Pocket CIO – The Guide to Successful IT Asset Management: Get to grips with the fundamentals of IT Asset Management, Software Asset Management, and Software License Compliance Audits with this guide

An honest, objective self-assessment is the best way to understand your maturity level of where you are right now in relation to ITAM, as well as where you want to go. Keep in mind that assessments of this type often benefit from the assistance of outside consultants, those whose interests coincide with the best interests of your organization. Lastly, remember that self-acceptance of the self-assessment results is really the start of your journey toward excellence in ITAM disciplines.

As an aid in your decision making, here is my adaption of the Process Maturity Model for IT Asset Management 2003 from Gartner, which is one of the most popularly cited maturity models across ITAM literature:

The following screenshot illustrates where your organization is at a point in time. You should define what stage you are when you begin, at a mid-point and at the end:

The following are a few more points to aid you in determining your organizations maturity level:

Stage 1:...

Laying the foundation for a sound yet practical ITAM program means incorporating some guiding principles that help ensure a positive beginning. These principles apply not only to new initiatives, but also to project restarts that are common in most organizations. These principles are outlined as follows:

Managing the total cost of ownership (TCO) while ensuring your organization's software and hardware are properly inventoried, updated and serviced. Maintaining a good balance of resources and control between centrally managed and network-distributed systems. Deciding how many of your information systems and how much of your systems management to outsource, if any. Ensuring the security of all your information, including everything transmitted via mobile devices. Choosing among proprietary, compatible, and open source software options to find the right balance of resource and control between centrally-managed and network-distributed systems.

These are just a few of the issues and challenges facing the CIOs and senior IT executives charged with IT management responsibilities. The proliferation of choices doesn't make the task any easier.

When developing any management process that works, there are certain principles and best practices that make up an effective ITAM strategy...

There are many misconceptions within the business arena as to what constitutes an effective asset management strategy. For now, though, keep in mind that an effective ITAM process is a holistic discipline similar to the system management disciplines. It affects all aspects of the IT and resonates throughout the enterprise.

Before diving deeper into the ITAM process, let's look at what many companies do, believing they are implementing effective ITAM strategies. Look carefully to see if you can identify any of these in your organization.

The IT asset management lifecycle covers the period from initial request for an item through procurement, delivery, stocking, deployment, monitoring, support, installation (as well as all moves, adds, or changes in location), upgrades, reuse, termination, disposal, and replacement. This lifecycle is sometimes referred to as cradle to the grave:

The ITAM lifecycle

Six major components that form the IT Asset Management Lifecycle are as follows:

In this chapter, you have learned if your organization is in a chaotic, reactive, proactive, managed, or optimized state when it comes to ITAM and what key initiatives you need to develop a sound foundation for your ITAM program. We have covered what ITAM is and isn't.

We have also covered the fundamentals and the lifecycle best practice for ITAM. The standard position of assets at a point in time doing the IMACD stages and where in the lifecycle process stage the asset is: control, procure, deploy, manage, or retire. You have also learned when planning ITAM:

In Chapter 3, The New Risk Management, you will learn how...