An important part of IT Asset Management is knowing what hardware and software actually resides in a company's environment. There are a number of discovery tools available to keep track of these assets without spending a ridiculous amount of time and wearing out your shoes.
Knowing where your hardware is is important for the inventory count. One company I heard of couldn't find 25% of their leased computers. Countless hours were spent trying to find them sneekernet style; not all of them were ever found. Upgrades were a shot in the dark. A good discovery tool would have cut the hunt time and lead the technical staff to the treasures they sought.
Knowing what software resides on each computing device is important for copyright compliance, upgrade decisions, and choosing the right applications to save countless thousands of dollars. For example, each person doesn't need a full Visio application. Most simply need the viewer. Not everyone needs a full office suite, or the most powerful variety. Usually only 5% of those powerful applications are ever used. Can you hear the dollars rustling? But how do you know who really has what and who needs what?
There are discovery tools that track the usage of applications per computer. Are all the licenses you've purchased being used or were they over bought? More informed purchasing decisions can be made when the true picture is revealed. Can you hear more dollars rustling?
We invite discovery tool publishers to contribute information about their products by joining and writing blog entries to inform the public about this essential element to IT Asset Management.
