30% of organizations are in a “chaotic state,” meaning they don’t know what they own, where their assets are located, and who is using them, according to a recent Gartner study. As companies in every sector prepare to weather the ripple effects of a looming global recession, research by Gartner confirms 80% of CEOs plan to invest in new or substantially improved digital products in 2023.
However, many companies continue to struggle with knowing exactly what assets they own and how much those assets are costing them.
An IT asset includes hardware, software systems, or information an organization values. IT asset management (also known as ITAM) is the process of ensuring assets are accounted for, deployed, maintained, upgraded, and disposed of when the time comes.
An effective ITAM solution helps enterprises address the following costly asset management challenges–IT overhead costs, security & compliance concerns, and reduced productivity due to systems & services downtime.
IT Overhead Costs
Sure, you could allow your team to decide on their device and software solutions based on personal preference. However, when you renew the license for a suite of software tools no one is using or plan your IT budget based on incomplete or inaccurate asset records, you can see how this approach becomes a problem.
Cisco Systems defines “shadow IT” as the use of information technology systems, devices, software, applications, and services without explicit IT department approval. Recent Gartner research notes, 70% of organizations have a 30% discrepancy between planned inventory and actual inventory.
Leaders and asset managers consistently point to ongoing challenges in maintaining accurate records of what IT assets they own and how much they cost. An important part of IT asset management is applying processes across all lifecycle stages to optimize the use of IT assets and understand the total cost of ownership.
A recent study by Gartner confirms that 30% of an IT budget could be saved by effective asset management
Employed properly, ITAM minimizes business overhead costs by identifying outdated, unnecessary, or unused assets. According to Gartner, companies were able to reduce tax bills by as much as 20 to 30% by retiring unused assets. This heightened visibility allows for impressively accurate budget forecasting and resource allocation.
Security & Compliance Concerns
Have you ever had to deploy an IT update across your company network only to find out people are using different versions of different pieces of software? This daunting scenario becomes even more problematic at scale across multiple teams and departments.
Another important point to consider is that all IT assets have a limited period of use. Systems and devices quickly lose their usefulness and become prone to failure without regular repair and replacement. Teams that rely on simple spreadsheets or other methods prone to inaccuracy and poor maintenance will ultimately reduce productivity and drain valuable company resources.
IT asset management solutions reduce critical IT downtime, increase efficiency, and power up productivity by providing actionable insights into the software and systems busy teams need to complete day-to-day operational tasks.
Enterprises that effectively manage the life cycle of their IT assets will reduce their cost per asset by 30% in the first year and another 5-10% annually during the next 5, according to a report by Gartner.
Systems & Services Downtime
In the technology-driven environment of today’s global economy, security lapses leading to data breaches, and ransomware attacks have become an almost daily occurrence.
CEOs consistently highlight several challenges in managing IT infrastructure at scale.
The most prominent problems enterprises face are often due to simply losing track of their many assets. Organizations that don’t know what systems and services are at risk have little hope of providing the necessary security and compliance requirements.
According to Gartner, Enterprises that lack integrated management solutions overpay software licenses for 60% of their portfolio and are non-compliant with 30% of their software. The cost to an organization in terms of non-compliance penalties, lengthy litigations, and damage to brand reputation can prove to be substantial.
Integrated IT asset management monitors your entire IT infrastructure and makes your team aware of potential security risks before they become incidents.
Access to real-time monitoring empowers management officers to better enforce critical security policies. This proactive approach also promotes better quality end-user experiences and improved customer service.
After reading this post, you’ll have a better understanding of what IT asset management is and why having an effective solution in place matters to your bottom line. You’ll also be able to better evaluate your current ITAM solution by considering the impact on overhead costs, security & compliance, and team productivity.
Businesses that continue to undervalue the importance of a strong IT asset management program will struggle to mitigate security risks and guarantee the reliability of critical digital services. Paired with the increasing need for more knowledge about what assets they need and what they have, organizations that fail to embrace the fundamentals of good ITAM will cost themselves more than they realize.
An important takeaway from this overview of the financial impact of ITAM is that a dedicated IT asset management solution will aid your organization in proactively managing the lifecycle of IT assets by providing a single source of truth.
This single-source approach also means more clarity and less chaos in your asset management process.
