The ITAM lifecycle
The IT asset management lifecycle covers the period from initial request for an item through procurement, delivery, stocking, deployment, monitoring, support, installation (as well as all moves, adds, or changes in location), upgrades, reuse, termination, disposal, and replacement. This lifecycle is sometimes referred to as cradle to the grave:
This is the most important and the most neglected asset data point. When you know the current lifecycle state of an asset at any moment in time, you can efficiently plan IT update/replacement, budget, IMACD ( Install, Move, Add, Change and Disposal ), and procurement activities.
Six major components that form the IT Asset Management Lifecycle are as follows:
- Identification of Asset Requirement: The identification of the asset requirement component is the process of determining the IT asset needs of an organization and/or individual end-user. It is typically initiated by the user or the Business Asset Manager and requested via the Service Request Management process.
- Planning: The planning component is the process of determining if available IT asset(s) exist in inventory and/or identifying the IT asset purchasing requirement for a specific business unit or customer.
- Procurement: Once the planning component has been completed, and no IT assets have been identified as available and in inventory, the IT asset is ordered by following your organization's Purchase process.
- Configuration and Deployment: When the IT asset is received, the asset is verified and assigned both an Asset Management and Workstation/Server Configuration owner to configure, inventory, install, and deploy the asset in the environment.
- Installs, Moves, Adds, and Changes (IMAC): Installs, Moves, Adds, and Changes are events that impact existing IT assets. In addition, major events such as new hire, and termination also impact the IT asset environment.
- Decommission, Disposition and Disposal: Technology refresh is the event that impacts both the disposition and disposal component of the Asset Management Lifecycle. IT assets are either leased or purchased depending upon the type of asset. Leased assets are typically returned to the Lessor upon reaching their lease expiration. Purchased assets may be retained in the environment if in good working condition or directly disposed of because they have reached the end of their useful life.
As an aid in understanding the basic ITAM principles and to better manage assets using established best practices, I have grouped the wide-ranging factors involved in this process into a simple, three-phase format, which I will go through in detail below. In facilitating this process, many mid to large companies appoint an asset manager, giving this key role direct access to the executive team. This access, and the resulting top-down support, is essential in implementing the guidelines required for an effective IT asset management program and system. It also helps ensure buy-in to the process throughout the enterprise.