What is Hardware Asset Management (HAM)?
HAM is designed to track the financial costs associated with each hardware asset. This enables the organisation to make informed decisions when acquiring new assets and supports sustainability efforts. Organisations can leverage HAM to gain insights into various attributes of their assets including ownership, location, users, availability, support to the business, risks, information storage and the value gained.
Hardware assets, such as computers, servers, and networking equipment, are categorised as tangible assets since they are physical items. Additionally, there are intangible assets, such as maintenance and contract agreements, which do not necessarily have a physical form.
The foundation of a Software Asset Management (SAM) function relies on effective Hardware Asset Management (HAM) processes and practices. These processes are crucial for establishing accurate license positions for your vendors, aiding software reporting, and reducing the risk of submitting inaccurate data for vendor audits. Additionally, maintaining an accurate hardware inventory can support software optimisation processes and help reduce future spending.
HAM Scope
Which IT assets should be tracked?
When determining which assets to track, it's important to consider your organisation's unique needs. Factors such as size, complexity, and industry play a crucial role in this decision-making process. For instance, larger organisations may opt not to track peripherals due to the sheer volume and associated management challenges or because these items may not meet the cost or risk thresholds for inclusion in the IT asset register. On the other hand, smaller organisations may find it feasible to track all assets given their manageable resources.
Once you've established the scope, it's essential to manage these assets through a hardware asset register. Documenting the scope is advisable for reference in other documentation and for transparent communication with key stakeholders. Regular review and sign-off of scope documents by all key stakeholders should occur at least annually.
Best practices recommend tracking workstations (desktops and laptops) and servers, as these assets are highly likely to have software installed that also needs to be managed. After developing processes for managing and maintaining these assets, the scope of your IT asset register can gradually expand as needed.
Hardware Asset Tagging
What is an Asset Tag?
An asset tag is a label applied to hardware assets for tracking and identification. Using asset tags prevents data entry errors when conducting audits aligned to industry standards. Tags can also make company assets easily identifiable and deter people from stealing them. Normally, the label includes a unique reference and a barcode to assist with scanning and reconciling hardware assets.
Typically, it is best practice for asset tags to be accessible and visible on the device, but they should also be challenging to remove. When applying the tag, be careful not to cover any important information on the asset. However, depending on your industry, you may want your devices, particularly mobile assets, to be identified as something other than company-owned, as thieves can target these. Some organisations have a range of standardised asset tags that can be applied to different asset types, for example, larger tags for desk assets such as monitors, desk phones and desktops, smaller or elongated tags for infrastructure and network assets and simple tags for mobile devices.
Usually, if an asset has an asset tag, it should be managed and recorded within your hardware asset register.
Hardware Asset Register
What is a Hardware Asset Register?
Your asset register is one of the most crucial information sources used by your ITAM team. It can take many forms, and starting with a spreadsheet is okay. However, it’s best practice to integrate your asset register into a tool. Doing so will enable:
History of changes
Traceability and accountability
Governance and audit trail
Integration with other tools
Handle large amounts of data
Automatic updates
Notifications and alerts
Enhanced analytics and reporting
Version control
Access permissions and controls
Visibility for other business areas
Once your asset register becomes established, you will start to add more information, which will be useful for managing and reporting on your assets in line with your Hardware Strategy. Be mindful that this is a working process and will need to be transformed as required. Your data fields must be purposeful, and be careful when adding extra fields as this can be an additional overhead if the data cannot be collated automatically. An update process will be needed to keep the data accurate.
It is possible to treat the asset register records as configuration items in a Configuration Management Database. This allows the software CIs to form relationships with other CIs within a more expansive Configuration Management System.
IT Asset Categorisation
When managing IT assets, it's essential to categorise them effectively. This involves meticulously listing all the assets present within your organisation and defining sub-categories to add detailed metadata, such as IT asset class information. This approach not only facilitates reporting and metrics but also streamlines other IT asset management processes, ultimately contributing to improved organisation and efficiency.
For Example:
Asset Type | Asset Class | Networked | Exceeds financial threshold? | Data storage | Mobility | Tracked |
Desktop | Workstation | Discoverable | >£300 – Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Laptop | Workstation | Discoverable | >£300 – Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Server | Infrastructure | Discoverable | >£300 – Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Mobile phone | Mobile device | Discoverable | >£300 – Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Mobile tablet | Mobile device | Discoverable | >£300 – Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Monitor | Peripheral | Standalone | <£300 – No | No | No | Yes |
Desk phone | Peripheral | Standalone | <£300 – No | No | No | Yes |
USB storage device | Storage device | Standalone | <£300 – No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Keyboard | Peripheral | Standalone | <£300 – No | No | Yes | No |
Printer | Peripheral | Discoverable | >£300 – Yes | No | No | Yes |
Firewall | Network communications | Discoverable | >£300 – Yes | No | No | Yes |
Router | Network communications | Discoverable | >£300 – Yes | No | No | Yes |
Switch | Network communications | Discoverable | >£300 – Yes | No | No | Yes |
Please feel free to contact us for more information. We’d welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can support your HAM ambitions or objectives.
Comments