You and your colleagues have to make critical decisions every day regarding your technology assets. But those decisions are only as good as the data they’re based on. And the reality is that too many decisions are based on incomplete, inaccurate and obsolete data. That’s bad for business.
There’s an incredible wealth of data spread throughout your enterprise, but gaining a consolidated and normalized view of that data is difficult at best. It’s stored in disparate systems across business units, departments and siloed teams. It’s maintained in diverse formats using inconsistent naming conventions. And while some asset owners have tools that automate management and tracking to some degree, many are still managing asset and service data manually. Some aren’t managing it at all.
Maintaining visibility into the tech landscape is becoming more challenging and also more critical as your organization embraces digital transformation and implements the disruptive technologies digital requires. In the recent 2020 Digital Transformation report, Flexera found that 54 percent of organizations indicate that digital transformation is a top priority.
What’s more, most organizations aren’t looking to scale back their IT infrastructure—they’re looking to expand. Flexera’s 2020 State of Tech Spend report found that 56 percent of respondents planned to increase IT spend in the next year compared with 20 percent who plan to decrease it. With organizations shifting assets to evolve with technology and spending more on said technology, getting a handle on the IT landscape across all assets is evermore essential to operating effectively.
So here are Flexera’s top tips for enhancing your IT asset management strategy and gaining comprehensive, clear and accurate visibility into all of your enterprise assets and services.
1. Get a clear and complete picture of each stakeholder’s IT asset data requirements.
Collaborate closely with stakeholders to define their data needs. This is the first step in creating a single source of truth that serves all stakeholders. This step is key because it gives you visibility into the assets they own—information you may not have had previously.
IT Visibility
The business promise of your IT is huge. But it takes a complete, up-to-date view of your hybrid environment to make the most of it.
2. Enrich asset data with cost, usage and user information.
Understand who is using IT assets, how often, the specific features they use and how much each asset costs. Use that information to retire/reclaim unused licenses, pay only for features people use and reduce the number of apps with duplicate or overlapping functionality. These efforts will help you identify and eliminate waste and optimize spend.
3. Tap data from HR, finance and other enterprise systems.
Leverage HR data to keep users in the loop when making changes and to remove SaaS access by employees who have left the company. Examine expense report data to uncover SaaS app purchases made by emhttp://Hyperlink SaaS to https://www.flexera.com/products/spend-optimization/saas-management.htmlployees with corporate or personal credit cards. These efforts enhance security and governance.
And that’s just the start. See how to improve your IT visibility by downloading 10 Tips to Enhance Visibility of Your Tech Landscape.
