What range of TCO savings can be realized with IT Asset Configuration Management (ITAM)?

With a successfully implemented asset & configuration management program, organizations can reduce TCO by 10% - 15%, which translates to over $1,000 per User annually. As an example: a 1,000 User organization could reduce TCO by over $80,000 every month.

How does ITAM reduce TCO, increase service effectiveness and quality?

1. Discover and remove dormant assets

2. Identify and remove problem assets

3. Identify areas where asset utilization can be improved

4. Avoid unwarranted purchases

5. Improve analysis of procurement decisions

6. Enable faster and more accurate budgeting & forecasting

7. Avoid costly vendor accounting errors

8. Avoid redundant maintenance & warranty coverage of assets

9. Enforce advantageous contract terms & conditions

10. Strengthen negotiating position with vendors

11. Avoid contractual noncompliance penalties

12. Avoid leasing payments for equipment not in service

13. Reduce over-provisioning of hardware assets

14. Improve ability to recycle/reuse assets with remaining useful life

15. Rationalize software licensing & provisioning

16. Improve planning & flexibility of technology upgrade, refreshment and life cycle change management

17. Improve problem management with accurate up to date information

18. Decrease HW asset retirement costs

19. Salvage SW licenses from retired units

20. Improve standards management

21. Reduce charge-back administration

22. Determine cost/benefits & risks of Lease vs. Buy

23. Avoid redundant asset inventorying, administrative and systems costs

24. Improve Vendor and configuration management

25. Lower software distribution, management and support costs

26. Improve the procurement and provisioning process

27. Reduce the cost of physical inventories and disruption

28. Controlling valuable CIs in case of theft

29. Facilitating adherence to legal obligations like SW compliance

30. Helping with financial and expenditure planning

31. Making software changes visible to help with regulatory compliance

32. Contributing to contingency planning in the event of a disaster

33. Supporting and improving Release Management to streamline rollouts

34. Improving security by controlling the versions of CIs in use to limit risks

35. Enabling the organization to reduce the use of unauthorized software to lower support costs

36. Allowing the organization to perform impact analysis and schedule Changes safely, efficiently and effectively

37. Providing Problem Management with data on trends to help eliminate errors in the infrastructure.

How to avoid typical asset & configuration management implementation challenges?

	Cost/benefits difficult to articulate, measure and materialize
	Design specifications often not linked to business requirements or do not address the entire life cycle
	Process changes tedious, complex and time intensive
	Change management processes weak, leading to inaccuracies
	Systems often complicated, expensive, difficult to learn & manage
	Project management difficult, lengthy and wrought with risk
	Lengthy implementations lead to slower payback, risking return on investment
	CIs are defined at the wrong level with too much detail
	Implementation is attempted without adequate analysis and design.
	Tactical schedules are over ambitious & Configuration Management may be perceived as a bottleneck
	Commitment is lacking making it difficult to introduce controls
	The process is perceived to be too bureaucratic or rigorous
	The process is routinely circumvented.
	Processes are inefficient and error-prone
	Expectations of what the tool can do are unrealistic
	The chosen tool may lack flexibility
	Configuration Management has been implemented in isolation
	Expectations of what the Configuration Management process can do are unrealistic
	Proper configuration control is not in place.

To learn more about total cost of ownership, asset and configuration management, visit Micromation.