Imagine trying to secure your home, but you had no idea how many doors or entry ways you have. Or perhaps you’re trying to insure your property, but you have no idea what’s on the property itself. In both instances, you’re trying to protect something, but you have no sense of what you’re protecting.

When it comes to IT, the same problem exists. You want to secure all of your company’s assets, but you don’t know what you have to begin with. 

As companies grow and constantly add new software services, databases, apps, programs, and so on, it stands to reason that things can get unorganized. And that makes it pretty impossible to secure much of anything.

That’s where IT Asset Management comes in: this cybersecurity-as-a-service solution is the first step for most businesses when it comes to better security. 

What is IT Asset Management?

With ITAM, you’re identifying any and all IT assets you have. Having that inventory is invaluable, because now you know exactly what you need to protect.

7 Benefits of IT Asset Management (ITAM) You Didn’t Know About

ITAM does far more than simply identify your assets. Here are 7 benefits of IT Asset Management you probably didn’t know about.

1. See your assets in real-time.

These days, businesses move fast. With everything online or in the cloud, it’s easy for assets to get jumbled, confused, and even forgotten about.

With IT Asset Management, your team can see your assets in real-time. That means no waiting and no reinventing the wheel once your initial inventory has been completed. 

2. Eliminate paperwork.

Most ITAM services will track assets in the cloud, so there’s no old hard copies floating around. (Just think: how often do spreadsheets and documents get lost?)

By tracking your assets in real-time on the cloud, you’ll eliminate a need for all those pesky documents.

3. Get rid of assets you aren’t using.

With so many employees working remotely, it’s more challenging than ever to keep track of all of your assets. But this is where ITAM can really help.

Using asset management, you’ll be able to track how your assets are being used, how many users are utilizing them, and how often. That way, you can finally see which assets are worth keeping and which can be streamlined or removed altogether.

4. Reduce asset costs.

Not only will your company save by removing underutilized assets, but you’ll also save in other ways by using IT Asset Management.

For instance, some of your employees may need more high level (read: more expensive) licenses, while others need basic licenses. The same applies for user access levels: some need basic, while others need full access.

In short, ITAM will help your organization better plan for its financial future.

5. Plan and improve the need for future assets.

Along the same lines, it’s uncanny how often a department purchases a new asset when another department is already using the same one. 

Communication within your organization may not be as strong as you hope when it comes to talking about IT assets, so that’s where ITAM can help the conversation.

IT Asset Management helps your entire organization see exactly what assets you have, so you can make better decisions about what you need going forward.

6. Be compliant. 

Compliance and policy management is a challenge for many companies; but IT asset management can help here too.

Supporting organizations with software license compliance is both effortless and worthwhile with ITAM. In this way, you’ll be rest assured that the terms of your software contract aren’t being violated (against the terms of your agreement, using too many users, etc.).

IT Asset Management can also help when it comes to regulatory compliance. Knowing all the assets you have will undoubtedly help maintain your company’s compliance.

7. Gain visibility and accuracy.

Perhaps the most important benefit of IT Asset Management is its ability to give your team visibility to the assets you have. 

Again, this is crucial for your cybersecurity efforts, since seeing all of your assets gives you the ability to protect and secure them. Visibility and accuracy alone are worth investing in ITAM.

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IT Asset Management is just the start of a proactive, continuous cybersecurity structure for your business. By leveraging the power of ITAM, you’ll gain these 7 benefits (plus some!)

Want to learn more about staying proactive about your cybersecurity?
Start by reading 8 Epic Cybersecurity Fails.