The way in which ITAM is implemented in most businesses is fundamentally flawed. This is because most businesses place too high an expectation on the ITAM tools they have purchased, while they pay little consideration to how the tools need to be used. They have been sold on the promise of the tool – it’s features and benefits – yet they soon discover that the reality is very different.

The reality

While many businesses will have just one ITAM tool, more mature ITAM implementations will consist of three complementary tools working together to provide a level of oversight and management over the various IT assets;

  1. An ITAM solution (e.g. BMC, ServiceNow, HP)
  2. Inventory tool (such as Microsoft’s SCCM, Snow Software)
  3. Proprietary vendor systems (e.g. IBM, Oracle)

While three different tools sounds like it would have all the bases covered, it rarely does. This is because the tools alone are not enough to deliver ITAM success. Tools must be used by sufficiently trained people who are working in an environment whose processes support the ITAM programme.

In an ideal world every ITAM programme would consist of tools, people and processes working together. Sadly, however, most ITAM programmes start and end with the purchase of a few tools, without ever building the broader infrastructure to use them effectively.

Consider this; would you ever purchase a self-help book, read just ten pages, implement nothing and expect your life to be perfect? Of course you wouldn’t.

Now have a think about how your IT assets are managed. Have you purchased a tool? Do you feel you’re getting the most value out of it? Is it the tool’s fault, or the infrastructure around it?

To learn more about how to get the most value out of your ITAM tools, download our latest whitepaper; Trinity of ITAM Success. We will continue to explore this topic in future blog posts.