ITAK Volume 2 Issue 3

Official publication of the
International Association of IT Asset Managers, Inc. 

Download the complete magazine Volume 2 Issue 3  (6MB file)

Download individual articles:

 

1. President's Letter - Barbara Rembiesa, IAITAM President  
      Last week I had the honor and  pleasure of attending the Gartner Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. While there, I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with IAITAM members also in attendance.  I was privileged to hear first-hand about a host of IT issues they face on a daily basis, including the future of IT Asset Management (“ITAM”), the challenges in their jobs, and importantly, their success stories.  My meetings with IAITAM members and Gartner Attendees, information that will lead to the development of new educational resources for our members.  
   
   
2. Start of a Beautiful Relationship - Creating an Agile Printer Relationship with Managed Service Providers 
     The “start of a beautiful relationship,” remarked Humphrey Bogart in the movie Casablanca, showed that opposite sides can form trusting relationships.  IT departments often see real-world printer management in terms of opposite sides: vendors and resellers of printers such as Xerox, IKON and HP are on one side and IT people on the other side.  The key objective of IT is to reduce printer costs with guaranteed 100% uptime, while vendors seek fleet control and predictable returns. Harmonizing these objectives is achieved when ongoing printer usage and service data serve as metrics for best practices, creating transparency.  Doing this creates a beautiful relationship.
   
   

3. Can You Determine Asset Value -  Risking Business Value 
     Poor asset management is undermining business integrity, says Marcus Scholes, Vice President of US Operations, Real Asset Management International.
     Growing risk awareness and recent natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, may have prompted an increasing number of companies to invest in disaster recovery (DR) as part of the business continuity program – but how safe is that investment?
   
   

4. Real Dollar Contributions - Financial Management for Computer Technology
      Financial accountability has been in the forefront of US business news since the corporate accounting scandals spawned the now famous (or infamous)   Sarbanes Oxley Act. Much of the focus, both by the government and board rooms, has been on financial controls, reporting and certification of the company’s accounting records.  While this focus on accountability has had a dramatic impact on the financial management of IT, the broader responsibilities of full financial management must be in place, not just controls and reporting.  The company’s performance may depend on cost-efficient management of all aspects of IT.
   

5. What Would Wally Do?
      The IT Asset Management practice has developed into one of the fastest growing and cost effective functions within an organization.  Along with the growth, new challenges, obstacles and pressures have been placed on the IT Asset Management Professional.
     “What Would Wally do?” is a series created by Walter Darrough and the staff at IAITAM to help provide sound advice to Asset Management Professionals.  Wally cuts through the multiple frameworks, maturity models and industry buzz-words to focus on results and help IT Asset Management Professionals implement successful programs.  As an added benefit, you can rest assured that you won’t see the word “Heterogeneous” in a “What Would Wally do?” article.   Each ITAK will have a synopsis of current Wally articles.  Download entire articles from the Public Recourse Center on the IAITAM Website.      

6. Unidentified EXE's - The Problem - Software Identification Syndrome  
     Today Software Identification Syndrome (SIS) is receiving increasing attention from the Software Asset Management (SAM) industry. Driven by licensing enforcement, federal, state and local regulations (SOX, HIPPA, etc.) and efficient software licensing and maintenance demands, companies can no longer ignore SIS and must find a solution.

7. Extreme Makeover ITAM Edition - How Master Media Management Supports Key Process Areas Within Your Organization
     For the past several years vendors’ software has routinely shipped on CDs or DVDs to the customer. The number of CDs being shipped has increased   dramatically over the past few years leaving the asset manager with a mountain of CDs to effectively manage and at as little cost as possible. This problem might be lessened, or even eliminated, with electronic downloads; however, asset managers are still making hard copies of the electronic images for backup purposes and ease of deployment. IT departments are faced with a myriad of challenges, including managing hundreds, and maybe even thousands of plastic discs.  A sound master media management system, however, can alleviate, if not eliminate these management problems while at the same time increase your team’s productivity, security and compliance. This article defines a master media management system, how to design one, its value to you and your organization and how to sell it up the chain of command in your organization.

8. Cover Story - Vendors in Virtual IT - The Critical Triangle for Cost Efficient Servers: Consolidation. Virtualization and Vendor Management 
     During the IT “boom years,” IT budgets expanded at an unprecedented rate; computing hardware costs declined and the use of application-specific servers proliferated.  At the same time, networks expanded to every corner of the enterprise and access to centralized software services became widespread.  With the new century, the IT economy contracted following the collapse of the “.com bubble” companies.  IT management became focused on controlling IT expenditure and deriving the

9. Outsourcing Retirement - Outsourcing IT Asset Retirement
     Approximately 1 billion units of computer equipment will become potential scrap by 2010 according to the International Association of Electronics Recyclers. Now is the time for your company to decide how to deal with outdated computer equipment that is currently stockpiled in empty offices and closets.  Outsourcing this responsibility to an expert can simplify the process and ensure safe disposal of the equipment. However, an ill-conceived asset retirement program may expose your company to potential data security risk and environmental liability.

10. Disposal Safeguards - Privacy at Risk: Protecting Your Outgoing Data
      With security software spending estimated at $50 billion globally in 2005, information technology professionals are clearly taking the problems of data privacy and identify theft seriously. While most companies have focused on preventing perpetrators from breaking in to their organizations, there has been comparatively little attention on protecting information that leaves the organization on retired information technology assets. Managers who dispose of these assets in an uncontrolled manner place their companies at risk of inadvertently disclosing sensitive information and/or violating federal privacy laws.

11. Do Your Homework - How to Build a Business Case for ITAM
       Many organizations are realizing the need for more focus on IT Asset Management (ITAM), however they are struggling to gain the acceptance and sponsorship that will ensure a successful program.  Do any of the following scenarios describe your situation? 

    • Your current IT Asset Management function is largely manual, disparate and the accuracy and completeness of the asset data is questionable
    • You have been unable to acquire the executive buy-in, budget or resources required to move forward to make your ITAM program more efficient and reliable.
    • Your management team has numerous IT initiatives on their plate and does not have the mindshare to address your ITAM concerns.