IT Management Software Buyer's Guide
Table of Contents
- » What is IT Management Software?
- » How does IT Management Software work?
- » Is it worth investing money in IT Management Software?
- » What are the features of IT Management Software?
- » What are the Benefits of IT Management Software?
- » What are the buying factors to consider before choosing IT Management Software?
- » How to choose a good IT Management Software?
- » How much does an IT Management Software cost?
- » Conclusion
The very nature of all assets is to purchase and deploy them at a different place within an organization. When a particular asset fails to perform, it is set for maintenance purposes. However, when you own a wide range of IT assets including computers, mobiles, laptops, scanners, printers, etc.; it’s practically impossible to track each and every detail of assets. Imagine you have 20 systems and six months ago, one of the systems went through some hardware changes. Will be it possible to remember the critical details of the event even after a long period? An asset tracking software provides the history of each asset and changes made to the asset. Such critical details help an organization to plan the maintenance and depreciation value of an asset.
» What is IT Management Software?
IT Asset Management or asset tracking software assists in accumulating the detailed information of hardware and software inventory of an organization. Such information is further utilized in making valuable decisions regarding the purchase and usage of assets in the future. Unnecessary IT assets purchases undoubtedly increase the operational costs of an organization. An IT asset tracking software helps a company to streamline its asset purchases and enables them to avoid unnecessary asset purchases.
The IT management app utilizes the metadata and electronic records associated with the assets to track and categorize the assets of the company. Metadata includes the description of digital or physical assets. One can refer to the metadata when they require information regarding a particular asset. Metadata ranges from a single word description to in-depth information of an asset.
» How does IT Management Software work?
An IT asset management software uses asset tracking features utilizing physical devices, barcode scanners, barcode labels, desktop software, and mobile devices. The software facilitates an easier platform for an organization in tracking the IT Assets from the point of acquisition until their departure from the office.
The best asset management software includes essential functions like documentation, identification, and calculation. The process of IT Management starts by documenting all the devices within an organization and storing them in a centralized location. The software also helps in identifying the whereabouts and current conditions of the IT assets of the companies. In the next process, an organization can schedule maintenance for the assets along with calculating the depreciation of these assets.
» Is it worth investing money in IT Management Software?
Manual compilation and reconciliation of IT assets require intensive efforts while leading to possible errors in the future. A web-based asset management software helps an administrator to automate the task and generate informative reports periodically. The software helps in storing & tracking inventory details of IT assets. Not only physical assets but managing digital IT assets like software also became a headache as they needed some license renewal and subscription issues as well. With a myriad of software, using IT management software comes as a great help in software updates, detecting adware/ malicious software, blocking prohibited software, etc.
» What are the features of IT Management Software?
IT Management Software helps in managing different aspects of an IT company. Here are some of the main features of the software.
› Hardware Asset Management
Tracking hardware products of a company has been made easy, all thanks to the IT Management software. Using the feature, one can easily know the specific location details of their assets by using bar codes, QR codes, or RFID tags. Moreover, it also helps owners to verify the maintenance status of the hardware assets in real-time without any user interference.
› Software Asset Management
Not just hardware, you can even keep a track on your software assets using the IT Management software. It helps users to gather in-depth information on the IT assets and how they are functioning. Furthermore, users can also schedule regular audits while simultaneously simplifying the process to increase worker productivity while enhancing the positive growth of the company.
› Track vendors, costs and Procurement Schedules
If you are struggling with your purchase orders and are not able to understand if you are making the right decision or not, then the IT asset management software can be your saviour. From tracking and verifying the procurement schedules to understanding the fees charged by the vendors, you can do almost anything and everything through this single software. Thus, the software enables the users to have a complete brief on the IT assets lifecycle without much head churning.
› Inventory Management
Isn’t it frustrating when you are not able to purchase the IT consumables at the right time before they expire? In such cases, the asset management software can be of great help. The recent software applications come with in-built stock module controls which intimate users in case the IT assets reach their minimum mark. Thus, it ensures that you are never running behind the schedule due to the sudden absence of some essential IT assets.
› Software License Management
Additionally, the asset management software also helps in searching and detecting unused software licenses in your company which is choking up your finances. The software does the work by prioritizing the software according to their usages per user while pushing down the rarely used ones to the bottom area. Afterward, the operator can easily run a check and unsubscribe the ones which are no longer required.
› Configuration Management
Companies and businesses work by distributing their work to various platforms for efficiently executing the task. Hence, it becomes easier to extract several crucial pieces of data from multiple sources using IT asset management software. This data is then shared among the approved members who then decide the strategies required for the growth of the IT company.
» What are the Benefits of IT Management Software?
There is no doubt that IT asset management software is indeed one of the most significant innovations for IT industries. As discussed above, it helps in improving work productivity and maximizing output by offering cutting-edge technologies which help to automate the daily tasks of the companies and businesses. In this list, let’s have a look at its list of benefits.
› Track complete asset lifecycle
Previously tracking the lifecycle of the IT assets solely depended upon the pen and paper-based methods which had no or very less authenticity. However, the situation has changed recently and the users can easily track the details of their assets without any worries. This helps build a trust layer among the clients and the customers as they can verify the location of the assets in real-time.
› Offers Scalability
If you are looking for the easiest yet the most effective way of maximizing your profits, then, the IT asset tracking software can lend a helping hand in achieving the mission. The software automates more than half of the daily work, helps in cutting down the need for hiring additional human resources, manage IT-related projects, and much more. This helps in tackling the need for extensive financial resources and time required for executing the tasks.
› Manage Software and License at One Place
Whether it is completing the daily chores of the IT industry or managing the software licenses hired by the company, a single platform of the asset tracking software does all. The asset tracking software helps to reduce the wastage of time as the employees don’t have to toss between one to another, thus, avoiding several unavoidable mistakes.
› Keeps Track on Metrics that Matter
One of the most interesting aspects of the IT asset tracking software is that it helps companies and businesses keep a watch on various key metrics which decides the future of the software. The metrics include detailed information on both hardware and software, IP networks, Windows Domains, and more. This data can then be used to design customer-engaging products to keep the customers hooked to the IT company.
» What are the buying factors to consider before choosing IT Management Software?
Although choosing an IT asset tracking software for your company or business may seem to be the best option, it may not always be the case. No wonder the software has a vast number of benefits when it comes to solving IT tasks and projects, yet there are some points worth remembering to be on the safe side. Hence, in this list, we have hand-picked some of the crucial points to ensure the best deal before choosing an asset management software for your business.
› In-Built ITIL Process
The software must have in-built ITIL tools to help analyze the perfect conditions for your company by gathering details on the customer’s profile. When implemented correctly, these services can increase the profit of the company by several folds by ensuring that the projects are executed properly.
› Intelligent Automation
One of the features of the asset management software which is rather essential is the smart automation factor which automates tedious and time-consuming jobs. These include planning, scheduling, resource management, efficient product delivery, handling complaints and requests, amongst others. As the software eradicates the need for user interference, the tasks are executed with maximized gains and within lesser time.
› Easy Customization
If you are a company which wants creative and inspiring solutions rather than depending upon already available ones, then this feature is the best option for you. Loaded with plenty of innovative tools, the simple drag and drop functionality, amongst others, the software offers plenty of opportunities to design their creative solutions.
» How to choose a good IT Management Software?
Choosing the best IT asset management software may not always be easy, provided the vast amount of software that is available in the market. To help you out, we have listed some of the most important aspects which can help you in choosing a good IT asset tracking software for your businesses. Check them out now.
› Understanding your IT world
Before stepping into the journey, one must understand how the software can be used to achieve desirable results. Hence, one must choose software which excels in providing access to both tangible as well as intangible IT asset departments. This will help in cutting down the intimidating work of hopping between the two worlds.
› Have a clear view of what you want
Every company has its own set of demands when it comes to choosing an IT asset tracking software for its IT operations. Hence, having a detailed knowledge of the requirements from the software can offer an upper hand when it comes to choosing the best software for your company. This also helps in reducing the number of available software to fewer perfect ones.
› Look for public opinions
One can also find various testimonials or comments left by old customers of the software. These data can then be used to assess the quality of the software along with the services provided.
› Compare Prices
The budget controls almost all functions as well as decisions in a company. Hence, one should always be careful enough to choose the software which perfectly fits into the budget. Else, if you want an expensive software which outpaces your budget, it may lead to jeopardizing your company decisions, hence, creating a ruckus in the working of the company. No one will ever want to have added to their financial expenses or surprise in their expenditure bills.
› Technical Considerations
The best asset management software must have a simple and user-friendly interface to enable the users to work on the software. This eradicates the need for hiring talents with technical skills or having prior knowledge of coding. Hence, anyone and everyone can efficiently work on the software, thus, saving both time and reducing wastage of resources.
» How much does an IT Management Software cost?
The pricing structure of the IT management software starts from as low as $7/month and can reach up to a high of $229/month, depending on the facilities and tools provided. However, to remain on the safe side, experts often advise going with a free basic plan initially. This can help you to understand the actual strengths and weaknesses of the software. After that, if you find it to be worth investing in, you can avail of its premium plans.
» Conclusion
Without a doubt, we can say that stepping up towards an IT asset management journey could be a heavy undertaking especially for managers who don’t have enough knowledge with utilizing complex software. However, the scenario of software development has tremendously transformed from Technology laden features to User-friendly approach. You will find ample IT asset management software which doesn’t require the skill of a technician to use them.