How controlling the little things with process can have a big impact on your bottom line

Recently we had the opportunity to talk to Adam Shaw – our National Manager – Asset Management here at Data^#3. He has been at the coalface of Asset Management for well over 10 years now – and just recently completed a project that delivered a managed Asset Management environment for a 400 seat organisation. He drew on that experience as we talked about the impact that Asset Management can have on your organisation… and its bottom line.

Do you know what is in your environment? And more importantly, what isn’t?

Whilst your accounting team might have a firm grasp on the financial side of your tangible IT assets – simply focusing on the depreciated value of your fleet is short sighted.  Your accounting team can only tell you what should be in your environment, and not what is, or more importantly what isn’t actually there.  And they definitely cannot tell you what software is loaded on an asset – which could be worth five times as much as the asset itself.

So what should we focus on?

Shaw said “A question that was raised when I was recently speaking at an event in Canberra was ‘What assets should I be managing’.  Generally you can let facilities can take care of the desks, the chairs, and the real estate.  However, as an IT Manager or a CIO, managing any IT related hardware, and all the software in your organisation is critical to squeezing the most out of your investment.”

The small things make a BIG difference…

How many printers do you have in your environment? When it comes to Asset Management, it is not just about what you would traditionally call assets (like printers).  Consumables count as well. Consumables like drum kits, fuser kits, and even some toner cartridges can range from $500 to $1200 dollars (or more!) depending on the model.

Shaw continued… “One example we came across recently was a printer that was sitting in its box on the top of a cupboard – the only one of its type in the organisation. After an audit we found $8000 worth of consumables for that single printer. $8000 simply wasted because the printer went end of life, but consumables were still ordered”

Another great example of how leaving small things unmanaged can have a big impact on your bottom line is security tokens.

“Many organisations have implemented security tokens to enable staff to access network resources and corporate information.  At up to $325 a piece, a token might not mean too much to your bottom line.  But if you have 1000 deployed in your organisation, and 10% go missing each year due to poor management, you are looking at a $32 500 hole in your budget.

Moving to Windows 7? Change Management just got a whole lot easier

When you are looking at wholesale IT change – for example an upgrade of the operating system across your fleet – having a firm grasp on the assets you have in your environment can help you quickly make the right decisions.

“Say you are moving from Windows XP to Windows 7.  Obviously there are some features in Windows 7 that have particular hardware requirements.  And we are not just talking about RAM.  For example, if you want to take advantage of features like Bit Locker Full Volume Encryption, to reduce risk in your organisation, you will need a fleet of PCs that have a TPM chip.  What percentage of your fleet is currently equipped to deliver on what might be a key aspect of your Windows 7 business case? “