance and their role in ensuring its success. It wouldn't be a bad idea to encourage them to be certified in IT Asset Management, too.