Asset Repository Assessment Criteria

Asset Repository Assessment Criteria

I will be reviewing Asset Repositories soon; the criteria below will shape our assessment of market leading Asset Repository vendors.

What is Asset Management?

Asset Management is a system for monitoring and managing things of value. Through the practice of Asset Management we can maximise the value of assets, minimize risks and underpin improved delivery of services. 

Key benefits of Asset Management

• Increased productivity, performance and profitability
• Best possible service to customers

Key risks associated with Assets:

• Financial
• Contractual
• Legal or Compliance Risk

Asset Characteristics

• All assets follow a lifecycle of ownership
• All assets have some degree of emotional attachment
• A company may choose to manage assets when legislation dictates or when it is convenient or financially rewarding to do so

See more at: https://itassetmanagement.net/2013/08/09/asset-management/

Asset Management Systems

The aim of an Asset Management system is to track, control and quantify the financial value of IT assets from their introduction to the business to their removal.

There are three key feature areas for Asset Management systems:

1. Lifecycle – keeping a log of everything we own and what changes are made to IT assets as they transition through the business from cradle to grave. The more we know about assets the easier they are to manage.
2. Money – are we getting best value, are we utilising assets as efficiently as possible, how are we doing against budget?
3. Governance – are we managing our contractual or regulatory requirements? 

“Keeping a log of everything we own and what changes are made to IT assets as they transition through the business from cradle to grave. The more we know about assets the easier they are to manage.”

Key Feature Areas / Requirements

1. Lifecycle

Asset Discovery:

• How are assets entered into the system (Integration options, Discoverable vs. No Discoverable)
• Tagging of assets / Scanning / RFID etc.
• Managing different Asset Types and Ownership (Mobile, Corporate, BYOD/Third Party/Leased)

Service Management Processes:

• Support / underpin ITSM processes such as Incident and Problem, Change Management /IMAC (Install, Move, Add and Change), Request/Request Catalogue/ Service Level Management
• Overlap / interaction with CMDB

Lifecycle Stages:

1. PLAN
2. REQUEST
3. PROCURE
4. RECEIVE
5. DEPLOY
6. MANAGE
7. RETIRE

2. Money

• Allow organizations to identify IT assets whose TCO/Service Management overhead outstrips business benefit of retaining them
• Reporting Asset book value / compliance status for mergers / acquisitions / financial planning
• Total Cost of Ownership / SLA performance / Vendor Management / Contract Negotiation
• Reporting / Decision Making

3. Governance

• Contracts Management / Prioritization
• Compliance Reporting / Remediation
• Asset Accuracy & Exception Reporting

Have I missed anything? Please leave a comment below or contact me to share your opinions.

If you are a Asset Repository system vendor and would like to participate, or you own a system and you’d like to see a comparison of your system against other leading vendors – please give me a shout. Thanks ~ Martin