
IT Asset Management Software & Features
As an organization’s IT assets grow, managing them via manual, paper-based or spreadsheet systems becomes cumbersome. IT asset management (ITAM) software is a centralized application used for asset lifecycle management and tracking.
IT Asset Management Software is a program that manages and monitors the IT assets found in a network. With the help of IT asset management solutions, an asset can be tracked for its entire duration in the organization.
Features of ITAM software:
IT asset management software solutions usually include features that give organizations better control of their IT environment and enable them to track assets on-premises and in the cloud:
- Automated detection: Most IT asset management systems automatically detect all hardware and software installed on an organization’s network of computers.
- License management: ITAM software stores IT asset licenses. These are then cross-referred to the relevant inventory data to alert the organization if it’s under-licensed and at risk of breaching a license agreement or over-licensed and acquiring software it underuses or never uses. This functionality can also track the expiration dates of license agreements and inform the organization accordingly.
- Version and patch management: Asset management software tracks the deployment of new software patches and versions to keep an organization’s suite of computers secure, up-to-date and running smoothly.
- Request management: Some ITAM software can track all requests for IT assets and allow organizations to define asset request workflows. They evaluate license requirements for these assets and manage the acquisition and deployment process.
- Inventory management: ITAM tools keep a record of all assets used by an organization. The inventory records asset data like name, type of license agreement and version.
- Configuration management database (CMDB): The CMDB is a centralized database that stores information about an organization’s IT assets and the relationships between assets.
- Fixed asset management: Most ITAM tools have a dedicated repository for managing fixed asset data. Fixed assets mainly include hardware.
- Digital asset management: This feature of ITAM software involves the management of digital rights and rich media (e.g., multimedia content like videos, music and photos).