Automating IT Asset Management – Why, How and When?

IT asset management includes a lot of different tasks and in the worst case, almost all of these are done manually. Even simple tasks can take multiple hours per week when there are hundreds of different devices. By eliminating repetitive tasks with automations, you will save a lot of valuable work time, make your IT operations more efficient, minimize human mistakes, and ensure security.

In this blog, we write shortly about how to get started with IT asset management automations and share our best tips.

Step one: Choosing the right tools

Integrations play a big role when talking about automations. This is why it is important to ensure that the selected ITAM tool/s offers the right integrations. Without integrations, you may find yourself copy-pasting data between systems.

If you are still relying on Excel for IT asset management, it might be time to consider investing in proper ITAM software. While tools like Excel or other similar simple asset listings can serve as a starting point, they often fall short in automating anything.

What integrations do you need? Of course, this all depends on what you are planning to achieve and what other tools you have. The most typical integrations we encounter within our customer base include software such as Microsoft Intune, Jamf, Google Workspace, ServiceNow, Jira, and Freshservice.

A modern ITAM software allows all assets to be collected into one place and with integrations, data from different endpoint management software and other platforms can be automatically synced with your ITAM software. With data in one place, all automations can be managed in one platform to avoid any gaps with other solutions.

Step two: What should you automate?

The key is to focus on tasks that take up valuable time for you or your IT team. Some automations can also save time for other departments, such as HR and the finance team.

In short, you should build automations that eliminate tasks, such as manual device tracking, monitoring unused assets, lease returns, and updating asset records. Even by automating the monitoring of the devices, you can easily save multiple hours per week per IT support person and also improve the accuracy and reliability of asset data.

Step three: Building the first automations

But where should you begin? A good first step is to set up notifications for various device events. Start by automating the enrollment of new assets into your ITAM software as they are provisioned or acquired. Following this, Intune, jamf or any other endpoint management solution starts syncing data between it and your ITAM software.

With this setup alone you can build countless of automations, for example:

• Receive alerts when a device is assigned to a new user.
• Be alerted when a device has been unused for over 30 days.
• Receive updates if a device falls out of compliance.
• Device hard drive capacity is too low.

Another good example is when devices are wiped from endpoint management. As we all know they don’t just vanish—they’re often left unused, wasting resources and posing security risks. With ITAM software and automations this is also easily solved. When a device is wiped, it still stays tracked in your ITAM software and you’ll get an automatic notification. This saves time, money, and environment as unused devices wont be forgotten.

Step four: Go beyond asset management

After implementing the most typical IT asset management automations, you can start thinking about automating the entire lifecycle of your IT assets—from procurement to end-of-life (EOL).

Whether you are leasing or owning the devices, automating the end of life process is key to making sure leased devices are returned on time and no outdated owned devices are kept that can start causing problems with employee work productivity.

Good ITAM software automatically determines the life cycles for new devices and automations alert correct people when devices should be recycled for reuse. On the other hand, if your organization is leasing its IT assets, the best ITAM software integrates with financing companies to automatically sync leasing data. With automations, the employee using the device and/or your IT staff will get notification when it is time to order a new device and start making preparations towards returning the existing device to the leasing company.

Final words

Automations are the backbone of efficient IT Asset Management. By automating repetitive tasks, you reduce manual effort, improve accuracy, and ensure your ITAM processes are taken care of without a lot of human effort.