IT Asset Management (ITAM)

IT asset management (also known as ITAM) is the process of ensuring an organization’s assets are accounted for, deployed, maintained, upgraded, and disposed of when the time comes. Put simply, it’s making sure that the valuable items, tangible and intangible, in your organization are tracked and being used.

So, what’s an IT asset? Defined simply, an IT asset includes hardware, software systems, or information an organization values.

IT assets have a finite period of use. To maximize the value an organization can generate from them, the IT asset lifecycle can be proactively managed.

Why is IT Asset Management important?

Providing a single source of truth

Too often, assets get tracked in a ton of different places, by a ton of different people. No single person owns things, and no single tool collects and centralizes the information. Naturally, chaos and inaccuracy follow. It’s difficult to make informed decisions. There are even companies where people are being employed just to keep track of IT assets.

Systems should do this work. Without having to relegate time and brain matter to tracking artifacts, monitoring usage, and understanding dependencies, IT employees can focus more on what matters most to the organization. Asset management brings order, and offers a single source of truth for IT teams, management, and ultimately, entire organizations.