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Ask four questions to understand how IT assets are managed in your organisation

Whiteboard Wednesday Episode 5: Ask four questions to understand how IT assets are managed in your organisation.

Whiteboard Wednesday is me, a whiteboard and learning about all things IT Asset Management (ITAM), every Wednesday!

This week we explore how to understand how IT assets are currently managed in your organisation.

https://youtu.be/Lp9QHhAYNdc


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Ask four questions to understand how IT assets are managed in your organisation

Abbreviated transcript:

This week, four questions to ask to begin to understand how your company does ITAM and to troubleshoot the processes and begin to understand how assets are treated.

So perhaps you’ve begun to investigate it at your company. And you want to know how your company does it and learn more. So, four questions are asked to troubleshoot how your processes work at the moment.

New Employee

The first question to ask is imagine I am a new user at your company. And I’ve got my new shiny laptop, and maybe it’s got some software on it. And maybe it’s got some subscriptions and a login, and it’s arrived, just as I started, perfect. How did that happen?

First question to ask is, how did I get this laptop? Who put the software on it? who governs what software actually goes on it? And who keeps an eye on that whole process? If you ask that question. And dig into that, pull that thread, and you will identify a great deal about how assets managed at your company.

Asset Request

Second question is request something. So, let’s say that I’ve been at your company for three months, I’ve got my shiny laptop, it’s working great. But I need a new application. How does that happen? Do I go to a portal? Or do I ask my boss? How do I get new, it might be software or hardware to support this device to support my work?

Again, pull that thread, understand how that process works. And you’ll understand a lot about how it works at your company.

Business Service

Third question – let’s assume I’ve now been at your company for six months, I’ve got my laptop, I’ve got the software, everything’s working great by actually, I’ve got a new innovative system that I need to build, and I need a cloud instance and a database on it. Or maybe I need a SaaS subscription or something.

How does that happen? Is there a portal for that? Do I need to ask my boss? How does that actually work at your company? How do I build a new business app at your company?

Leaver

And the fourth and final question is, let’s say okay, my time’s up, I’m finished. I need to leave the company. How do we unwind all that? I need to give the laptop back. It’s got software on it. It’s got subscriptions. I’ve got that new software that I’ve requested. I’ve got that business app in the cloud.

How do we reverse all of that? By asking that question, you will begin to understand a great deal about how assets are managed in your company.

If you take a company from zero maturity up to 100, an awesome best practice with IT Asset Management, what you’re doing is you’re effectively changing the habits of the way people behave around IT. Software hardware services.

So, by understanding these habits in your company, you can understand where you are, and hopefully you can understand opportunities for improvement.

About Martin Thompson

Martin is owner and founder of The ITAM Review, an online resource for worldwide ITAM professionals. The ITAM Review is best known for its weekly newsletter of all the latest industry updates, LISA training platform, Excellence Awards and conferences in UK, USA and Australia.

Martin is also the founder of ITAM Forum, a not-for-profit trade body for the ITAM industry created to raise the profile of the profession and bring an organisational certification to market. On a voluntary basis Martin is a contributor to ISO WG21 which develops the ITAM International Standard ISO/IEC 19770.

He is also the author of the book "Practical ITAM - The essential guide for IT Asset Managers", a book that describes how to get started and make a difference in the field of IT Asset Management. In addition, Martin developed the PITAM training course and certification.

Prior to founding the ITAM Review in 2008 Martin worked for Centennial Software (Ivanti), Silicon Graphics, CA Technologies and Computer 2000 (Tech Data).

When not working, Martin likes to Ski, Hike, Motorbike and spend time with his young family.

Connect with Martin on LinkedIn.

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