Once you’ve taken a complete inventory of all of your hardware assets, you then manage that hardware. As a result, HAM, as it is fondly called, is crucial to maintaining the cleanliness of your Computer infrastructure. It necessitates paying attention to the physical assets in your firm as opposed to software asset management, or SAM.
Let’s start by defining hardware or Engineer asset management. Having a hardware inventory is the first step, according to the article we’ve provided.
A complete list of all the hardware utilized in an organization is called a hardware inventory.
This comprises all company-owned electronic devices, as well as the computers, phones, and other tools utilized by the staff as well as standard hardware like routers and printers. The list will also include information on the device’s usage, purchase date, warranty information, software update status, and other upkeep-related facts.
Hardware Asset Management:
You now have an inventory of the hardware. The annoying asset management section follows. You know, where you need to pay attention to how each component of the system is functioning as well as the intricate relationships between them.
Thus, governance is at the core of hardware asset management. Keeping track of each physical asset, ensuring ITIL compliance, and improving your IT ecosystem as a whole. There must be procedures in place from the time an asset is created until it is retired to ensure that all of your hardware assets are running at their full potential.
Furthermore, these appropriate HAM procedures include more than only asset management. The time it takes to solve problems and come up with solutions drastically decreases when things are done correctly. Hence, there will also be a net advantage for end consumers. Also, it will free up your IT team so they can focus on other, more crucial responsibilities besides purchasing gear.
Hardware Asset Management Cycle:
Life in general and software and technology are both examples of how nothing lasts forever. This implies that, as with anything else, you must be aware of the stage of each hardware asset’s lifespan.
In addition, hardware lifecycle management has its pattern, exactly like the circle of life:
- The period during which hardware is required
- Hardware acquisition
- The deployment of the related corporate software
- Use and anything else related to it
- Hardware maintenance, time-outs, or storage
- No longer covered by warranty or maintenance
- Retirement
- Disposal
Read More: Asset tracking system
Therefore, disposal doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. Depending on where you reside, some businesses or organizations will buy your used hardware assets from you while they’re at it.
Or, it’s okay if you decide against going in that direction with your hardware assets. You can always donate your retiring assets to charities, academic institutions, or educational institutions.
Remember to always leave every piece of hardware thoroughly cleaned before transferring ownership. You don’t want anyone else to have access to confidential corporate information.
Cybersecurity involves secure, sensible data practices, not only using the cloud. However, if your business doesn’t provide its assets entirely cleaned by the time it reaches its new orders, it might face steep fines.
Hardware and Software Asset Management:
If you want to approach IT hardware asset management properly, HAM and SAM are two sides of the same coin that must live in perfect harmony and balance. As one cannot exist without the other, both software and hardware operations must be managed properly for them to operate as intended.
Let’s say you order some brand-new software online. Has your IT staff taken all necessary precautions? As you are aware, acquisitions play a crucial role in HAM. Hence, you must determine in advance whether any new software is compatible with the hardware you already own. Software that requires specific hardware is more likely to be more sophisticated.
And not only for expensive new software, either. For instance, legacy software can only be operated on specific devices. Software asset management, with its emphasis on version histories and licensing, is essential because it allows organizations to maintain what is still functional until upgrades or other modifications are necessary.
How Hardware asset management benefits your business – financially?
We’re sure there’s a big metaphor about cold cuts here, but it’s expired. You do need to be aware that hardware asset management may help you save a lot of money if you use it wisely.
How? By lowering the costs that each piece of hardware incurs throughout its life. In essence, you get to keep them in operation for the same cost but benefit from them more.
The main elements that enable this are listed below. You lessen:
- Costs of upkeep
- Total hardware expenditures
- Purchasing software
- Monetary losses from the disposal procedure
Looking at the total amount spent on an item before retirement is a sometimes ignored part of managing its lifespan. But you know better, and by gathering that knowledge, you’ll be able to make wise decisions about when and how to spend your cash.
