TECHNOLOGY BRIEF: IT ASSET MANAGEMENT AND ITIL

IT Asset Management A Cornerstone for Accelerating ITIL Success

Table of Contents
Executive Summary
SECTION 1: CHALLENGE

Understanding ITAM as a Cornerstone of ITIL Success An Asset Repository Is Not a Configuration Management Database ITAM is a Program
SECTION 2: OPPORTUNITY

Achieving an ITIL-Compliant Comprehensive ITAM Program Start by Assessing Your ITAM Program Take a Phased Approach Communicate Common Understanding Deploy Technology That Supports the ITAM Program
SECTION 3: BENEFITS

12

Supporting ITIL, ITSM and Your Business

SECTION 4: CONCLUSIONS

13

Summarizing ITAM Value

SECTION 5: ABOUT THE AUTHORS ABOUT CA

13 Back Cover

ITIL is a Registered Trade Mark, and a Registered Community Trade Mark of the office of Government Commerce, and is Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Copyright 2007 CA. All rights reserved. All trademarks, trade names, service marks and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies. This document is for your informational purposes only. To the extent permitted by applicable law, CA provides this document As Is without warranty of any kind, including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. In no event will CA be liable for any loss or damage, direct or indirect, from the use of this document including, without limitation, lost profits, business interruption, goodwill or lost data, even if CA is expressly advised of such damages.

Executive Summary
Challenge
IT Asset Management (ITAM) is a cornerstone of IT Service Management (ITSM) yet is often omitted from existing ITSM implementations or initiatives. Version 3 of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) expands the processes, functions and roles in the service life cycle. However, it still does not provide enough details on key process and functional integration points for ITAM. This lack of detail introduces significant challenges for organizations looking to implement ITSM processes to drive higher quality, stability and availability of IT services. The asset life cycle has a direct impact on the service life cycle and vice-versa.

Opportunity
Today organizations are largely focused on continuously improving ITSM-related processes to increase service levels and manage risk to deliver value to the business, effectively managing costs to do more for less and avoid unnecessary expenditures and controlling the changes and IT resource expansion associated with evolving business initiatives and technology. The basis for the improvement of ITSM processes for many organizations is the adoption of ITIL best practices using the service life cycle approach. As more organizations adopt ITIL best practices, it is important to recognize and understand the role of ITAM in improving ITSM process. A comprehensive IT Asset Management program is fundamental to managing the infrastructure that supports the delivery of IT Services to the business. ITAM is an important building block for organizations because it enables automated tracking, control and financial management of the assets (devices and applications) that comprise the IT infrastructure.

Benefits
With ITAM it is possible to establish and maintain IMAC (Install, Move, Add and Change) best practices, improve asset service levels and manage service risk and IT resources in a cost-effective manner and as part of a comprehensive ITSM program. This document describes ITAMs role in providing a solid foundation upon which to build meaningful ITSM processes. It also describes the engagement methodology and technology needed to implement a comprehensive ITAM solution that creates business value across the service life cycle. A pragmatic and phased approach to adopting ITSM and ITAM processes is recommended to help to secure continued funding of your programs. This program development approach creates recurring business value, improves your organizations IT maturity and provides success at every step.

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SECTION 1: CHALLENGE

Understanding ITAM as a Cornerstone of ITIL Success

ITAM manages the life cycle of IT assets from planning through acquisition, management and retirement. ITAM is concerned with all of the physical, financial and contractual aspects of IT assets throughout their life.

FIGURE A

IT ASSET MANAGEMENT PROCESS LIFE CYCLE

Illustrates the asset life cycle. The high-level life cycle for ITAM is a complete process.

The goals of a comprehensive ITAM solution are: To acquire appropriate IT assets for an organization with minimum costs and maximum benefits To optimize the use of each IT asset during its life To dispose of IT assets when they no longer provide a benefit compared to the cost to maintain them To support IT asset compliance To provide the information needed for internal and external requirements, such as: planning for mergers or acquisitions regulatory compliance license renewal vendor negotiations contract negotiation and renewal

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ITAM is crucial to the service life cycle that is now described as part of ITIL Version 3 Service Asset and Configuration Management. When an IT organization knows what infrastructure they have and where it resides, they can provide service continuity and service availability and can properly manage the costs of IT services. ITAM processes capture an organizations asset portfolio details, such as asset configurations, contractual terms and conditions, ownership and financial attributes. A comprehensive, centralized ITAM program can make accurate, up-todate information available as needed for harvesting and reusing assets, and asset allocation, budgeting and chargeback of IT services to meet business goals. Once established, an ITAM program can support specific ITSM objectives and play an important role in: Incident and Problem Management Provides the Service Desk and other IT staff with critical asset configuration details, helpful ownership information such as lease details, warranty and service contracts, and identifying problematic configurations or device conflicts. This can improve first-call resolution rates and speed Mean Time to Repair (MTTR). Change Management and Install, Move, Add, Change (IMAC) Provides real-time configuration information and, by linking service information to assets, can help to reduce the number of technicians required to execute planned changes, which reduces the dispatchto-solution rate. Service Level Management Provides asset harvesting, software license tracking and warranty-to-asset linking so that organizations avoid excess maintenance payments or fines and lower overall service costs. An Asset Repository is Not a Configuration Management Database There is considerable confusion in understanding the differences between an ITAM asset repository and an ITIL Configuration Management Database (CMDB). Asset Repository An asset repository maintains details about each asset such as the information associated with asset discovery, inventory management, contract management and financial management. This repository is concerned with all assets, regardless of their status and purpose, and the financial cost and legal compliance associated with each asset in the infrastructure. An asset repository is likely to be significantly larger than a CMDB in most organizations. Configuration Management Database A CMDB is a special-purpose repository of Configuration Items (CIs) that contains business service to IT service relationships plus the underlying dependencies of related assets. A CMDB is populated only with CIs containing business IT service relationships and inter-dependencies that are linked to critical business services. Since ITIL is primarily concerned with CIs that are involved in service delivery, the CMDB purposely excludes non-service related assets in order to maintain focus on the mission of service management. The establishment of a reliable asset repository (derived from ownership and discovery repositories) is an excellent step toward the creation of a CMDB. In turn, a CMDB helps form the basis for effective configuration, change, incident, problem and release management. In addition to helping create the CMDB, an ITAM asset repository can be continually leveraged to contribute to and maintain a large share of CI data, consisting of asset configuration details, ownership, contract terms and conditions, cost and vendor information.

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While it is important to understand that a CMDB can be built on top of an asset repository, the purpose of the process frameworks and their respective repositories is different. ITAM is a Program ITAM is a program that includes processes and technologies. This program touches many different business functions across the organization on a daily basis. The following table lists the major ITAM processes, their role in the asset life cycle and the departments that are involved in each process:
TABLE 1
PROCESS NAME FUNCTIONS DEPARTMENTS ROLES

REQUEST

Request to provision a service or an asset Approval(s) of request Determine fulfillment type (from inventory or new purchase) Procure new assets or services when not in inventory Negotiate and establish contracts with suppliers Link contracts to catalog line items Receive new assets or services from suppliers Validate shipment (match received goods to order) Execute IMAC processes Retire obsolete assets from operational use Acquire legal indemnification for disposed assets Update asset status Provide enough stable consistent information for accurate budgeting and forecasting

IT Finance

Asset Manager Department Budget Manager Service Desk

PROCURE

Finance

Procurement Manager

RECEIVE

Finance Facilities (or IT)

Asset Manager Financial Manager

MANAGE RETIRE

IT IT Finance

Service Desk Asset Manager Financial Manager

PLAN

IT Finance

Asset Manager Department Budget Manager Financial Manager

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SECTION 2: OPPORTUNITY

Achieving an ITIL-Compliant Comprehensive ITAM Program

Mature ITAM capabilities support proactive management of the entire IT asset base from cost, contractual, support and inventory standpoints. A comprehensive approach facilitates control and cost savings and requires integrating people, process and technology. When these three elements work together, organizations are more likely to achieve integrated asset management and experience greater benefits. Start by Assessing Your ITAM Program Before embarking on or extending the implementation of an ITAM program, it is important to establish where an organization is today (current state). Understanding an organizations current capabilities for ITAM is critical to developing strategic and tactical roadmaps that will deliver ITSM improvements. The first step in implementing an ITAM program is to carry out a comprehensive maturity assessment to analyze existing processes, technology and organization, and to identify business goals and IT needs. Based on this analysis, logical steps to help drive efficiency, effectiveness and overall maturity across the organization through increased ITAM capability can be identified, documented and funded to build a program. Targeting ITAM process development initially at areas that will have the most impact on business success will deliver short-term business benefits that will establish a strong business case for expanding an ITAM program. An assessment will identify the ITAM processes that can deliver the most business value and offer a phased project approach for realizing incremental value. Take a Phased Approach Organizations are challenged with resource constraints and competing priorities, so a phased approach to achieving a comprehensive ITAM program is pragmatic. A phased approach also allows an organization to invest for business value and absorb solution maturity incrementally. This approach delivers documented cost savings and/or process improvements at each level sustaining executive-level commitment to the program. Although it is important to plan strategically, it is equally important to implement tactically. The following table illustrates the phases of an ITAM program implementation and the business benefits delivered at each level. Regardless of which level an organization is currently in, it is important to prioritize future efforts. Establish a phased approach by targeting areas of the infrastructure that provide the highest business value and enable greater cost control over the IT assets. This strategy delivers business benefits where they are most important to supporting the delivery of IT services.

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TABLE 2
LEVEL PHASE ACTIVITIES BENEFITS

Asset Discovery

Identify deployed assets Know what is in the infrastructure at any given point in time to a given level of detail: hardware, software, network, etc. Know who is using assets, how frequently, how much) Identify owned assets Compare owned with deployed (inventory) Identify over or under deployment of assets and reasons (change policies, processes, procedures) and, over time, reduce the gap Introduce contracts Link contracts to assets (hardware, software, network, etc.) Identify and capture critical terms and conditions Create workflow and event notifications, such as lease notifications, re-negotiation windows, cancellations, etc.) Planning and budgets Analyze infrastructure blueprint prior to planning and budgeting Reconcile with fixed assets Provide accurate asset data to fixed assets Invoice reconciliation Automate invoice reconciliation process Asset allocation and chargeback Track asset costs by cost center and chargeback

Understand and manage asset usage

Inventory Management

Manage compliance Reduce over-purchasing Enforce standards (manage non-standard) Redeploy assets

Contract Management

Manage maintenance costs Manage contract service levels Automate contract renewal Improve negotiations and vendor/spend management Improve budgeting process Improve management of fixed assets/depreciation Improve management of tax payments Reduce payment of erroneous invoices Manage IT demand and behavior by allocating cost to actual consumers

Financial Management

Communicate Common Understanding All stakeholders need to be a part of the assessment, planning and rollout phases. One of the main challenges to establishing a comprehensive ITAM program is educating people in all functional areas that touch the ITAM life cycle to use a common language. A common language helps people understand the complete asset management life cycle and define their roles and responsibilities within the ITAM program. Depending on their function in the organization, people typically have different definitions and perspectives of asset management and its key activities.

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Some of the stakeholders affected by assets in their daily work are involved with the following business functions, but these are not all of the business functions that would be affected by an ITAM program: Procurement This function is concerned with information about asset cost, compliance with established agreements and supplier discounts. Finance This function is concerned with budgeting, asset depreciation, taxes and reporting for compliance with regulatory requirements or mandates such as Sarbanes-Oxley or OMB Circular A-123. IT This function is concerned with the management of configurations and standardization of hardware and software assets, images and patch levels. All of these perspectives are valid but represent only a portion of the overall asset life cycle. ITAM impacts upon, and crosses, the boundaries of IT, Procurement, Contract Management, Receiving and Service Desk within an organization as shown in Figure B.

FIGURE B

ITAM ROLES AND INTERESTS

All stakeholders need to be a part of the assessment, planning and rollout phases to build an effective ITAM program.

Before embarking on the implementation of an ITAM solution, it must be clearly understood by all stakeholders that ITAM is a process, what the ITAM process is and how each business function is related to the ITAM process and to other business functions upstream or downstream from their connection to the asset life cycle. During an assessment phase, the various stakeholders and the nature of their relationship to an ITAM program would be defined. Deploy Technology That Supports the ITAM Program Achieving a comprehensive ITAM program and delivering comprehensive ITAM processes requires the implementation of technology. A large number of technologies can be integrated with, and contribute to, a comprehensive ITAM program, but there are six main technologies that are essential to ITAM processes supporting the service life cycle. These six technologies are highlighted in the following table and, in turn, each is discussed in detail.
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TABLE 3
TECHNOLOGY COMPONENT

PURPOSE

SUPPORTED PROCESSES

Discovery

Provide a point in time view Track evidence of technology usage

ITAM Inventory management ITIL Configuration management

Service Desk

Initiate moves, adds and changes Resolve user problems

ITIL Change management Incident management Problem management ITAM Asset allocation Contractual management of assets Financial management of assets ITIL Configuration management ITAM Request and approval processes ITIL Demand management Request fulfillment Service catalog management

Ownership Repository

Enables: Budgeting Forecasting Vendor negotiations Invoice validation Track Ownership Information

Request Management (Catalog)

Enable end users to request IT and other services

Procurement and Receiving System

Procurement system to capture new assets purchased by an organization Receiving system to validate that assets ordered are what was shipped or brought into the organization If an organization is using an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, procurement and receiving are typically in the same application.

ITAM Addition of new assets into the ownership repository for asset management Asset validation Invoice reconciliation Vendor management ITIL Demand management Financial management Supplier management ITAM Asset allocation Asset management ITIL Financial management Service asset and configuration management

HR System

Enable alignment of assets to their owner or custodian Enable alignment of contract negotiator to the contracts

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Discovery Discovery refers to technology that is programmatically used to inventory, track and manage assets that are networked at some time within an organizations environment. It is important for IT organizations to understand what infrastructure components they have and where they reside. Discovery is one of the six major technologies for enabling an ITAM program and contributes to the ITAM asset repository. These tools describe asset information from a technical perspective, giving insight into the makeup, i.e. hardware and software inventory, of an asset. The following is a list of common types of asset attributes captured by a discovery tool: IP addresses Serial number Asset tag (if available in the BIOS) Processor speed Configuration files Attached devices Installed software Software usage CPU type Total memory Discovery tools are one of the most widely used deployment or infrastructure management tools and track assets to provide evidence of usage. Typically, discovery tools take regular inventories or snapshots of an organizations networked assets and store the data in a central repository. When considering asset compliance, distinguishing between what an organization legally has a right to use (i.e., what they own) versus what is actually being used (i.e., what is discovered) is of the utmost importance. Discovery information can be reconciled against an ownership repository to provide an audit that highlights discrepancies. Some discovery tools are able to take the current and historical data relating to assets and convert this into meaningful information about changes that have occurred. Discovery tools are not able to capture or track asset costs, licensing data or contractual terms and conditions, and typically can detect only 60-70% of an organizations total assets. These tools are not able to inventory assets that are disconnected from the network, such as equipment that may be stored in a warehouse, newly procured or associated with extremely security-sensitive areas of an organization, such as research labs. The remaining 30-40% of assets not addressable by discovery can be captured and tracked using other ITAM technologies that support asset life cycle management. The challenge that most organizations face with discovery technologies is that they have multiple discovery tools implemented and each tool provides a siloed view of technical information related to a subset of IT assets. For an effective ITAM program, it is important to establish consistency in the discovery information that is gathered for all IT assets. Adopting a single discovery technology component to deliver a single version of the truth is necessary.

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Service Desk It is essential that an organization recognizes that its Service Desk is a crucial technology component of an ITAM program and that ITAM supports processes across the service support and service delivery aspects of ITSM. When the Service Desk is integrated with ITAM, an organization gains the ability to track an asset as it moves throughout its life cycle. Where and how an asset is being used can directly impact the financial information associated with the asset. In addition, maintaining up-to-date user and location information is imperative for service support activities. This information is also used for accurate financial calculations such as property tax and insurance payments. Service Desk and ITAM are concerns of many ITIL processes, primarily incident, problem and change management: Incident Management When a user has an IT asset problem, Service Desk personnel need access to the assets configuration data from discovery tools and contract information on warranties and service levels (ownership repository). Problem Management Information about problems related to a particular asset or asset class must be linked in a way that can be easily retrieved and reviewed. This asset information is helpful should future incidents occur and as information that can be provided to suppliers if problems are endemic to a particular asset model. Change Management Under ITIL best practice guidelines, as change occurs throughout the organization, the change should be initiated and tracked through service tickets. As standard IMAC processes occur, they must appropriately update the asset ownership repository to reflect the new information. This data can also be shared with the CMDB and updated in other open service tickets. In addition, having the availability of asset ownership repository data before a change is implemented allows organizations to determine the business impact of a change before it is initiated. Ownership Repository The ownership repository enables the life cycle management of an asset. Ownership management involves tracking financial, licensing and legal terms (i.e., the costs of owning assets). This information is used to: Reduce the cost of the entire asset management process Provide an independent record of ownership The ownership repository records and maintains assets that an organization has a legal and financial right to use. This is different from the discovery repository, which provides records and maintains information relating to assets that are deployed in an organizations environment. The purpose of the ownership repository is to enable an organization to maximize the use of any hardware, software or other owned, leased or licensed technology by relating the cost, inventory and contractual aspects of those assets, and to maximize the use of negotiated rights contained in contracts. Together, however, discovery and the ownership repository contribute to form an ITAM asset repository.

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The ownership repository also makes it possible to manage the life cycle of an asset by providing a holistic view of what an organization owns, who is using it and how it is being used. The ownership repository also propagates asset information with other business processes that can confirm whether or not an asset is being used as effectively as possible and provides a clear understanding of what an organization is legally and financially authorized to use, which establishes a level of software or regulatory compliance. One of the major functions of the ownership repository is to provide proof of ownership of IT assets. It can contain the following information: The original cost of an asset How an asset was acquired The recurring costs for an asset Any training and consulting received when the organization bought an asset The terms and conditions under which the organization is allowed to use an asset (this is important in relation to software) What the negotiated maintenance/cost caps are Whether an asset was leased or purchased The original configuration of an asset Any contractual agreements Interdependencies between specific pieces of software and hardware Ownership management is the most misunderstood component of ITAM because most organizations have invested in at least one discovery tool and a service desk, but not in an ownership repository. The ownership repository holds business information that helps an organization make critical financial and contractual decisions about its assets. Request Management System (Catalog) Request systems are the mechanism through which all users request IT services. These systems may be hosted by a service desk, an ERP system, a custom web order-entry application or a service catalog. Request systems host a list of available assets and services that can be ordered by an end user. This list ranges from simple assets, such as a PDA, to more complex items (e.g., services), such as hardware and software assets bundled together. In addition to providing a list of available IT services the catalog, with incorporated ITIL best practices processes, provides a mechanism to forward all requests to the appropriate technical and budgetary approvers in a manner that is consistent with the approval policies of an organization. Typically the request system is integrated to the ownership repository so that the in-stock supply of surplus assets can be evaluated before a new procurement is initiated. This facilitates the reuse of technology and helps keep IT supply and demand aligned.

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Many asset request systems are standalone, simply passing the request from one approval level to the next, ultimately passing it to procurement. In a more mature ITAM environment, the service catalog reflects the cost of the asset back to the user or budget holder who is requesting the service. All asset costs (or prices) published in the service catalog would be based on contract costs established with suppliers and as volume discounts are negotiated, the lower costs are reflected in the published service price. As a result an organization can continuously optimize its asset base and provide competitively priced services to end users or customers. For these reasons, it is the responsibility of both the IT and Finance departments to keep the service catalog up to date. Procurement and Receiving System The integration of procurement and receiving systems within an ITAM solution provides an entry point for new assets in the ownership repository and initiates the start of life cycle management for these assets. This integration enables an organization to maintain reliable, up-to-date information about the assets they have purchased and triggers software license management, invoice reconciliation and contract management tasks. Creation of new asset records early in the procurement process supports the ITAM program by tracking asset receipt and payment status. Once an asset is deployed on the network, it can be audited by a discovery tool to confirm compliance. Typically the receiving system is a module of the procurement system. Tracking physical or logical receipt of assets is imperative in validating physical custody of an asset and confirming that what was received is what was ordered. Information provided from integration between the ITAM ownership repository and the receiving system can be used to trigger staging and installation events, payments and additions to the ownership repository. Human Resource Systems The interface between an organizations ownership repository and its human resource system is critical to an effective ITAM solution. This integration links individual hardware and software assets with specific people and makes it easier to track the status and location of IT assets when staffing changes, transfers or moves occur. Maintaining employee and contractor data in the ownership repository facilitates ownership of the asset, aligning the asset to an owner/custodian or a contract to a negotiator/requestor. Without this information, it is difficult, time consuming and error prone to track the movement of an asset.

SECTION 3: BENEFITS

Supporting ITIL, ITSM and Your Business

Supporting ITIL objectives and having a positive impact on ITSM processes such as incident, problem, change, IMAC and service-level management are comprehensive benefits of an ITAM program. Specifically, ITAM processes deliver unique business benefits that enable an organization to: Manage compliance Reduce over-purchasing Enforce standards (manage non-standard) Redeploy assets

12 TECHNOLOGY BRIEF: IT ASSET MANAGEMENT AND ITIL

 Manage maintenance costs Manage contract service levels Automate contract renewal Improve negotiations and vendor/spend management Improve the budgeting process Improve management of fixed assets/depreciations Improve management of tax payments Reduce payment of erroneous invoices Manage IT demand and behavior by allocating IT costs to IT service consumers In addition, a defined roadmap and a phased implementation approach can reasonably establish ITAM processes across organizational boundaries and integrate essential ITAM functions in a controlled manner. A phased approach also allows organizations to realize business benefits incrementally and supports rational end-user adoption of improved ITSM processes.

SECTION 4: CONCLUSIONS

Summarizing ITAM Value

To deliver meaningful ITSM processes an organization requires strong foundations to build upon. ITAM is one of the fundamental building blocks for helping organizations achieve ITSM maturity and extend ITIL best practices. A comprehensive ITAM program requires an organization to take a phased approach to its implementation, allowing them to realize the business benefits incrementally and on an increasing scale, while establishing processes across organizational boundaries and integrating essential technology components in a controlled manner. By establishing a comprehensive ITAM solution, an organization has a greater understanding of what assets are in its infrastructure, where they are, who is using them and how they are being used. This information provides an improved ability to deliver ITSM processes and better manage risk and IT resources, and is a cornerstone for ITIL success.

SECTION 5:

About the Authors

Jason Davis, principal architect for CA Services, has over 20 years of experience in IT working across the commercial, retail and manufacturing sectors. Since joining CA in 2000, Jason has worked with a number of CAs largest customers to deliver enterprise-class solutions that support enhanced levels of IT management capability in the IT asset, IT service and infrastructure arenas. Chip Galusha, currently a senior instructor for CA Learning and formerly a senior architect for CA Services, is extensively involved with CA personnel, partners and customers on a global scale on all aspects of the ITAM space. Chip holds degrees in Computer Science and Broadcasting, a Master of Business Administration, is a Certified IT Asset Manager and is ITIL Foundation certified. To learn more about the CAs approach to launching or maturing an ITAM solution, visit ca.com/clientmgmt.
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