ITAM: 3 crucial steps to save time in its use
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In a previous article, we guided you to Choosing the right ITAM tool.
Today, it's time for our advice for optimal use of the latter!
We offer you 3 steps for your ITAM to bring you its many benefits:
- Avoid mistakes And the losses ;
- Protect your sensitive data ;
- Save time, and therefore improve your productivity.
But before discovering the 3 best practices for using your ITAM, a quick reminder is in order 🙂
ITAM and MDM: an ideal combination, but not imperative
Some of the ITAM solutions on the market include MDM, and some don't.
In fact, it is important to note thatAn ITAM does not replace an MDM. Conversely, an MDM solution cannot be a substitute for an ITAM.
If the acquisition of both tools represents too much of an investment, it is possible to use an ITAM solution, without MDM.
Still having doubts? Learn more about MDM solutions →
La Rzilient platform offers just the two options, to best fit your budget!
Finally, remember that the advantages of connecting your ITAM to an MDM solution are numerous. Examples include:
- Increased visibility on mobile devices. Connecting the two solutions gives you a complete view of the mobile devices used in your business. You benefit from a detailed understanding of the use of the devices and the software installed.
- Better license management. As a reminder, your ITAM manages software licenses, counts the number of licenses available, and reports any overruns. By connecting your ITAM to an MDM solution, licenses can be managed more effectively for mobile devices of your company.
- Update tracking. Les operating system updates and software can be managed centrally using an MDM solution. The status of the updates is therefore optimized, which makes it possible to Ensure mobile devices are always up to date.
- Asset Management. Connecting ITAM to an MDM finally allows you to track mobile assets, such as smartphones and tablets, and integrate them into the overall management of corporate assets. You can then measure the costs associated with the acquisition and maintenance of these assets.
Manage your inventory on an ITAM in a few steps
How to create your inventory so that it can really be used, and used, by your company's IT and HR departments?
Our observation at Rzilient is that The majority of VSEs and SMEs still use an Excel file to centralize information on their IT fleet and on the collaborators using this equipment.
There are several major problems with using a spreadsheet:
- Insuitability of the tool to the complexity of managing an IT fleet with large volumes of data;
- Difficulties in updating and monitoring data collaboratively, in particular in the case of regular entries and exits of staff (interns, work-study students, fixed-term contracts, etc.);
- Lower security access to the follow-up document;
- Data in this spreadsheet cannot be linked to other data sources (your MDM, for example), resulting in the lack of a single reliable source of data.
So the best practice is to use an ITAM to centralize all data: employees, hardware and software.
Step 1: List your assets
No magic (though...)! For an IT inventory manager to be useful to you, you need to start by listing all your IT equipment and employees.
Whether it is for listing your equipment or your employees, you have several options:
- Connect your IS/HR tools to the platform (our favorite!) ;
- Upload a CSV file;
- Or add assets one by one directly from the Rzilient interface.
As we know, this can be a tedious task but it is crucial for the future. Do not hesitate to contact our teams who can give you all their advice for this stage.
Step 2: Specify all relevant information
What to put in your ITAM?
As we mentioned in the previous step, everything that is useful for monitoring your computer inventory over time should be there:
- The hardware, which includes classical data (such as serial number, equipment type, year of purchase, etc.) and MDM data (such as specifying whether the material is registered in the MDM);
- The software, in order to centralize all the applications installed and available by your teams;
- The collaborators, hardware and software users. You should be able to provide information in your ITAM tool different levels of granularity Concerning them: the site on which they work (in case your company is located on several sites), their division And their office.
In order to save time and avoid mistakes, everything must be centralized within the same tool.
Let us specify here that by using the Rzilient platform, you benefit from advanced filters, allowing you to quickly find useful information.
For example, in our employee tracking tool, you can:
- Sort employees by department;
- Identify those who are not yet assigned to a department;
- Assign them to a department of your choice, in 3 clicks and 1 minute!
Step 3: Automate the update of your inventory
Managing your inventory using an ITAM brings you numerous advantages.
But it is still necessary insert the right data at the right time, otherwise the tool will not be able to reach its full potential.
For your ITAM to perfectly reflect the state of your IT inventory and the exact composition of your teams, it is necessary to set up structured processes, in particular during onboarding and Offboardings.
Any internal equipment movement should be recorded and reflected in your ITAM. For example, when an intern is hired and receives a new computer, from a departing employee.
Finally, the management of computer equipment stocks must also be managed in a continuous and precise manner.
Note that the Rzilient platform offers you the possibility to manage all these follow-up tasks in a simple, fast and intuitive way. And some actions are even carried out automatically!
Using your ITAM well: simple and effective practices
For your ITAM to be of real service to you, it must become the one and only gateway to the inventory of your equipment, software and employees.
It is also ideal that this same tool takes care of support tickets, via an integrated and manageable ticketing tool. And it turns out that's exactly what we offer at Rzilient 🙂
