Manage IT assets through their life cycle to make sure that their use delivers value at optimal cost, they remain operational (fit for purpose), they are accounted for and physically protected, and those assets that are critical to support service capability are reliable and available. Manage software licences to ensure that the optimal number are acquired, retained and deployed in relation to required business usage, and the software installed is in compliance with licence agreements.
Process Purpose Statement Account for all IT assets and optimize the value provided by these assets.
<?>
<?>
Identify and Record Current Assets
Identify all owned assets in an asset register that records current status. Maintain alignment with the change management and configuration management processes, the configuration management system, and the financial accounting records.
Identify legal, regulatory, or contractual requirements that need to be addressed when managing the asset.
Verify the existence of all owned assets by performing regular physical and logical inventory checks and reconciliation, including the use of software discovery tools.
Verify that the assets are fit for purpose (i.e., in a useful condition).
Determine on a regular basis whether each asset continues to provide value and, if so, estimate the expected useful life for delivering value.
Ensure accounting for all assets.
Manage Critical Assets
Identify assets that are critical in providing service capability by referencing requirements in service definitions, SLAs, and the configuration management system.
Monitor the performance of critical assets by examining incident trends and, where necessary, take action to repair or replace.
On a regular basis, consider the risk of failure or need for replacement of each critical asset.
Maintain the resilience of critical assets by applying regular preventive maintenance, monitoring performance, and, if required, providing alternative and/or additional assets to minimize the likelihood of failure.
Establish a preventive maintenance plan for all hardware, considering cost-benefit analysis, vendor recommendations, risk of an outage, qualified personnel, and other relevant factors.
Establish maintenance agreements involving third-party access to organizational IT facilities for on-site and off-site activities (e.g., outsourcing). Establish formal service contracts containing or referring to all necessary security conditions, including access authorisation procedures, to ensure compliance with the organizational security policies and standards.
Communicate to affected customers and users the expected impact (e.g., performance restrictions) of maintenance activities.
Ensure that remote access services and user profiles (or other means used for maintenance or diagnosis) are active only when required.
Incorporate planned downtime in an overall production schedule, and schedule the maintenance activities to minimize the adverse impact on business processes.
Manage the Asset Life Cycle
Procure all assets based on approved requests and in accordance with the enterprise procurement policies and practices.
Source, receive, verify, test, and record all assets in a controlled manner, including physical labeling, as required.
Approve payments and complete the process with suppliers according to agreed-on contract conditions.
Deploy assets following the standard implementation life cycle, including change management and acceptance testing.
Allocate assets to users, with acceptance of responsibilities and sign-off, as appropriate.
Reallocate assets whenever possible when they are no longer required due to a change of user role, redundancy within a service, or retirement of a service.
Dispose of assets when they serve no useful purpose due to the retirement of all related services, obsolete technology, or lack of users.
Dispose of assets securely, considering, e.g., the permanent deletion of any recorded data on media devices and potential damage to the environment.
Plan, authorize, and implement retirement-related activities, retaining appropriate records to meet ongoing business and regulatory needs.
Optimize Asset Costs
On a regular basis, review the overall asset base, considering whether it is aligned with business requirements.
Assess maintenance costs, consider reasonableness, and identify lower-cost options, including, where necessary, replacement with new alternatives.
Review warranties and consider value for money and replacement strategies to determine the lowest-cost options.
Review the overall base to identify opportunities for standardization, single sourcing, and other strategies that may lower procurement, support, and maintenance costs.
Use capacity and utilization statistics to identify underutilized or redundant assets that could be considered for disposal or replacement to lower costs.
Review the overall state to identify opportunities to leverage emerging technologies or alternative sourcing strategies to reduce costs or increase value for money.
Manage Licences
Maintain a register of all purchased software licenses and associated license agreements.
On a regular basis, conduct an audit to identify all instances of installed licensed software.
Compare the number of installed software instances with the number of licenses owned.
When instances are lower than the number owned, decide whether there is a need to retain or terminate licenses, considering the potential to save on unnecessary maintenance, training, and other costs.
When instances are higher than the number owned, consider first the opportunity to uninstall instances that are no longer required or justified, and then, if necessary, purchase additional licenses to comply with the license agreement.
On a regular basis, consider whether better value can be obtained by upgrading products and associated licenses.