When you initiated your enterprise, you may have acquired computers, printers, office furniture, or other indispensable equipment for the operation of your company. However, you likely needed to spare more thought for these business resources – especially if they were just purchased. As a result, it might not be easy to perceive the substantial role that your physical assets play in determining the financial worth of your company.
This means that you must identify, track, and monitor the physical resources essential for your business’s functioning. By doing this, you can be sure that you are achieving the maximum value from your assets while reducing the risk of them being stolen, damaged, or lost.
You can also use IT asset management services to improve the efficiency of your operations. By carefully monitoring and managing your assets, you can identify where they are being used, and how they are being used. You can also use asset management to plan for future investments, to understand where upgrades or replacements are necessary, or to check the depreciation of your assets.
You can employ various methods to ensure that your physical assets are being appropriately managed. For example, you can assign someone within your organization to look after the assets, use asset tracking software like IT inventory management software, or outsource the task to a third-party service. You should also create comprehensive asset records, including serial numbers, purchase dates, and maintenance schedules.
By adequately managing your physical assets, you can ensure that your company is getting the most out of these essential resources. Managing your IT assets effectively can save you time and money in the long run. Here are some simple tips to help you get started:
7 Tips for Effective IT Asset Management
1) Build Your Inventory & Map Your Assets
Creating a central repository of all your IT assets would be best. You need to capture as much information as possible about each asset, including the type of asset, manufacturer, status, location, and cost.
You need to know more about your assets before you can properly build your CMDB. The relationship map is a way of visualizing your IT infrastructure, and it helps you understand how your IT services are related to each other.
2) Manage the Life Cycles of Your Assets
By understanding the life cycle of each asset, you can accurately forecast when it makes sense to perform maintenance activities. For instance, if you anticipate needing computers for a more extended period than what your current ones have been providing in your office, then opting for more durable model or offering extended usage could be a favorable decision.
Keep an eye on your physical assets to ensure they are in good condition. Perform regular inventory checks to identify issues early on and take corrective action before they become more significant problems.
3) Take ITAM Beyond IT
You firmly believe that keeping tabs on and safeguarding all your IT assets is the surest way to forestall departments from perpetuating existing efforts. Therefore, you must track down non-IT components such as generators, air conditioning units, refrigerators, and pieces of furniture to understand organizations’ financial outlays and subsequently adjust budgets accordingly.
4) Record Your Business Assets
Assigning monetary values to your assets is essential to constructing a balanced sheet. To facilitate this process, accounting software offers straightforward guidance; alternatively, you may seek assistance from competent professionals.
Understand that your balance sheet is merely a snapshot of time, as assets may undergo alterations (especially cash and inventory) and depreciate. Accordingly, you must carefully plan for the periodic revision of your balance sheet when assets diminish or alter substantially.
5) Leverage Your Assets in Valuing Your Business
Your assets may prove invaluable if you decide to borrow money, solicit funding, or divest your enterprise.
The worth of your business derives from a multitude of factors, chief among them being its profitability, the value of its trademarks or patents, and cash and assets. For example, suppose you own an ice cream parlor and are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for crafting delicious flavors along with patented recipes that have been in use since time immemorial. In that case, it is safe to assume that your enterprise will be more valuable than one located down the street. This is because it utilizes a simple machine for making ice creams but relies on accessible sources for acquiring its recipes.
Asset-based valuation maximizes all the assets under your possession, such as intellectual property – tangible or intangible. Potential investors can employ this methodology to determine a fair offer for equity or how much they should pay for ownership.
6) Implement an automated asset management solution
Managing assets manually can be time-consuming, requiring significant effort and costing you money without achieving the desired results. Instead, consider employing an automated asset management tool to streamline your asset management workflow. This software automates valuing assets and recording depreciation schedules and boosts efficiency by making complex operations easier to manage.
7) Plan for Future Investments
You can plan for future investments by understanding where upgrades or replacements are needed and estimating these decisions’ financial impact. This information can then be used to allocate budgetary resources more effectively.
The above factors provide a solid foundation for incorporating ITAM into your organization. In addition, assuring greater efficiency, compliance, and performance – with all that comes with it – can be achieved by implementing IT service desk practices.
Post courtesy: Kinetix Technology Services – California-based IT Support and Security Services Provider.
