SAManage IT Management Blog

Most companies today manage their technology inventory by logging and tracking assets manually, a process that is both cumbersome and error-prone. In fact, more than 65 percent of companies have immature IT asset management strategies in place, according to Meta Group.

Companies who don’t use automated tools to manage hardware and software inventory are likely to face significant challenges. For a variety of reasons, they will struggle to effectively monitor the various components within their infrastructure, and maximize the value of IT assets throughout their lifecycle.

A Dynamic Business Landscape

Today’s organizations are undergoing rapid change – mergers and acquisitions, expansions or downsizing, etc. Each one of these changes has an impact on IT inventory, making hardware and software asset management somewhat of a “moving target”. For example, new employees will require new equipment, while a layoff will make PCs, software licenses, and IT other assets available for use by others. Opening a new branch may call for the purchase of new hardware, while a shift in business strategy may require new applications to be acquired and deployed. This type of dynamic, ever-changing environment makes taking IT inventory a challenge.

A Geographically-Dispersed Network

Long, long ago, companies operated out of a single location. If they wanted to know what IT assets they had, and where they were located, they simply walked around and took stock. However, today’s firms do business on a global scale, with branches, offices, and even remote or home-based employees performing work out of numerous locations spread across the world. With IT assets housed at so many different locations, it becomes harder to manually monitor changes or additions in the environment, such as when an employee installs software on a PC, or when a new peripheral like a scanner or printer is connected to a network. As a result, IT asset inventory logs can quickly become outdated.

Constant Asset Upgrades or Replacement

Technology innovations emerge at a sharp pace, as new and better software and hardware solutions are being introduced by vendors all the time. And, while technology budgets are stagnant or shrinking in today’s tough economic times, companies still invest in the latest and greatest solutions to help them maintain an edge. The acquisition of new hardware, software, or subscription-based technology services means more than just a new physical asset to track – there are financial assets to consider, like contracts and software license management.

Only comprehensive, fully automated IT asset management solutions can help organizations keep their technology inventory up-to-date and balanced at all times, even in the face of rapidly-changing architectures and business conditions. With IT asset management systems, businesses can achieve complete, real-time visibility across their entire technology landscape, knowing exactly what they have, where it is located, and how it is being used at all times.

Learn more about powerful, on-demand IT asset management solutions from SAManage, and how they can help you can avoid the pain of manually managing your IT assets

For most companies, PCs are the most commonly-used technology component. In any given organization, there will be more desktop and laptop computers than any other type of hardware or software. That’s why the effective handling of PC and software inventory throughout its lifecycle is such an important business discipline. And many organizations are turning to PC inventory software to facilitate more effective tracking and management of these important assets.

But, with so many inventory management software on the market, how do you separate the good from the bad? It’s best to conduct a close evaluation of each solution of interest, keeping an eye out for the following traits:

Comprehensiveness

Successfully managing your PC and software inventory is about more than just keeping a log of what you have and documenting where it is located. It’s about effectively auditing changes to your assets and network, and about linking IT inventory to financial assets, such as software licenses or hardware leases, and understanding their impact on the business. Choosing a solution that provides complete, fully integrated capabilities to support all facets of PC inventory management will enable more precise correlation of IT investments to core business activities. Additionally, a comprehensive system will allow for more in-depth analysis of business risks, such as compliance, so they can be proactively addressed.

Simple deployment

In today’s economy, companies are running “lean” when it comes to human resources. Few IT departments have the staff available to support a long, complex implementation. Therefore, you should choose a PC inventory solution that can be deployed and rolled out quickly. This will not only minimize the burden on your technical teams, it will accelerate your return on investment and be flexible enough to provide you with a deployment that fits your network.

Ease of use

As with any software application, features that are difficult to navigate will provide only limited value. On the other hand, an intuitive interface can go a long way towards ensuring broad user adoption and the realization of true business advantage. Make sure your inventory management software is user-friendly, so all users can fully leverage all its powerful functionality – without the need for lengthy and expensive training.

Minimal maintenance

When solutions are cumbersome to administer, companies are more prone to abandon their use. And in today’s organizations, where many mission-critical IT projects must be prioritized and juggled at once, tools that are hard to maintain can become more of a burden than a blessing. Only a system that requires minimal maintenance overhead will provide your business with the PC inventory management capabilities it needs, in the most efficient and economical manner possible.

For example, choosing a SaaS IT Asset Management solution will eliminate the hassles associated with deploying and administering your PC inventory system, since all required hardware and software is installed, tested, monitored, and maintained by the provider’s staff at their own facilities.

Proactive

To make it easier to manage the day-to-day operation of your PC’s, consider a system that can stay on top of issues and let you know when your attention is required. This includes the ability to define and customize system alerts and events to monitor, and flexible enough to monitor issues across multiple domains, both IT inventory related (for example, missing security patches or illegal software) as well as business related issues (for example, license compliance gaps).