As businesses continue to innovate and adapt to the world’s current resources, they have become increasingly dependent on digital data, applications, and workflows.
Reliance on these convenient processes requires an understanding from businesses that every choice they make and every mistake they commit can impact their operations significantly.
Learning about the best practices in the accurate tracking of IT assets is critical.
Your business should implement well-developed IT asset management (ITAM) processes in your operations to ensure that you’re getting the most value from your assets.
Follow these Best Practices to Ensure Successful IT Asset Management
Here are six best practices that your organization can incorporate during the implementation of your IT asset management program.
- Plan according to your organization’s needs.
All users rely on the production system to work correctly, so users should first verify any system changes. That way, they won’t interfere with business operations. Changing your ITAM at any given point without proper planning can be disastrous for your business.To ensure that you get the most out of these systems and avoid wasting effort, time, and money, understand your company’s needs and the requirements to implement a tailor-fitted ITAM system.
Collect data regularly.
A software asset management system requires thorough research and data collection before implementing. These data are used to provide the best solution for your business problems. Sporadic collection of data can cause discrepancies which can lead to the violation of requirements that are needed for licensing and upgrades. Reports show that 56% of IT managers verify asset location only once a year, while 10–15% verify only every five years. This can lead to a damaged IT infrastructure and high costs for your organization.According to the Center for Internet Security, inventory and hardware and software control are the most effective because automated and centralized ITAM is critical in preventing a data breach or unauthorized access. To do the following, here are the best solutions.
- Keep track of your purchases and contracts for all assets
- Generate reports based on the purchase data
- Ensure that you receive contract expiration reminders, so you have enough time to renew
- Easily create reports to support IT audits
- Ensure that you are getting the right data.
Remember that all software license management tools only take what you give them. You cannot expect an accurate result if the data source was not precise in the first place. It’s important to remind yourself that putting everything in the hands of your software management tool isn’t enough unless you feed it the accurate data. Accurate data can be attained if your business utilizes various data sources. Software asset management solutions such as the Open iT LicenseAnalyzer gathers data points from various sources including polling, logs, OS Kernel, and I/O, among others..
- Improve your auditing process by using a software license tracking tool.
An audit’s main purpose is to maintain accurate assets and business processes. It can also test operational efficiency and drive employee accountability and responsibility for asset-related activities. However, if these audits are only done manually, you’re going to struggle to achieve a perfectly audited system. Manually performing the audits can consume time, effort, and money and not produce accurate results.
To solve this, consider implementing a software license tracking system with an auto-discovery process. This system will allow you to see the performance of your assets and who’s using them. This way, you can monitor it in real-time.
- Prevent IT asset malfunctions through scheduled maintenance.
This is a proactive approach that prevents assets from failing. Without preventive maintenance, you would think that your hardware and software assets suddenly failed, when actually, there have been tell-tale signs that they were in trouble.
Preventive maintenance detects problems and fixes them before they get worse. Some issues that may arise without it include poor performance, decreased efficiency, and significant delays in workflow. Utilizing software asset management tools that help track assets, monitor usage, and organize users, purchases, and tasks is an effective way to reduce costly downtime and enhance productivity.The LicenseAnalyzer can grant you an enterprise overview of your organization’s software usage by showing how, when and by whom assets are being used over time, by location, business unit, or project group.
- Leverage the insights of ITAM experts.
Your ITAM can only do so much, but you shouldn’t think that your software management system can solve all the knots in the system. It’s also a good idea to ask for the help of experts in the field. After all, they come to the table with a high understanding of ITAM tools and how to analyze, interpret, and present gathered data with authority. This enables them to make actionable and beneficial business decisions.While issues with your ITAM may never cease, it’s good to know that there are people who are skilled enough to walk you through it so you can get your organization up and running with updated licenses.
Before Implementing an IT Asset Management System…
This list of best practices will aid you in making changes or fixing issues within your organization. Especially when dealing with complex, wide-ranging IT resources running on different platforms and in different locations, it is crucial to take proactive, timely, and ongoing measures to manage them.
Fortunately, there’s also the option of asking for help from experts who can provide you with superb assistance. Open iT offers professional software licensing and management solutions to help your business make smarter decisions. Schedule a demo with us today.