Nowadays, most businesses require a moderate amount of IT assets to remain competitive. And for this reason, IT asset management (ITAM) is becoming a very common company practice. By combining service, finance, and technical management functions, businesses can keep track of their IT hardware and software lifecycle as well as create a balance between spending and usage.

It, then, goes without saying that the larger the company, the higher the need for proper asset management. By introducing an efficient form of controlling assets, businesses can:

Decrease potential expenses.
Improve workforce productivity.
And streamline their decision-making process when IT resources are in question.

These seven basic tips can help your company create an effective IT asset management system or improve an existing one:

1. Every Asset is Important.

While software and hardware asset management is commonplace, what about a company’s consumables? Keyboards, mice, toner, ink, and other finite resources can drain your financial resources quickly if improperly managed. Even these simple assets have their own lifecycle that can benefit from an IT management system.

Cloud-based resources are also growing increasingly popular. And much like something “conventional,” IT resources like printers and desktops also have a traceable life cycle. Take every resource into account and loosely categorize them to create a better asset tracking system.

2. Planning, Procurement, Deployment, Management, and Retirement

Each asset follows this basic lifecycle. Plan which assets are a necessity for your business, form contracts with vendors that provide them, provide the assets to your workforce, track their location and usage, and retire them when spent or obsolete.

The International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers (or IAITAM) is a reliable source of information that can provide specific details on tracking lifecycles and other relevant know-how.

3. Automate and Streamline your Practices

Some companies still rely on basic programs like spreadsheets or clipboards to manually manage their assets. Implementing a smart asset management system like Teqtivity can automate these processes and reduce human error. Carefully select software tools that can meet the company’s defined needs and adapt to its flow of data.

If implemented correctly, these types of software can provide customizable solutions that streamline resource management. Most also offer reverse logistics, instant notifications for admins, as well as automatic triggering of asset collection and return.

4. Create a General Information Repository

Things can easily get out of hand if important files are scattered across different networks, drives, and computers. Create a “universal” source of data for one’s organization with varying levels of access for each employee. Linking this information repository to an asset management system may improve its resource tracking by keeping records current.

5. Implement Asset Reporting and Metrics to Increase Visibility

Gathering metrics is essential for any business. After all, the only way to make strategic decisions is to have it backed by accurate information. Metrics can also:

Act as audit support
Improve business transparency
Compare against top industry benchmarks and best practices
Create a baseline for improvement
Gain potential buy-in from business stakeholder and senior management
Help with promotion by showcasing improvements and high results
Monitor performance of IT asset management solutions

Use tools that have metric-collecting capabilities to measure the performance of all relevant processes. It’s also important to choose software that allows configuration and provides easy access to this information.

6. Integrate Financial Management

Since all assets have an underlying cost, integrating ITAM with financial management creates a mutualistic relationship between the two systems. Communicating costs can be done regularly using chargeback or show back invoices. It can also help:

Keep track of software license management
Calculate every asset’s depreciated value
Keep track of an asset’s shelf life and define a salvage value
Associate vendors with their own descriptions and cost estimate

This practice helps manage demand and potentially drive a company towards a more cost-conscious culture.

7. Hire a Qualified Leader

The success of every project (and by extension, a business) mainly relies on: the process, people, and technology. These three foundations require careful maintenance to provide quality results. While a smart asset management system can streamline management processes, it remains useless if not run by an ineffective leader. Choose the right individuals that can bring the process, people, and technology into one cohesive force to create working solutions.

7 Asset Management Tips That You Must Know