Asset Management Projects Falling Short

Computerworld - Information technology asset management programs underwent something of a rebirth in recent years as corporate cost-cutting efforts forced IT managers to do a better job of tracking technology investments. But many of the programs have fallen into disrepair, users and analysts said last week.

One of the problems CIOs and other IT executives encounter is that they often place too much emphasis on using asset management software to track their technology inventories, said Pat Cicala, president and CEO of Cicala & Associates LLC, a Hoboken, N.J.-based asset management services and research firm.

In doing so, the IT managers don't pay enough attention to the people and processes needed to manage such efforts, Cicala added. "I'd say that more than 80% of IT asset management programs either stall or become problematic, even if they've got a few years under their belts," she said.

That's why Steve Hammond, vice president of information services at Plasti-Line Inc. in Knoxville, Tenn., recommends that an asset management program be simplified as much as possible. "Don't overcomplicate it with a software solution, where you become a slave to the software," he said.

Plasti-Line, which makes signs, menu boards and other corporate branding products, implemented an asset management program four years ago when it standardized on Dell Computer Corp.'s PCs and servers. Dell slaps an asset tag on every piece of hardware that Plasti-Line buys or leases, and Plasti-Line uses an Excel spreadsheet to track the equipment, Hammond said.

Valassis Communications Inc. considered buying an asset management system. But as a midsize company with just 1,000 PCs, it was hard to show a potential return on investment to justify the purchase, said Amy Courter, vice president of IT at the marketing services firm in Livonia, Mich. Like Plasti-Line, Valassis relies upon spreadsheets.

T-Systems Inc. in Lisle, Ill., this month introduced a service aimed at improving the success rates of companies with faltering asset management programs. T-Systems said the AssetQuickView service, which starts at $20,000, is designed to attack three of the culprits of asset management malaise: lack of documentation, uncertain requirements and incomplete asset inventory data.

Many asset management programs run into trouble because IT departments tend to conduct quarterly sweeps of IT inventories and "end up missing what's going on out there" between the sweeps, said Howard Rubin, executive vice president at Meta Group Inc. in Stamford, Conn. Such programs fail because companies use procedures that "don't give them timeliness and accuracy," he said.

IT departments that are struggling to get funding for asset management programs should start small with a project such as tracking distributed software licenses to show the value of the concept to senior management, suggested Frances O'Brien, an analyst at Gartner Inc. in Stamford.