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How important is it to your business to control IT assets?
Are those assets identified? Are they out of warranty?
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5 Answers
Jose, it might help to have a bit more context for this question.
For now, I would say that a business should have control of all the assets its owns and operates to manage its business. They must be properly identified and their maintenance status should be understood.
-ASB: http://XeeMe.com/AndrewBaker
Andrew, thank you for your interest.
In many cases IT assets are only remembered when they have problems ... It is difficult to see plan update desktop, server, switch, etc. only when new systems are implemented and the resources do not meet current demand.
Jose
Another reason to monitor your IT assets is to ensure that "foreign assets" don't invade your systems. With the proliferation of cheap internet ready hardware available today end point security is critical. I can't remember the number of times I have completed IT audits for clients who said:
"those computers, printers, tablets, and smart phones are not mine. Where did they come from?"
"Wireless access point? Where?"
As a general rule, the more IT assets you own, the more important asset management is (or should be).
In enterprise environments, IT asset management is critical. This includes having a clean view of all machines and devices in the environment(s) as well as keeping careful track of what’s installed on those machines and devices.
Poor asset management leaves companies unable to monitor and detect asset theft and misuse as well as software license compliance problems. Software license compliance can be a significant liability in large enterprises often running tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of machines. Modern asset management tools are able to discover vast sums of money being spent on software that is barely or never used. It can also discover many “rogue” installations of software and even remove it automatically.
The outputs from IT asset management are also critical inputs to solid accounting and ERP systems.
It's not about controlling the assets. It's about controlling the information held on those assets. That is what businesses need to worry about. Focusing on the device itself is watching the wrong bouncing ball.
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