IT Asset Lifecycle Management: Guide

The Need and Importance of ITALM

Asset lifecycle management visualized (source)

Asset lifecycle management can completely change your operational process when adequately carried out. You’ll reap the benefits of increased efficiency, low maintenance costs, and extended lifespan of your machinery. Other benefits include:

• Reduces cost and workload 

Effective ITALM decreases the number of stale assets (those waiting to be updated or replaced) by 15-20%. 

It helps streamline IT asset management processes and noticeably reduces the time and resources organizations typically dedicate to manual oversight. 

With ITALM, businesses can optimize asset utilization and gain granular insight into their total cost of ownership, enhancing operational efficiency and significantly reducing costs.

• Ensures better compliance with security standards

Imagine being cornered in a dimly lit alleyway by the ISO 27001 enforcers. It's not a pleasant scenario. No need to worry; your ITALM credentials could be your way out. 

Why?

An ITALM framework essentially facilitates compliance with ISO 27001 as well as a suite of other regulatory standards. It is the backbone of your Information Security Management System (ISMS), the bedrock of most compliance frameworks. 

It's your answer to constantly evolving security threats: confidentiality, integrity, and availability. 

ITALM ensures your data is safe and accurate—and always there when you need it.

So, how does ITALM keep your data out of the wrong hands and accessible to the right people? By implementing these crucial measures:

• Keeping your data encrypted

• Setting up firewalls around your devices with passcodes and regular updates

• Retiring old, vulnerable equipment 

• Protecting your network from hackers and malware

• Restricting access to sensitive apps

• Planning system downtime strategically instead of blindsiding your team

• Helps optimize asset usage 

The benefits of ITALM don’t stop at security. It’s also a surefire way to maximize the value of your assets. When you have information on the real-world usage of your software and hardware, you can extract every bit of potential from them. In the process, you also save resources, boost sustainability, and strike a balance between the two.

For starters, ITAML automates, to a large extent, the tedious parts of asset management. This means your IT team has more time to focus on strategic work. For instance, your new devices get ready to roll out without the usual manual headaches.

With ITALM, you also identify underutilized software licenses and bid farewell to unnecessary expenses. In the long run, your company’s finance manager will thank you.

You can even track metrics like energy consumption at the device level to pinpoint power-hungry assets. From retiring old equipment to optimizing usage patterns, you can reduce your environmental impact while cutting costs.

• Optimizes business planning and control

ITALM's real-time insight into your hardware and software holdings takes the guesswork out of your business planning. Companies with ITALM strategies see ROI improvements of up to 40%, driven by cost savings, improved efficiency, and better asset utilization.

Do you need to scale your workforce? With ITALM, you know exactly what you have and what you need. New hires no longer have to struggle to find devices, and you can easily equip your team without straining your existing assets.

It also predicts what your assets will look like in the future. By knowing when equipment is nearing its end of useful life, you can plan replacements and avoid costly surprises. Plus, with a single source of truth for all IT assets, you'll eliminate duplicate purchases, reduce risks, and ensure every dollar is spent wisely. In fact, 

The Stages of ITALM

Different organizations can divide the IT asset lifecycle into distinct stages. However, for clarity, we’ll discuss seven major stages and provide practical insights into managing your assets during each phase.

Planning and budgeting

Successful ITALM begins with a thorough plan for asset procurement, depending on your organization’s needs and budget. In this stage, you consider an asset’s potential contribution to your organization and its likely costs and risks.

You would want to determine the number of required assets and the costs for their maintenance and create detailed plans for what exactly to buy. Other factors to consider include the proposed lifespan of each asset and how it will depreciate over time. 

This stage is also critical for evaluating risks such as technological obsolescence. The idea is to prevent you from making incorrect asset procurement decisions that add to costs and impact all the other stages of the asset lifecycle, as equipment, once procured, cannot be quickly returned or replaced. 

Some organizations even use digital twins for particular use cases to determine whether a particular asset can meet their needs and test them under different conditions.

Pro-Tip: Always involve multiple stakeholders (managers, employees, IT admins) to understand your asset needs better. 

Procurement/Acquisition

Once you’ve prepared a thorough plan for which assets to acquire, you enter the procurement phase. Here, you place orders for all the equipment according to your plan.

Begin by conducting solid market research to identify the best vendors and suppliers to deliver assets while meeting your budget and quality assurance criteria. You would want to check if your chosen asset vendors deliver assets right where you need them—your office or remote employees’ home. 

Here are a few tips to shortlist suitable vendors for asset procurement:

• Evaluate vendors thoroughly: Evaluate vendors based on criteria such as reputation, product quality, price, service level agreements (SLAs), and support capabilities.

• Check their customer base: See their past and existing customers and read their testimonials and reviews.

• Consider a Request For Proposal(RFP): Depending on how many assets you wish to order, you can seek an RFP or RFQ from shortlisted vendors to determine which offers the best balance between cost, service, and quality.

• Negotiate: It’s always a good idea to negotiate pricing, delivery schedules, warranty terms, and SLAs during the procurement stage. This will prepare you better for the upcoming asset lifecycle phases and help you save costs.

Once you’ve picked the right vendor, you will want to sign a contract with the vendor and decide on delivery terms. You will also choose whether to buy or lease your IT equipment. If you’re a business with global or remote teams, look for a vendor that supplies assets to your employees’ locations and provides consistent and timely repairs/service.

Ensure each procured asset is duly recorded in your IT inventory management software to ensure complete visibility as assets reach your employees. 

Deployment and discovery

The deployment phase involves installing the right software or licenses and configuring the procured assets for specific user needs. Asset deployment is necessary to ensure users have the correct permissions and access to complete all work seamlessly.

Installation can be physical (such as servers, workstations, and networking equipment in the appropriate physical locations) or remote (installing software programs via zero-touch deployment).

Asset discovery involves identifying, cataloging, and tracking all IT assets as they get ready to reach end-users. The goal is to track their location, health, and working conditions throughout their lifecycle. There are many software tools available to keep track of your IT assets. You may also resort to manual audits and inspections to complement automated discovery, particularly for assets that may not be easily detectable through network scans. 

Proper deployment ensures that assets deliver value from day 1, while discovery provides visibility and control over the organization's IT environment. 

Utilization and optimization

Now comes the longest part of the IT asset lifecycle: the utilization and optimization phase. The asset continues to provide value, generate revenue, and get work done. It also undergoes timely maintenance, such as patch fixes, software updates, repairs, or upgrades. 

This phase's objective is to ensure that hardware, software, and other resources are being used to their full potential to meet organizational needs while avoiding waste.

Other critical aspects of this phase include: 

• Tracking asset usage: To ensure efficient allocation of assets and prevent underutilization

• Asset performance monitoring: To identify any issues with asset performance and take remedial steps to optimize operations

• Software license management: Ensuing compliance with software licenses and avoiding over- or under-licensing.

• User support: Providing training and support to users for effective use of IT assets.

Maintenance and support

Proper maintenance is the only guaranteed way to extend your device's lifecycle and keep it running smoothly for years.

Preventative maintenance begins with scheduled, periodic maintenance. Set a schedule for routine inspections, cleaning, and calibrations. This will help you identify potential issues before they become major asset failures. Maintenance also reduces unexpected downtime.

You can use IoT sensors to monitor the performance and condition of IT assets consistently. Nowadays, IoT sensors gather real-time data, enabling predictive maintenance and immediate response to any anomaly.

As for support, establish a dedicated technical support team to handle user inquiries, troubleshoot issues, and provide timely resolutions. Keep track of warranty periods and coordinate with vendors for repairs and replacements under warranty to reduce costs and promptly ensure that assets are back in service.

Decommissioning

This penultimate phase involves removing obsolete and end-of-life assets from service. Seemingly simple, the decommissioning stage should not be taken lightly. Regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS mandate specific procedures to handle data and hardware at the end of their lifecycle. 

Decommissioned assets, particularly storage devices, can pose a significant security risk if mishandled. Sensitive data might get exposed, and hardware could fall into the wrong hands. Ensure complete and irreversible data erasure with overwriting, degaussing, physical destruction, etc.

Evaluate the physical and functional condition of other decommissioned assets to determine if they can be reused within the organization, sold, or need to be disposed of. Your decision should maximize the residual value of investments.

Disposal 

IT asset disposal/disposition is the final stage of the IT asset lifecycle. It involves the termination of decommissioned  IT assets. Here’s how it pans out: 

• The disposal process begins with asset classification. Categorize assets based on their value, sensitivity, and disposal requirements to determine the appropriate disposal method

• In some cases, valuable components (e.g., hard drives, memory, processors) are recovered for reuse or refurbishment

• Remove any hazardous materials (e.g., batteries, mercury-containing displays) for safe disposal

• Prioritize recycling of electronic waste to minimize environmental impact

• Consider donating reusable hardware to charitable organizations or educational institutions

You cannot dispose of hardware assets without proper documentation. Record the disposal of assets in the asset register and maintain comprehensive inventory records. Document the financial outcomes of asset disposal, including any revenue from sales and costs associated with destruction or recycling. It is also a good practice to report on the impacts of sustainability, such as the reduction in e-waste and contributions to environmental goals.

Best Practices for IT Asset Lifecycle Management

The prime objective in the asset lifecycle management process is optimizing and smoothing the operation of assets. Only with adequately functioning physical assets can your company increase productivity and reduce downtime.

We have listed some asset lifecycle management best practices that would push your company toward fulfilling its business goals.

Establish clear policies and procedures

Assign specific roles and responsibilities to employees such as asset managers, operations managers, and procurement managers. Establish standardized asset acquisition, deployment, management, and disposal processes. Large firms like IBM and Microsoft have standardized ITAM processes for optimized resource allocation.

Gartner says that organizations with solid ITAM practices reduce IT costs by up to 30% in the first year alone. Naturally, when your IT assets comply with all licensing, regulatory, and security policies, you save on any fines while eliminating risks and reducing your assets' Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Utilize IT asset management software

ITAM software automates the discovery and monitoring of IT assets and enhances operational efficiency and data accuracy by streamlining processes like incident and change management. Connecting it with your IT service management (ITSM) and configuration management database (CMDB) systems maximizes the gains from your ITAM software. 

A survey found that 68% of organizations faced regulatory compliance issues due to poor IT asset management, which led to fines and legal risks. To avoid this, configure your tool to utilize a lifecycle management approach and oversee all assets from initiation to disposal. Your software of choice should ideally help you plan for regular maintenance, upgrades, and eventual retirement of assets. 

Conduct regular IT audits

There are no shortcuts to periodic IT audits if you must maintain your IT assets' integrity, availability, and confidentiality.

They also help you identify vulnerabilities, stay updated with compliance, and optimize asset utilization.

Start adapting your IT audits based on your organizational needs, regulatory requirements, and risk landscape.

For instance, if you are a finance-based firm, you’d want to ensure compliance with regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). 

Next, prioritize audit focus on high-risk areas and potential vulnerabilities.

Use relevant frameworks like COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies) or NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) for cybersecurity standards. After the audit, offer clear recommendations for addressing found issues. 

Train your employees

Training your employees starts with conducting a Training Needs Analysis (TNA), where you find your organization's skill and knowledge gaps. The next step involves designing training programs that address the needs identified in the TNA.

A study by CBC stresses how customized training programs noticeably improve employee engagement and performance.

Combine methods like workshops, online courses, and hands-on sessions for the best results. A blended approach usually imparts the most theoretical knowledge and practical skills. 

Assessments and feedback are your best friends when evaluating the impact of training programs. Organizations that measure training effectiveness continuously improve their programs and, ultimately, meet the desired outcomes.

Integrate with IT Service Management (ITSM)

Many IT asset lifecycle management processes naturally fit into ITSM practices like configuration, change enablement, and incident management. Successfully integrating ITALM with ITSM gives you a comprehensive view of your IT environment. 

When you combine asset management with service management and delivery, you also enable efficient asset tracking, from procurement to disposal, and support ITSM processes like configuration management, incident management, and change enablement.

For instance, integrating asset data into the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) eases incident resolution and impact assessment in security incidents.

For the best integration with service management, follow these tips:

• Ensure that asset information (hardware, software, network devices) is accurately and consistently reflected in the CMDB

• Treat IT assets as Configuration Items (CIs) to track their attributes, relationships, and dependencies

• Automatically update CMDB records after asset changes (e.g., hardware upgrades, software installations)

• Automatically provision required assets for new or modified services

• During an incident, quickly identify the affected IT assets during resolution and use asset information for faster recovery and restoration.

Supercharge Your IT Asset Lifecycle Management with Workwize

Effective ITALM helps your organization cut costs, optimize asset utilization, and comply with mandatory regulations. It improves the overall reliability and performance of your IT infrastructure. 

With complete IT hardware management solutions like Workwize, you can ensure complete visibility into your assets across all the stages of their lifecycle.

With Workwize, you can:

• Procure IT Hardware: Globally procure IT equipment within days, including devices like phones and tablets to warehouses, remote offices, or directly to employees' homes

• Deploy seamlessly: Ensure devices are MDM-enabled, pre-configured, and ready for immediate use upon reaching your employees.

• Manage all your devices: Track all rented or purchased equipment, monitor their value over time, and provide self-service IT support for item requests, repairs, or other needs.

• Retrieve painlessly: Enjoy zero-touch retrieval once assets reach the end of their life or employees leave with all communication, packaging, and logistics handled by us. 

• Dispose of with compliance: Get fair market value for your end-of-life hardware through local warehouses or donate with certificates of data destruction.

Book a Workwize Demo Now to see how Workwize can help at each stage of the IT asset lifecycle.