8 IT Asset Management Best Practices That Will Unburden Your IT Team

Is your IT team feeling like they’re spinning plates, juggling chainsaws, and putting out fires all at the same time?

Although that may be a bit of an exaggeration, your team likely faces a mountain of competing priorities every day, many of which involve managing IT assets. Tracking hardware and software assets, ensuring compliance, maintaining inventory accuracy, and predicting future technology needs can eat up a big chunk of the day. The sheer volume of tasks can be relentless and exhausting, leaving little room to focus on innovation and growth.

So, let’s solve that problem today. 

Okay, reading this article won’t necessarily solve all of your IT asset management woes. But, it will pave the path to relieving your IT team from unnecessary time sinks that bog down their work days.  

In this article, we will explore IT asset management best practices that can streamline your IT asset management process and help your IT team reclaim their time and resources. 

Implement a Self-Service Portal

Use a self-service tech support desk (like Signifi’s TED solution) for your employees to request, return, or report issues with IT assets. 

A tech support desk is a great IT asset management tool that lets your team handle simple tasks independently, such as password resets, software installations, and hardware checkouts. It reduces the number of routine support tickets your IT crew has to handle and reduces the back-and-forth communication typically required for simple requests, ensuring that IT resources are used more efficiently.

Freed from the burden of simple tech support, your IT staff will be able to concentrate on more complex problems and strategic projects.

Use a Smart Locker or Smart Vending System

Easy-to-use asset smart lockers or smart vending systems are another great time and resource-saving IT asset management option to unburden your IT team. 

Smart lockers facilitate easy equipment pickups and drop-offs for high-value equipment like laptops, making it easier for your employees to handle equipment loans, swaps, and returns without the direct involvement of your IT team. 

On the other hand, smart vending solutions can help employees access lower value IT peripherals like mice or keyboards independently.  

By providing around-the-clock access to necessary equipment, you’ll enhance employee productivity, enabling them to retrieve or return items at their convenience while also unburdening your IT team from overseeing IT asset distribution. 

These lockers also offer a secure storage solution for your IT assets, ensuring that only authorized personnel can access valuable equipment, so you’ll also reduce the risk of theft or misuse.

Centralize Asset Inventory Management

Keeping a centralized inventory of your organization’s assets is key to a smooth IT asset management program. 

It’s a good idea to use one comprehensive ITAM system that pulls together asset data from various sources into one place. This way, tracking assets becomes a breeze, data stays consistent, and your IT team can easily access, track, and manage all the necessary information.

You can also reduce the risk of discrepancies and data silos, which makes it easier to make informed decisions.

Automate Asset Discovery and Tracking

One of the most burdensome aspects of IT asset management is the manual tracking and updating of asset information. This process is time-consuming and prone to errors, which can lead to significant gaps in the asset inventory. 

The solution? Automating your asset discovery and tracking.

Automation can greatly reduce the manual workload associated with ITAM.

Implement automated tools for asset discovery and tracking to continuously monitor the location, usage, and status of your IT assets. Automated systems can provide real-time updates and alerts, helping your IT team stay on top of asset management without extensive manual intervention.

Automated asset discovery tools ensure that your inventory is always accurate and up-to-date. They can identify and record new assets as they are added to the network, eliminating the need for manual entry and reducing the risk of human error.

Conduct Regular Audits and Reviews

Think of audits and reviews as your IT team’s health checkups. They help you spot discrepancies, unauthorized use, and outdated equipment, allowing you to tackle these issues head-on. For example, you might discover unused software licenses you can reassign or cancel, saving costs.

On the topic of unburdening your IT team, audits also help you comply with regulatory requirements and internal policies, ensuring you avoid potential fines that could lead to bigger headaches and work disruptions down the line.

Beyond compliance, these audits can uncover hidden inefficiencies. Maybe you have servers running at half capacity or redundant equipment taking up space and resources. Addressing these can lead to significant cost savings and better resource allocation.

Automate Software License Management

Automate the management of software licenses to reduce the manual effort required by your IT team.

By implementing automated tools, your IT team can easily track software deployment, usage, and expiration dates and receive timely alerts for renewals and compliance issues.

With automated alerts for license renewals, your team can ensure they never miss a deadline, reducing the risk of service interruptions and keeping your software up to date.

Integrate ITAM with ITSM

Integrating ITAM with IT Service Management (ITSM) systems helps create a seamless workflow between your asset management and IT service processes.

With integrated systems, you can reduce duplicate efforts and streamline your incident management. Your service desk teams can access up-to-date asset information when handling incidents, allowing them to diagnose and resolve issues more quickly and accurately.

Another great benefit of integrating ITAM and ITSM is that a unified view of your assets and their service history improves coordination and communication between asset managers and service desk teams, leading to more efficient problem-solving and better asset management. 

Use Predictive Analytics

Leverage predictive analytics to forecast future asset needs and maintenance requirements. 

Predictive analytics can help your IT team identify trends and patterns in asset performance, allowing them to anticipate issues and plan for replacements or upgrades before problems arise. This proactive management reduces downtime or the need for emergency fixes and improves overall asset reliability.

Also, by understanding which assets are most likely to need maintenance or replacement, your team can allocate resources more effectively and avoid unnecessary expenses.

How Signifi Can Help You Implement IT Asset Management Best Practices to Unburden Your IT Team

Adopting these best practices can significantly enhance your IT asset management processes, freeing up your IT team’s time and resources. Additionally, by leveraging automation, predictive analytics, and integrated systems, you can streamline your operations, improve asset utilization, and ensure compliance too. It’s a win-win-win. 

Signifi is pleased to offer a range of industry-leading IT hardware asset management solutions, including smart lockers, smart vending, and tech express desks, to help your IT teams manage hardware assets more easily.

Contact us to learn how our IT asset management solutions can unburden your IT team from the tedious work that eats up their day, freeing them to focus on strategic initiatives that drive your business forward.