Asset Management (Governance of IT Asset Management)
Why Your Business Needs an Asset Management System?
Be it highly valued technical equipment used daily or the cost-efficient coffee machine in the breakroom. Everything comes under the organization's assets. When there is no effective asset management system in place in your organization, there are substantial risks involved for your business. Since each purchase, no matter its value, is vital to your organization's functionality, everything needs to be accounted for.
All the materials under your organization's control need maintenance, and the software programs must be updated before going out of date. The assets need to be tracked to know the exact number of what you have and what you need at any given time.
Through a proper Asset Management (Governance of IT Asset Management) system, a business can monitor and manage assets using a systematized approach. Using this, you will see improvements in productivity and efficiency, which leads the business to a better position to increase its return on investment.
Asset Maintenance Best Practices for Optimal Asset Performance
1. Approaching Asset Maintenance Systematically
Despite the advancement in technology, many organizations keep track of maintenance manually. This leaves their assets unmaintained and their performance gradually falling. Also, there are chances of sudden equipment failure. This is why a systematic approach must be taken to maintain each asset so that no asset is left without care.
Asset management software can help your business keep track of assets and their upkeep. It alerts you for each upcoming maintenance so that no asset maintenance is skipped. Such software centralizes information and planning. With it, asset maintenance schedules can be done easily.
2. Keep Assets in the Best Shape
Better asset performance can only come from better asset maintenance. This is not only to help organizations decrease maintenance expenses but also to increase productivity. When assets are not maintained, the chances for asset failure increase, and the asset life decreases. Regular maintenance is also helpful in reducing the overall downtime and optimizing the uptime of assets.
3. Data Collection
The digital economy has made business growth rely heavily upon data. When an organization has access to crucial information, better decisions can be made in favor of the business. Thus, data collection has become one of the essential asset maintenance practices. Making decisions based on assumptions will not yield the results you expect. Indeed, better decision-making can be expected when there is access to more data.
4. Preventive Maintenance is Key
Preventative measures or maintenance is an integral practice in asset maintenance. In IT asset maintenance, it is helpful to schedule asset maintenance before having a failure on your hands. In addition, this also helps keep track of maintenance and optimize asset performance. Taking a proactive approach to prevention yields several benefits, such as better asset performance, reduced unplanned downtime, boosted asset performance, and minimal chances for sudden equipment failure.
5. Checklist for Every Maintenance Work Order
With lots of assets and equipment in an organization, the maintenance team has to struggle to maintain each asset as quickly as possible. This creates a higher chance of mistakes. To eliminate this risk, a work order checklist is the best solution. Here, any activity that needs to be in each asset can be listed. The list can also include potential problems that need resolution.
In fact, since the team does not have to identify the issues on their own, it makes them more productive and enables them to deliver efficient work.
6. Keeping an Eye on Key Performance Indicators
Analyzing KPIs will let you know how and when your assets are working well and when they are not. KPIs can be the best maintenance managers because they let you know when to optimize asset performance and unleash the asset's full potential. If optimizing performance is one of your goals, then KPIs are crucial. Setting benchmarks and tracking KPIs is the final key to opening an upgraded asset.
Why Does IT Asset Management Play a Vital Role in Data Security?
IT asset management software is all about the security features that emphasize the need for inventorying hardware and software. This way, organizations know where their assets are, who is using them, and whether it is secured or not. Failing to manage IT assets dramatically increases the risk of data theft and upsets business operations, thereby putting the organization at risk.
Hackers or people with malicious intents usually look for weak links in poorly managed assets to take down the entire system. Asset management can address these issues efficiently and consistently. Simply put, IT asset management plays a crucial part in enhancing data security, helping detect assets that are missing or discovering assets vulnerable to external forces. These systems can also send alerts when cyberattacks are imminent. With cloud asset management security, there is an increased level of security as it keeps data in encrypted form.
How Does Asset Management Software Help in Audits?
An IT audit is done to cross-check whether the management system, products, and services are working, existing, and compliant. In this process, the first step involves the organization offering auditors the accurate inventory, that is, a list of fixed and physical assets. During the audit, the actual value of the assets, asset condition, maintenance cost, and asset life are verified. Here, asset management software helps to audit fixed assets, making it a manageable task. It ensures that deprecation is in asset management compliance and aligns with management goals.
During audits, asset management software allows one to keep track of assets and offers real-time data assistance. Such a helping hand makes the process simpler, more accurate, and more effective. Auditing is an integral part of a smooth workflow, and asset management software improves it.
Final Thoughts
The role of asset management in an organization cannot be overlooked. Since data and other IT equipment are some of the greatest assets a business can have these days, protecting and managing them must be a top priority.
