As experts in the field of IT Asset Management (if we do say so ourselves…), we have come across numerous ideas, through research and practice, of what the “best practices” should be. We have compiled a concise list of what we believe to be the top 7 best practices for ITAM that every IT pro … Continue reading Seven Best Practices for IT Asset Management
Providing the relevant documentation to support your software license entitlements is an essential requirement of modern audits. However documentation management is frequently overlooked by busy IT Managers and Software Asset Managers until the auditor arrives. Vector suggest that understanding what documentation supports your license entitlement should be your first step. Different software vendors require different … Continue reading Managing Software License Documentation
It was recently my pleasure to participate in a webinar hosted by one of our North American partners, KOHO Software. I would like to thank KOHO for organising the event (linked below), in which a selection of top IT service and asset management vendors each had a short time to position their solutions to an … Continue reading Webinar recording – ITSM and ITAM Process Glue
Today’s slim-line IT management teams need to be aware of the benefits that will accrue from adopting a strategy of pro-active software asset optimization. Further, the concepts outlined here are as valid for cloud services and mobile apps, as for conventional on-premise packages. Step 1: Asset Inventory Executing a full hardware and software inventory collection … Continue reading Software Asset Optimization: Fast Track to Benefits
IT Asset and Service Management – conflicting objectives? IT Asset Management and IT Service Management continue to exist as independent disciplines, serving different objectives and occasionally coming into conflict as a result. With asset management under pressure to reduce costs, and service management under pressure to maximize service availability, perhaps some tensions are inevitable. That … Continue reading ‘ITASM’ – long overdue…..
IT Asset Data – natural for SQL tables The decision to publish the format of the database of our former IT asset management product Asset Manager Pro was taken many years ago at the inception of the software. Reasons at the time were a mixture of ethical, practical and marketing. – Ethical because we felt it … Continue reading Customer benefits of an open format IT asset database
Responding to market interest in subscription models for ITAM/ITSM tools. Recent discussions with service provider partners has stimulated a fresh look at the ways in which the tools necessary for supporting ITAM and ITSM activities can be charged out on a pay-per-use basis. I’m happy to share these notes with you and welcome any comments … Continue reading Subscription Models for an integrated ITAM/ITSM suite
IT asset management: too broad a term? With each new inquiry that comes to us via Google (usually…), our first challenge is always to get the inquirer to tell us what they are really looking for. Some are happy to open up and give us the background to their search, and explain their business needs … Continue reading Selecting ITAM / SAM tools: not a simple task
We are often struck by the gulf that exists in most organizations between reality and the idealized picture of totally integrated infrastructure management, in which Change Management, Service Management, Incident and Problem Management and IT Asset Management all tie neatly together. Underfunding, short horizons for planning, rapid organic growth forced by merger or acquisition, and … Continue reading Joined up infrastructure management
IT Asset Discovery – great start in ITAM – but only a start Organizations adopt IT asset management disciplines for a wide variety of reasons, at different rates of maturity, and at different stages of the organization’s growth. The term IT asset management is used to refer to a broad spectrum of capability and achievement. Basic, … Continue reading When do spreadsheets run out of steam for ITAM?