The first part of this post focused on some key features your chosen IT Asset Management (ITAM) tool should have. It also discussed why every tool needs the support of people, processes, and complementary technologies to provide a complete solution. In this continuation, the focus is on what your business can and should expect from your chosen tool, and what you need to achieve those goals successfully.
The Real Purpose Behind ITAM
As detailed in Part 1 of this post, there are several functions every ITAM tool must perform to deliver the business value. Here’s a summary.
- The tool must gather the best available information from all of your critical IT assets.
- It should consolidate your IT infrastructure knowledge in clear, actionable ways.
- It must populate and automatically update your Configuration Management Database (CMDB).
- It should fully and seamlessly support your IT Service Management (ITSM) and IT Operations Management (ITOM) efforts.
The Criteria for ITAM Success
To get ITAM right, there are four factors you and your IT management team must cover. They are the following:
The Right People
ITAM requires detailed information about your IT assets, how they operate together and interconnect, the business services and functions they support, and who is responsible for their operation, security, and support. This means ITAM requires input from multiple business and technology experts and executives.
The Right Processes
ITAM, ITSM, ITOM, and related functions depend on processes that reflect your business’ specific goals, needs, and priorities. Those processes must be consistent, reliable, scalable, and changeable as business conditions change and tools evolve or are replaced.
(See “Process Excellence: A Prerequisite for ITSM Success.”)
The Right Supporting Technologies
To avoid IT management islands and silos, your tools and processes must play well with others. Specifically, at minimum, your ITAM efforts must interoperate with those assets, processes, and resources related to asset discovery, ITSM, and ITOM.
IT Discovery is especially critical, because you cannot have truly comprehensive IT management without accurate, complete, timely knowledge about your IT asset inventory.
(“See Effective Inventory Management: Your Best Defense Against Your Next IT Audit.”)
And if your business has a CMDB, much of the information it contains should come directly from your chosen tool and related processes.
(See “Is Your CMDB A Catalyst for IT Evolution?”)
Do we have executive management’s attention and support? How well your business does ITAM directly affects how well IT supports your business goals and needs.
This means your executive leadership should be passionately interested in how well your IT estate is enabling that support. Which also means your chosen solutions and processes should include regular, business-focused reports to your executive team.
Success with ITAM can start with your selection of a tool, but also requires a commitment to supporting that tool with the right people and the best processes. That commitment is significant, but so are the benefits it will deliver, for your ITAM, ITSM, and ITOM efforts and for your business.
Virima: Your Partner for Comprehensive ITAM
Virima’s solutions for IT discovery, ITAM, ITSM, and ITOM can help you maximize the effectiveness and business value of your IT estate.
Virima features can automatically discover and map those critical IT resources and the interconnections that link them to one another, your applications and services, and your users. And Virima’s autonomic social IT discovery features can help your team crowdsource critical information about your IT assets.
Virima solutions are easy to use and configure, and designed to work well with each other. They also produce useful, actionable reports about your IT environment, for your IT team and your business leaders. .
Virima is here to help. To get started, contact us today to schedule a demo and explore the possibilities!
