What is ITAM?
The acronym ITAM stands for Information Technology Asset Management. ITAM refers to the practice of managing, storing, and updating data around the IT assets a business maintains. This might refer to physical items like laptops used by employees or servers dedicated to company operations. It might also refer to intangible assets, such as data stored in cloud applications or software licensing.
Generally, ITAM work is done in a decentralized database (such as a CMDB) that includes information around the location of hardware, serial numbers, purchase dates, and the depreciation value for finance. It helps IT teams track which items have been assigned to employees, and what’s in their inventory. It can also help IT teams to know when equipment is out-of-date, and due to be refreshed.
It’s important to note, however, that ITAM databases, while useful for cybersecurity, tend to provide incomplete data at best. These practices are aimed at ensuring that an accurate financial inventory is kept, not a cybersecurity-informed one.
What are the Elements of ITAM?
ITAM records may cover a wide range of asset types. The most common are Hardware Asset Management (HAM), which covers physical objects like laptops, mobile devices, or servers, and Software Asset Management (SAM), which covers license agreements and major software purchases. The rest of the list gets trickier to understand. These include cloud assets, digital assets, fixed assets, and SaaS licenses.
