Compiled ByDeborah Austin More than 75% of companies hazard wasted money because they lack life-cycle information-technology (IT) asset management programs that can determine potential risk, suggests Stamford, Conn.-based research and advisory firm Gartner Inc. "IT asset management" refers to methodically implemented systems of integrated strategies and technologies giving control over a company's IT assets throughout their life cycle. IT-asset life-cycle risks include:
- Business risks -- from lack of flexibility/agility;
- Financial -- from improperly timed hardware/software deployment or loss of system access;
- Operational -- when unreliable infrastructure affects business operations;
- Regulatory -- such as software license noncompliance and copyright infringement.
- Auto-discovery tools, collecting physical data on networked IT assets;
- Repository tools, consolidating asset information for centralized view;
- Software usage tools, helping with server load balancing and license negotiation.