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ITAM Primer - The Program Manager's Guide to IT Asset Management

Part 2: ITAM Definitions and Structures

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“To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge.” — Confucius

ITAM DEFINITIONS

ITAM AS A DISCIPLINE

Technical administration of an IT asset is performed by IT. IT Asset Management is a discipline and a profession that individuals learn to manage IT as a business asset. This means managing the financial value of the asset, the risks associated with the asset, and the benefit the asset brings to the business throughout the asset’s entire lifecycle. The ITAM discipline requires knowledge of IT, contracts, finance, cyber security, legislation, human resources, project management, and process management. Additionally, and just as important, the ITAM discipline requires business knowledge.

Does the organization view ITAM as a profession?

Does the organization view IT assets as a business asset?

ITAM AS A PROGRAM

The ITAM Program is designed to span across the organization representing all vested interests in what technology is acquired and how it is used. The ITAM Program depends on processes owned by other departments. These processes generate data and outcomes ITAM needs to manage these critical business assets. But is the concept of a program new to your organization's leaders?

The short answer is “no.” The long answer is the horizontal nature of the ITAM Program should not be new to most organizations. There are other programs with similar responsibilities, such as Product Management. Product managers rely on the cooperation of many departments for a successful product release. You may have heard of silos within an organization. I’m not talking about grain silos but functional silos. Typical silos include finance, HR, IT, product development, legal, and more, depending on the organization's size.

Because the program relies on other departments, executive management support is mandatory. Executive management support can be secured as follows:

Define the ITAM Program and its value to the organization regarding financial, risk, compliance, and efficiencies.
The executive team assigns an executive sponsor.
The executive sponsor empowers the ITAM team by making the organization aware of the team’s existence, charter, and unequivocal support of the executive team.
The executive sponsor supports the ITAM team when needed, and the team keeps the sponsor aware of the program’s progress.

The ITAM Program is defined by the following:

The scope of IT assets that are or will be part of the program.
The ITAM department structure considers such things as the geographical locations of the organization and the type of business.
The ITAM program requirements of every department that provides data and controls.
The data maintained is required by the program.
Clearly defined roles and responsibilities of the organization.
The program’s policies, procedures, processes, and tools.

Does the organization view ITAM as a program?

Does the ITAM Program span the entire organization? If not, what departments involve ITAM, and to what extent?

ITAM AS A ROLE

A role is defined by its name, responsibilities, and function. A person can be assigned one or more roles. IT Asset Managers typically “wear many hats” (or roles), as the saying goes depending on the size of the team. Some of the roles an IT Asset Manager is assigned include Software Asset Manager, License Expert, Hardware Asset Manager, Cloud Asset Manager, Vendor Manager, Purchaser, Negotiator, and more. A problem occurs when role names are confused with titles, as evident in the roles mentioned here.

Are ITAM roles clearly defined in the organization?

Which ITAM roles are not assigned but need to be?

ITAM AS A TITLE

A title is also defined by its name and responsibilities; however, a person is typically assigned a single title. The title’s definition generally is formally defined and maintained by Human Resources. Examples of titles for IT Asset Managers include IT Asset Manager, Software Asset Manager, License Asset Manager, Hardware Asset Manager, and Cloud Asset Manager. Other titles include IT Specialist, and IT Asset Specialist. These titles must be accurate, clearly defined, have organizational awareness, and include a path for advancement. The ITAM team hierarchy demonstrates how the ITAM department is organized.

Patience, multitasking, along with knowledge of technology, finance, contracts, procurement, negotiation, legal, HR, and the organization’s industry are all skills of an experienced IT Asset Manager. Let’s look at the responsibilities of each position.

IT ASSET MANAGER (ITAM)

The IT Asset Manager is responsible for the performance and direction of the ITAM Program. Responsibilities include promoting the program, developing cooperation across functional areas, process management, reporting program status to executive leadership, and enlisting the help of the executive sponsor when needed.

SOFTWARE ASSET MANAGER (SAM)

The Software Asset Manager manages the software portfolio, including spending, compliance, risk, and usability. The software asset manager engages procurement to ensure proper software licensing language is included in all possible contracts. The SAM works closely with the Hardware Asset Manager because software installations and licensing requirements depend on the hardware’s configuration. SAM cannot function without HAM.

License Asset Manager (LAM)

The License Asset Manager is a specialization of Software Asset Management. The specialty is in a software publisher’s products and licensing models. This position can be challenging to fill and can be outsourced to one of several companies that offer this type of expertise. For example, keeping up with Microsoft licensing and product families is complex and can require a full-time employee. The organization must determine if this specialization is critical to its business strategy and should not be outsourced.

HARDWARE ASSET MANAGER (HAM)

The Hardware Asset Manager is responsible for managing the hardware portfolio. Hardware assets can be divided between managed assets and tracked assets. Managed hardware assets are tagged and, in the inventory, along with the asset’s attributes and related artifacts. Examples of managed hardware assets are servers and laptops. Non-managed hardware assets are tracked to meet electronic waste regulations. Examples of typical non-managed hardware assets are keyboards and mice. Because some software licenses depend on the hardware’s configuration, the HAM works closely with the SAM.

CLOUD ASSET MANAGER (CAM)

The Cloud Asset Manager is responsible for the strategy for managing cloud assets. Using that strategy, the cloud asset manager oversees the entire lifecycle of cloud assets. Significant effort occurs in understanding and, if possible, negotiating the cloud contracts during the Acquire phase and then managing the vendor throughout the cloud asset’s life.

SAAS ASSET MANAGER (SAASAM)

The Software as a Service Asset Manager is a specialist within CAM. This position is created if there is a significant number of SaaS assets or complexity of SaaS contracts and services. The complexity and effort may require assistance from a third party.

I/PAAS ASSET MANAGER (IPAASAM)

The Infrastructure/Platform as a Service Asset Manager is a specialist within CAM. This position is created if there is a significant number of IaaS or PaaS assets or complexity of I/PaaS contracts and services. The complexity and effort may require assistance from a third party.

The decision to bring in a third party to assist in managing SaaS or I/PaaS assets depends on staffing and the level of expertise the organization wants. Is developing in-house expertise for managing cloud service providers strategic, or is outsourcing a better use of resources? This decision is very similar to the strategy organizations use to bring in a third party to help manage software licenses. Regardless, if a third party is utilized, the organization must manage the third party.

MOBILE ASSET MANAGER (MAM)

The Mobile Asset Manager manages mobile assets such as phones and tablets. These asset types pose a serious risk to the organization because they can be used almost anywhere and are easily lost or stolen. These asset types typically depend on other allocated asset types, such as server licenses or cellular plans. Various support plans may be available. One example is a cellular carrier providing repair services directly to employees.

Are ITAM titles clearly defined, maintained by HR, and assigned to the ITAM staff?

Is the ITAM department staffed appropriately?

ITAM AS DATA GOVERNANCE

In the previous section, we described several names for roles and titles traditionally used in organizations. But one of the responsibilities rarely discussed is IT asset data governance. ITAM provides accurate, timely, usable information to one of several parties with a vested interest in the state of an IT asset. And herein lies perhaps the greatest challenge of the ITAM Program – the quality of data generated and owned by someone outside of the ITAM department’s control.

Data is generated by finance, legal, HR, IT, IT security, project management, vendor management, manufacturers, resellers, IT service providers, governments, business units, and end users. The maturity of the processes, tools, and people generating data varies from organization to organization and department to department! Furthermore, two departments may be generating similar data for different uses. Both data sets benefit ITAM for data reconciliation – verifying the data is complete and accurate. So ITAM has no control over how, when, and to what level of completeness data is generated by other departments. Yet ITAM relies on this data to provide quality information.

We define ITAM IQ as “IT Asset Management Information Quality,” where the quality of ITAM data is determined by accuracy, completeness, relevance, timeliness, and reliability. IT Asset Managers are stewards of all ITAM data driven by the ITAM Program requirements.

IT assets generate data starting when someone “thinks” they need it through and past the disposal process. The ITAM Program is incomplete without ITAM managing the asset’s entire lifecycle. Imagine the potential issues if a manufacturer could not monitor an assembly line. Errors introduced in the blind spots will only be identified further down the assembly line at best and during customer use at worst.

ITAM as Data Governance Assessment Questions

What reliable data does the ITAM Program have access to?

How would I rate the ITAM data by asset type (hardware, software, mobile, cloud)?

Review for Part 2: ITAM Definitions and Structures

In review ….

ITAM is a discipline and a profession.
ITAM is a program, not a project, that spans the entire organization.
It is critical to define roles when designing processes and assigning them to people inside and outside the ITAM department.
Typical titles include IT Asset Manager, Software Asset Manager, Hardware Asset Manager, Cloud Asset Manager, and Mobile Asset Manager.
ITAM is data governance by collecting data from multiple sources and ensuring the information about an asset is complete and accurate.

THE ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

Who should ITAM report to is a common question. The CIO? CFO? COO? CCO? CEO?

The offices of the CFO and CIO both have conflicts of interest. These are not the best functional areas to house the ITAM Program, yet most programs report to the CIO, with the remaining reporting to the CFO.

There can be one common drawback with any C-level executive, and that is longevity. C-level executives can come and go quickly, making it challenging to mature an ITAM Program. I worked at one business unit for twelve years and had five presidents! Each had its “same but different” way of running the company.

Perhaps the best place to house the ITAM Program is under the C-level office that consistently has the most influence. The next step is to find the executive with a strong, preferably long-term, vice president with strong support and a well-respected management organization.

But why does ITAM need this level of support? In a word, “people.” Any organization can implement a world-class ITAM Program in less than 12 months if they can just eliminate the people! All the tools, processes, and data will not make an ITAM Program successful without the support of people. And that’s where executives lead the organization in a direction everyone understands and follows. Let’s look at ITAM’s ecosystem to understand the ITAM Program's complexity better.

Organization Structure Assessment Questions

How much support does executive management give to the ITAM Program?

Who is the executive sponsor?

Several other professions can appear to compete with ITAM, but all are primarily focused within their vertical.

ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) defines how IT services should be designed, created, and delivered. One intent is to position IT to be more customer-focused. ITIL also addresses ITAM; however, the focus is managing IT assets currently in use and part of service delivery.

COBIT is a framework like ITIL which focuses on how IT delivers services.

FinOps (Financial-Operations) is a discipline that makes IT more cost-conscious when designing, creating, and delivering IT services. FinOps' rise to fame came with cloud and for excellent reasons. Cloud vendors define a price catalog based on their services, making tracking the organization’s consumption of IT easier.

Cybersecurity frameworks from CIS, NIST, ISO, and others provide a list of IT security controls that should be implemented by IT security. These frameworks reference ITAM as a way to maintain an accurate inventory. Unfortunately, and unintentionally ITAM is reduced to counting assets. An accurate inventory requires a single body, the ITAM department, to manage the entire asset lifecycle.

The PMO’s (Project Management Office) focus is on applying the project management discipline to IT projects. The PMO is critical to ITAM because it is where new IT asset types are introduced or changes to IT assets occur. The project manager cannot acquire and use IT assets as they see fit just because a project has received a budget. The ITAM processes must be followed.

Other disciplines also interact with ITAM, including best practices for accounting, legal, and HR. ITAM needs to engage these disciplines to implement an ITAM Program successfully.

Unfortunately, without an ITAM Program, each of these disciplines may develop an ITAM Program to suit their specific needs. The result is a costly, incomplete ITAM Program with duplication of effort and no coordination.

How aware is the organization of the ITAM Program?

What disciplines are integrated with the ITAM Program?

In review ….

Executive management support is critical to the success of the ITAM Program because ITAM requires cooperation across the organization.
Several disciplines within the organization need to participate in the ITAM Program.

< Part 1: Setting the Stage

Part 3: The ITAM Ecosystem >

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