Monitoring PC use leads to better decision making
Susan Avery -- Purchasing, 6/17/2004 2:00:00 AM
Maintaining a data repository on the PCs that a company purchases, uses and disposes of, is key to good asset management. Others are discipline and following best practices.
Asset management is a set of business processes for monitoring and controlling the configuration and use of PCs or other IT equipment or software. Some of these processes involve capturing relevant data on the PCs and associated peripherals.
"Good asset management is done throughout the life cycle of the PC," says Edward Bullen, manager, strategic consulting, IBM. "With a good system, a company can optimize use of its assets and make decisions on whether to terminate a lease or redeploy a piece of equipment to another location," he says. In his post, Bullen helps companies streamline the procurement process and manage PC life cycle costs (purchasing through disposal). He also assists companies with rollouts of large numbers of PCs (PUR: Feb. 5, '04; p. 16).
For companies that centrally purchase and manage their PCs, Bullen advocates use of an enterprise-wide data repository. The repository integrates asset management tools and processes, such as the help desk, and can positively impact delivery cycle time and decision support leading to improved uptime, he says. A data repository also helps simplify audits and enhance the effectiveness of internal training programs.
A data repository can have links to a company's financial systems, HR systems, help desk, etc., and helps track the asset for license compliance.
From his vantage point, Bullen says many companies don't do a good job at asset management. "Some companies have data repositories through which they capture data initially, but then they don't follow the asset through its life cycle. Others simply ignore it all together." Not having a good system exposes a company to a host of financial risks regarding the payment of taxes and compliance to software license agreements, he says. IBM has a Web-based asset management tool that periodically checks its PCs and the software that's been loaded onto them. The tool helps to maintain software license compliance and, more important, the security of the PC.
As Bullen sees it, a good asset management system consists of these best practice activities:
-
Defining PC inventory and asset practices. This consists of determining and establishing the process by which assets will be managed throughout the life cycle. This is where most companies stumble, Bullen says. Many companies purchase PCs every year, yet at the end of the year they don't know where they are located. So, they buy more.
-
Capturing and maintaining inventory information. This data is necessary to support the process and various other needs (technical, financial, legal, etc.) and to ensure the assets are properly managed. This includes recording, tracking, reporting, accounting and updating resource information if, for example, a PC changes ownership.
-
Maintaining information for proper capitalization of fixed assets and managing associated financials. Information contained in a database that isn't maintained is useless.
-
Administering software licenses and equipment leases. Tracking contracts helps to understand terms and conditions. It's also important for a company to know what it has in inventory. Sometimes assets are not centrally owned; they are purchased and maintained by the business units. When an employee leaves the company, his or her equipment may be tossed in a closet or drawer. In this case, management may forget that it has the equipment on hand. The company is not optimizing its assets.
-
"Knowing what you have in inventory and being able to make appropriate decisions helps shorten fulfillment leadtimes and improve customer satisfaction," says Bullen.
-
Chargeback administration. Under this process, IT buys the asset, capitalizing or leasing it, and bills the business unit for the asset and associated services. Chargeback forces the business units to be more accountable—even if they have the assets locked in a closet. If they receive a charge, ultimately the business unit manager has a decision to make, 'can I afford this?' or 'do I want to go to my boss and explain why I have 100 PCs lying around that could be off my books?'
-
Technology portfolio planning. Accurate financial information on the company's IT assets helps support planning, budgeting and ad hoc activities. At some companies, asset management consists of replacing a piece of equipment when it breaks down, is lost, or when an end user complains that it's no longer fast enough. "If you are doing portfolio planning, especially if you manage from a life cycle perspective, you know your deployment strategy," says Bullen.
-
Physical property protection (security). As companies increasingly become more mobile (equipping employees with notebook PCs), it's important for insurance purposes to have accurate replacement cost figures in case the computer is lost or stolen. It's equally important to have processes in place for handling losses, that includes instituting a security policy. IBM's asset management system monitors security compliance. Employees have various passwords to help protect data in case the PC is lost or stolen. From a financial perspective, loss or theft of a PC costs a company about $2 per PC each year. Security breaches that may adversely affect a company's good name add up to another $33 per PC each year. All told, physical property protection (security) costs a company $35 per PC per year. A good asset management system coupled with a good security system mitigates that by as much as 60%.
Expect higher DRAM prices later in the year
07/01/2009
Now Playing: 