When it comes to IT assets, we’re usually talking about contracts, licenses, datacentres, hardware, etc. In other words, tangible elements in the IT environment that represent a financial value.
TIP #43 - May 2020: Achieving trustworthy data for your ITAM costs time and money. What are these costs, and can you lower them?
But… your most valuable asset might not be considered an actual asset!
We’re talking about Data - with a capital D, also known as the digital oil or the new gold.
Data is a crucial element that enables us to generate reports, provide information to advise on and manage these tangible assets throughout their lifecycles. Running an IT(AM) department is impossible without Data. All kinds of IT departments like Architecture, Security, Procurement, Financial management and Service management can benefit. ITAM can provide a huge added value if the Data is correct, up-to-date, available and validated. In other words: Trustworthy!
So, the benefits are clear, but what is this going to set you back? What is the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) of trustworthy Data? To answer this question, let’s take a look at the three key components of a typical TCO calculation: acquisition costs, operating costs and personnel costs:
Acquisition Costs:
Capital Expenditures (CAPEX), consisting of the licenses of your ITAM tool, and the cost of the initial implementation.
Operating Costs:
Operating Expenditures (OPEX), such as costs of hosting, support and maintenance.
Personnel Costs:
The first two will provide you with data but what you need is Data - with a capital D! If you really want trustworthy data you can build your ITAM practice on, you need to put in the hours. You need to ensure agents are reporting, aging of records is analysed, you need to verify coverage against several sources, assess completeness, and chase mitigating actions. No matter how much technology has developed, the human touch is still key when it comes to trustworthy Data.
Interested in lowering the TCO of trustworthy Data?
Usually (this should not be a surprise to anyone in IT for over 3 years) the acquisition- and operating costs are the least of your problems. The hours humans put in to make sense of it all, is where the big bucks are.