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 As a result, IT asset inventory logs can quickly become outdated.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

When it comes to software asset management, there are many aspects to be considered. But perhaps the most critical is the tracking of software inventory. In fact, Gartner believes that ensuring that inventory records are accurate, up to date, and consistent with those of the various software vendors a company works with, is an essential part of the asset management process.

But what makes software inventory management so important? Some of the key factors that contribute to the growing need for effective logging and tracking of software inventory include:

Security

With breaches, data theft, and other cyber crimes on the rise, companies need to boost protection of their desktops, laptops and other systems. But, without unhindered insight into existing PC and Software inventory, it will be harder to identify when users download and use unauthorized software packages – such as games, chat programs, or applications from unknown or unreliable sources – that put these internal systems at risk.

Compliance

The frequency of external software audits is rising at a rapid pace. Understanding current licensing arrangements, and guaranteeing full adherence to them, requires the ability to correctly track how many licenses were purchased, and how many users/desktops have actually deployed the application(s).

License Costs

In today’s tough economy, companies of all sizes, across all industries, are embarking on aggressive cost-cutting measures. Shelfware and unused licenses – which can be eliminated through a comprehensive software inventory management strategy – are simply wasted money, and must be avoided. Additionally, businesses can avoid paying for upgrades, license transfers, and other items they may be entitled to by gaining greater insight into their software license inventory and related contracts through having an accurate software asset inventory and tracking your software asset.

In addition to addressing these critical requirements, well-defined and well-enforced software inventory management policies can result in other benefits, such as:

Improved vendor negotiations

The ability for a company to compare what they have to what they are actually using can help them avoid unnecessary expenses when the time comes to renew licensing agreements, and can put them in a better position to negotiate exactly what they need to renew.

Increased auditing efficiency

A Gartner Group anonymous December, 2006 survey uncovered the fact that 35% percent of clients had experienced an on-site audit from a major software vendor. And, the leading research firm expects this trend to continue, with more vendors conducting an even greater number of audits in the near future. A solid software inventory tracking plan will eliminate the need to perform cumbersome manual audits, which can distract from other critical IT projects, in these situations, by making the complete, accurate data auditors are looking for readily available whenever needed.

This week’s release introduces a new feature that easily shows which new software titles were installed across your entire network in the last few days.

The new view is available in the Inventory Module under the Software section, and provides a selection of software installed in the last 7 days, 14 days or the last month. This view is a great way to easily learn what software your users are installing, and verify its in compliance with your policies.