Today, most companies use IT tools to achieve their business goals. IT Asset Management (ITAM) and IT Service Management (ITSM) are both processes that ensure effective IT support. However, each has its own specific purposes and objectives.
In this article, our ITSM experts will explain the differences between these two concepts and how they can complement each other.
ITAM, or IT Asset Management
IT assets are the computer hardware and software used by a company to support its business operations. Because computers, software and other IT assets are often updated, modified or moved, it can be a challenge to keep information about these assets up to date. That is why so many companies end up buying more IT equipment than they need and don’t always have optimal protection against cyberattacks.
ITAM helps companies and their managers address the challenges of IT asset management by providing guidance on the creation of standards, processes, strategies, and measures to improve control, ensure compliance with business objectives, and limit risks and costs.
Examples of ITAM best practices
Good IT asset management involves keeping each asset connected to its contractual and financial information so that managers can track the overall costs of their IT assets.
ITAM best practices therefore include strict processes for requesting, approving, procuring, scrapping and redeploying IT assets, which ensure that IT assets are documented when they are purchased and are properly tracked as deployments and redeployments occur.
The benefits of good IT Asset Management
Efficient IT infrastructure management provides a precise account of the costs and risks associated with the life cycle of technology assets. It helps optimize the business value of the technology strategy, architecture, financing, and decisions regarding contracts and subcontractors.
For example, ITAM processes can ensure that when you dispose of old computers, their software licenses are retrieved and redeployed on your new devices.
Managing IT assets well often takes a good ITSM solution
Many IT Service Management (ITSM) solutions offer features that handle IT requests and approvals. It’s a good idea for companies to choose ITAM solutions that can integrate easily to their ITSM solution.
ITSM, or IT Service Management
IT Service Management is a term that refers to designing, creating, providing, managing and supporting all of the services that your (in-house or outsourced) IT department performs for your organization and external stakeholders.
Any technology a member of your organization uses for business purposes, the programs and applications your customers use and a whole range of other services your IT department manages and provides fall under IT service management.
The ITIL method guides IT Service Management
The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of documents created specifically to provide guidance and structure for implementing an ITSM solution. It sets out the best practices for IT Service Management. Terms such as “incident,” “problem,” “change,” “configuration item” and “configuration management database” all come from the ITIL reference.
Many ITSM solutions follow the ITIL method and ensure compliance with its best practices.
The benefits of managing IT assets and services together
Managing IT assets and services together has many advantages. First of all, when a user submits a ticket to IT services, it is useful for the employees there to have information about the asset in question so that the request can be resolved more quickly. ITAM provides information on where the IT asset is in its lifecycle and other details such as the warranty. It is also a good idea to update the asset’s information after completing a service request, which is easier to do if IT assets and services are managed using the same software solution.
ITAM can even become an extension of IT support services. In many organizations, the IT department doesn’t know how much software the company has, because individuals can download applications whenever they want. By integrating IT asset management and IT service management, the software request process can be automated. This has two benefits: acquiring and allocating software is centralized in the IT department, and automation speeds up the process.
Combining ITSM and ITAM can save you time, effort and money. You won’t need to search for information about your IT assets anymore, because all relevant IT asset data will be in one place.
iTop Professional: easily integrate ITAM and ITSM
In conclusion, IT Asset Management (ITAM) and IT Service Management (ITSM) are different concepts, but both should be a priority for companies that use IT assets to support their business objectives.
With a good ITSM tool like iTop Professional, you can automate the processes that manage IT assets. This improves efficiency and control while reducing costs and human error.
if you are planning to build, extend or change your ITAM or ITSM solutions, consider the potential of integrating these two software solutions and contact a team that specializes in ITSM solutions to ask for help.