Process. Process. Process. ITAM is all about it.

Because this blog is borne of my job search, I believe we, as professional IT Asset Managers, need to focus some attention on process versus tools.

Some words about tools...

These days, you see a lot of Flexera and Snow.  As the market leaders, that's to be expected.  Personally, I come from an HP shop, and only in my last 6 months was exposed to Flexera.  So, I've seen that tool, used it a bit as an end user, but can't really pass personal judgement on it, except my first impression was - did HP engineers leave and design the kind of interface and reporting Asset Manager should have had from the beginning of the web client?

As a job seeker, I find the focus on tools a bit infuriating.  Unless you're looking for someone to administer the tools, or to shepherd you through an upgrade or migration, the particular tool in use is not something I'd consider terribly important to someone's capabilities as an Asset Manager (AM).  As a differentiator in two otherwise identical candidates, sure, but if your HR screen is eliminating people because their background is with Asset Manager, or Aspera, and you use Flexera, you are probably eliminating candidates who should be given due consideration - to your detriment.

The tools have become more user and report friendly, and provide great value to organizations, as they don't need huge support staffs, nor detailed knowledge of the data to get good information from them. 

I consider this is a double-edged sword, because when an audit hits, you are going to crave AM's who deeply understand your data - their ability to talk the language of software asset management, and their intimate knowledge of a particular vendor's licensing, as well as understanding of your own effective license position, will make any audit go much smoother.  You should always thrive to know more about your ELP than any vendor possibly could, and be able to defend it.  If you're relying on a tool in time of crisis for this, you've already lost.

Also, in order to reharvest software and to negotiate at renewal time, it will be highly beneficial if your Software Asset Manager (SAM) understands the user community, the potential user communities, and the vendor options available. Just knowing what's installed and what's owned is table stakes.

Most modern tools provide the capability to discover assets (or use your existing configuration management systems, like SCCM, to do it), to rationalize them, and to normalize the software to the version and edition (they better!), and most provide you with utilization information.  These things are vital to the asset manager to help with decision making.  Again, these are table stakes.  If your tool can't do these, it's not an effective tool.  If you don't know whether it can, you need different asset managers.

Tools that further integrate with service management systems will provide greater value and ease the life of the asset manager and the technicians on whom we rely.  My advice when choosing tools is DO NOT FORGET THIS! Having tight integration between service and asset management tools will pay great dividends as you move forward. 

Some words about process...

First and foremost, though, you have to understand process and you have to embrace that ITAM is mostly about process.  When you go through CSAM, CHAMP, or CITAM training with the International Association of IT Asset Managers (IAITAM), you don't train on tools.  You train on process.  ISO 19770-1 doesn't discuss tools, it discusses processes.

Without robust processes, understood by your asset (and service) management staff, you will fail, no matter how awesome the tool is.  If I had a nickel for every time I heard some IT Manager say, "We have asset management, we bought x-awesome tool to do that," I'd have, literally a nickel, because I've only heard that once, but, I imagine there are many more people who I haven't talked to about it, and shockingly, I'd expect some who hold the title CIO, who think that way.

You can have whatever tool you paid $2M for and $250k/year in maintenance, but if your ITAM staff is comprised of people whose main function is not asset management, you have shelf-ware that probably hurts your business by providing a false sense of security that you're "doing" asset management.

People make the processes work. 

The right people, trained in the processes of asset management, working in concert with the correct stakeholders (among them - service managers, product managers, procurement and finance staff, legal staff) mean a heck of a lot more to the success of your ITAM program than any tool ever will.

When you, managers and HR folks out there, are looking for ITAM staff, drop your focus on specific tools (with the exception I noted for the people who have to administer and configure them) and focus on the individuals and how well they understand processes, and how well they understand that no tool is a savior, how well do they understand that vendors consistently change their licensing models to maximize profits for the vendor, not to make things easier for you. Here's one thing to remember, if there are multiple interpretations to a license agreement, the vendor is going to choose the interpretation that makes them the most money.  If you believe anything else, you also believe in (spoiler alert!) Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny.

Do the people you're considering joining your ITAM team know asset management, or do they know how to pull reports from the tool they were trained on? 

For asset managers, are you focused on tools, or processes?  Are you always learning? Are you curious about changes in the industry?  If not, you should be.

I contend that IT Asset Management is not rocket science.  It's hard work.  It's about relationships and staying on top of what is going on in your business.  Sometimes, it means inserting yourself in places people don't expect to find Asset Managers.  But you need to do this.  Asset Management can bring unbelievable value to your business, and it will bring even more when your ITAM staff is fully engaged, treated as am integral part of your organization, and respected for the work they do.

Now go get on it.