Carl Greiner, senior VP at industry analyst META Group, believes that it's a worldwide problem as companies have a knee jerk reaction to try and control costs the best they can.
Greiner said that an enterprise may know what 80 percent of its IT inventory is. However, he suggests that rather than carrying out a one-off audit to increase this percentage businesses should take a more holistic approach--putting processes and tools in place so that the data being collected is accurate.
He sees IT asset inventory as a task IT departments need to drive, so that they can understand their cost structure.
"If management say they want to outsource functions they have to understand the cost structure [so they know] if they can save money or do it more efficiently inhouse," Greiner said.
"What we're saying is you've got to bring financial discipline to the IT community," he argued. "And this works for hardware, software, communications...you've got to understand all these different cost elements."
According to Greiner, companies of all sizes are grappling with analysing inventory, although he admits that it's easier to control for smaller businesses because there is less equipment to manage. "[Enterprises] may have servers in closets and they don't know who owns them," he said.
The benefits Greiner predicts are being able to make any budget cuts more effectively, in addition to improving the cost as well as quality of services the IT department is providing to the business.
In her recent article, 'Companies Clueless About IT Assets' (29 August 2002), Vivienne Fisher points out that many organisations are struggling to develop strategic asset management processes.
Contrary to the article, I believe there is a rapidly growing appreciation by organisations of the need for a systematic and ongoing process of IT asset management. Indeed, a recent IDC study estimates that the enterprise system management software market is set to increase 80.5% to reach $24.9 billion in 2005.
Proactively managing the IT asset acquisition process, efficiently deploying and updating software, accurately allocating costs, managing licenses, and planning for future requirements are all key elements of a sound IT asset management system. They clearly result in more accurate and cost effective management of a company's time, staff and money.
The forecast growth of the software management market shows that many companies are now addressing this area in these times of cost containment and greater efficiency.
Andrew Hewitt
General Manager, Asia Pacific
ManageSoft Corporation.