Everything You Need to Know About Asset Organization

When it comes to IT asset management, it is often ignored by executives and IT personnel until a security problem shows how important it is. It’s often hard for companies to track assets, whether those are smartphones used by employees or servers to keep your company running. But creating an effective solution does not have to be a difficult problem, and it will prevent issues in the future.

What is Asset Organization?

Although it is foundational to enduring your company meets important security functions, too few have the right asset management strategies. In creating a strategy, answer the question of how, where, and what assets are used. For instance, consider which devices need patches and the ones that are the most vulnerable to security threats. Luckily, it isn’t that hard to create an effective solution.

Narrow Your Thinking

Many companies are confused when it comes to the term asset. It might refer to virtual items such as software or physical items such as devices. It can also refer to data. Asset management includes every valuable item, although data can be handled differently. But limit your solutions to software and hardware. The value of the information contained in them will determine what you do with them. For instance, if you have servers with confidential data, you might need to restrict their access more than others.

Determining Who Uses Which Tool

While the hardware and software belong to your organization, they might be shared among departments to simplify the process and save money. Software or hardware might not be used solely by one department. Security is one of the main concerns, and the IT department should be responsible for managing hardware and software. They should work with the department that uses each item and communicate with the organization’s security group. Ultimately, it’s a team effort requiring constant work to ensure the data is actionable and accurate.

You also need to be able to use asset discovery to tell the difference between known and unknown devices connected to your network. Many companies are moving to a bring your own device (BYOD) policy to save money. But that makes many corporate networks’ internet connection no more secure than a public one. You have to be able to report both unmanaged and managed devices.

Take Small Steps

The best program for your company will leverage your current capabilities. If your company is smaller, device-driven asset management software is a good place to start. As your company grows, you can move to a program that can tell the difference between low-risk, unmanaged devices, and ones with a higher value. There are many ways of tracking and classifying software and devices, and no one solution is best. When you’re first implementing a solution, you should be able to connect unique identifiers such as your IP address to software licenses, business group ownership, and end-users. When getting a new tool, you’ll want to consider the functionality. But also consider which tools will best complement your existing solutions, such as software license upgrades, patch management, and control over network access.