IT inventory management is the systematic cataloging of all telecommunications, mobile, and cloud assets with the aim of maintaining an up-to-date list of IT assets and tracing details like associated users, services, and costs. By defining all resources, tracking how they’re being used, and monitoring their costs, an accurate inventory delivers the information organizations need to dial in budgeting decisions, accelerate financial management, maintain security and compliance, and sustain innovation and growth.
Nearly 90% of IT leaders say managing their inventory is a challenge, according to a study by Vanson Bourne. It’s easy to see why. Digitalization — the growth in data, devices, storage, cloud, compute, and connected endpoints — has grown 162 times during the last 15 years. Today, this translates to enterprises handling an average of 68,000 devices, nine IaaS services, and 39 different cloud, telecom, and mobile providers with 60-80 employees overseeing them. Therefore, IT teams need a tighter grip on their growing list of assets, and just as importantly, all the related costs that come with them. In fact, inventories are the first step in managing technology expenses.
Better Visibility and Control
Effective IT inventory management untangles even the most complex IT environments, providing visibility into assets and services so IT and financial leaders can clearly understand which services are being utilized (and to what degree) and billed at each location (especially locations that are no longer active).
Reduced IT Waste and Greater Savings
IT inventory management is the first and most important step for turning insights into efficiencies and dollars saved. A clean inventory serves as a bill of health, bringing every impurity to light. For example, accurate catalogs can empower IT and financial teams to determine which assets are contributing value to the business and which ones are going unused or underutilized. This way wasted assets can be removed or reallocated and expenses can be validated and rationalized as part of the budgeting process.
An up-to-date inventory leaves no room for IT waste. Taking stock of all the nitty gritty details is crucial for reducing IT costs in the form of avoiding future costs and protecting against services being billed at inactive locations or for users no longer with the company. This is especially crucial for cloud resources, like unused SaaS applications, 30% of which research shows go to waste.
Reduced Security Risk
Organizations operate with a bullseye on their back without a complete view of all IT assets and services. This is especially important for tracking and managing mobile devices. In a recent study conducted by the Ponemon Institute, nearly half of IT and IT security practitioners reported experiencing a data breach stemming from inappropriate access to an employee’s mobile device, with the costliest breach topping $2.2M. Inventories are critical in helping companies understand the compliance status of their devices in real time.
Faster Modernization
Modernization projects often get stuck in the mud due to an outdated inventory of IT services, usage, and costs. Effective IT inventory management is crucial for planning and putting change in motion, revealing which services are still active and necessary and which can be phased out to repurpose spending for new technologies.
Evaluate, track, and manage an accurate list of services, equipment and related assets across fixed wireline voice, data, and network resources, including:
Get critical details about your corporate fleet of laptops, smartphones, and other mobile devices, including:
Learn more about inventory management as part of a broader mobile device management strategy.
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