ITAM & The Asset Lifecycle

Data Technological innovation Asset Administration (ITAM) suffers from a perception challenge. On 1 hand, implementing an ITAM system promises a important operational and capital expense savings of up to 30% of your program funds. On the other hand, a the latest survey of CIOs and CFOs studies that 84% never ever see any of that price personal savings.

What gives?

I have been doing the job the ITAM and SAM (software program asset administration – a element of ITAM products and services dealing especially with application licenses, company agreements, and audits) for above 20 many years. I have seen asset administration instruments and processes go wrong for a myriad of causes. But the least difficult and fastest situation to fix is the weak implementation and enforcement of an asset lifecycle.

Nearly every single configuration asset management databases (CMDB) or asset managed knowledge repository (Asset MDR) follows the very same 5 asset lifecycles phases presented by the ISO/IEC 19970-1:2017 very best business procedures:

1. Acquisition/Development – property in scope are obtained (or made) in a controlled manner and effectively recorded
2. Launch/Deployment – guarantee that releases of IT assets in scope are planned and executed in a way that supports ITAM requirements
3. Operation – guarantee that operational processing employing IT property in scope is executed in a way that supports ITAM needs
4. (Re)deployment* – assures that the deployment and redeployment of IT property in scope is executed in a way that supports ITAM prerequisites
5. Retirement – eliminate IT assets in scope from their existing use, with subsequent repurposing, recycling, and disposal exactly where appropriate, in accordance with business coverage and conference all file-trying to keep specifications

*Notice – the ISO/IEC lumps Deployment and Redeployment processes below the same title, to ITAM practitioners’ detriment. You’ll see why more down…

The overriding topic of these definitions is that they are procedurally driven and subjective to the requires of the organizations’ overriding necessities. But that also signifies CMDBs and Asset MDRs have to maintain their asset lifecycle flags subjective to their precise customer’s procedural needs. And if the customer’s group does not correctly outline what these phases are, then the ITAM group are unable to continue to keep up with all the deployments and alterations, and the CMDB/Asset MDR reporting gets untrustworthy, and that clarifies why so a lot of CIOs and CFOs report these types of low thoughts of the whole affair.

The trick to rebuilding asset lifecycle definitions is to make confident they are aim, unique and dependent on measurable data attributes. By aim, I necessarily mean not open to interpretation by whoever is environment the asset lifecycle flag (as opposed to subjective definitions, utilized to explain art for the beholder, rigid peaks in a merengue, or pornography to a supreme courtroom justice). By exceptional, I imply that an asset can not be in two phases concurrently. And by measurable facts characteristics, I imply information gathered by the CMDB/Asset MDR, possibly collected by automatic mechanisms or by other teams’ functions.

With this in head, allow us apply new definitions to these 5 asset lifecycle phases but transform the definitions so that they are goal, exceptional, and based mostly on measurable facts characteristics:

1. Acquisition/Enhancement – cash, or the guarantee of dollars, has been paid out for the possession or right to use the asset but has not however been been given nor deployed into the computing natural environment

Details characteristics: Acquire Purchase Number or Bill Number 

2. Release/Deployment – Asset has been bodily been given and accounted for, and is now remaining produced ready for use in the computing setting, but not nevertheless deployed into the computing natural environment.

Details characteristics: Purchase Buy Quantity or Bill Range, in addition Monthly bill of Lading facts and visible inventory

3. Operation – Asset is energetic in the computing environment 

Facts characteristics: All the characteristics for Section #1 & #2, as well as: recent IP Address, network scanning resources, usage logs, command, and control instrument records, etcetera.

4. (Re)deployment* – Asset has been removed from the computing natural environment briefly, with the intent it will be utilized again 

Facts characteristics: Exact as Phase #1 & #2, but all knowledge attributes from Stage #3 would be out of day

5. Retirement – Asset has been removed from the computing setting forever and is no for a longer period the home or concern of the group. 

Details attributes: All from Phases #1-4, in addition a Chain of Custody record (i.e., disposal certificate, donation receipt, police report, and so forth.)

*Take note – Sharp-eyed audience will detect Launch/Deployment and (Re)deployment are not precisely goal and distinctive from just one a further. And you’re proper. I guarantee I will explain this if you continue to be with me!

Thanks to these definitions, an intrepid ITAM manager can seem at the knowledge characteristics coming into their CMDB/Asset MDR and know which asset has moved their position in the asset lifecycle. Your ITAM group can look at the sum complete of units in your atmosphere, sift out the asset information with lifecycle configurations that match the expected details characteristics and emphasis on looking into the types that really do not. Possibly a hassle ticket or alter ask for was not properly produced just before the Assistance Desk replaced a Computer? Or only element of a shipment was acquired since of supply chain problems? Was a notebook lost or stolen, and was Cyber Protection notified? And if that piece of components has been pulled off the wire, can the software program assigned to it be applied elsewhere?

With the ITAM group actively screening the veracity of the data characteristics defining the asset lifecycle, two factors then occur. Initially, the quantity of asset data the ITAM workforce necessary to study and update manually is a fantastic metric for equally the health and fitness of support guidance processes and the overall accuracy of the facts contained within just the CMDB/Asset MDR. 2nd, the more exact and responsive reporting from the CMDB/Asset MDR will strengthen the general trustworthiness of the CMDB/Asset MDR by the CFOs and CIOs.

Now, let us handle the asterisk, our Roger Maris of ITAM, the (Re)Deployment stage. The ISO/IEC 19770-1:2017 common brings together the preliminary deployment and restoration and redeployment of belongings into a single period. And this is to the ITAM industry’s detriment. Asset recovery and redeployment is a person of the a few procedures Gartner identifies as vital to achieving that 30% price cost savings (outlined previously in this article). Any asset currently owned and redeployed stops a new asset from getting purchased a straight-line price tag discounts for each the hardware and program budgets. ITAM teams can far more clearly present these discounts by tracking and reporting accurately how numerous belongings pass as a result of this “Redeployment” period.

And that we really do not clarify why so couple of the C-Suite Management declare to see any reward from our attempts.