How IT asset management tools can help organisations be compliant

In our day-to-day lives, we all encounter, and are required to enforce, the laws of society. It could be traffic laws that a driver needs to follow or the safety regulations that a healthcare professional needs to adhere to. Similarly, in the IT world, there are authoritative bodies that establish rules and regulations that govern what goes on.

What is regulatory compliance, and how does it matter to a business? Regulatory compliance refers to the process of complying with certain rules, laws, or specifications set in place by governments, regulatory bodies, or even software vendors in the field of IT.

It matters to a business because failing to be compliant can result in stringent consequences. Hefty fines might be issued to the company, or in severe cases, strict legal action could be taken, in the form of permits or licenses being revoked.

These compliance laws and regulations are constantly changing and adapting to new benchmarks in the industry. It is now more important than ever for businesses to ensure that they keep up with such compliance standards.



Some examples of compliance laws, in relevance to the IT field, are SOC2 and ISO 27001.

The core function of IT asset management software is related to the tracking, monitoring, operation, and management of IT assets. Accordingly, it is closely linked with regulatory compliance. Without a proper understanding and overview of all its IT assets, an organisation will not be able to guarantee the safety of its sensitive data, compliance with software license contracts, or any other related laws.

Around 65 percent of corporate risk and compliance professionals said that using technology to streamline and automate manual processes would help reduce the complexity and cost of risk and compliance – Thomson Reuters Risk and Compliance Survey Report, 2023

Let’s investigate how IT asset management software can help organisations be compliant.

Creates visibility and integrates control:

Without the proper visibility or knowledge of one’s own IT assets, an organisation is not at all prepared to address compliance issues or audits regarding data security, software license compliance, or from any other angle.

IT asset management software makes it easy to track and manage the entire IT infrastructure of an organisation. This gives the company proper visibility of what devices they have, how many of each, what software application licenses exist, and when they are due for renewal. It enables better control of an organisation’s IT assets.



Automation to ensure effective license management:

With a robust framework in place to manage your organisation’s IT infrastructure, the software licenses of all your IT assets can also be well-managed. IT asset management software can help automate a multitude of manual tasks and processes, such as setting up alerts for routine maintenance, automated assigning of repair tasks to ideal staff members, and much more.

Importantly, IT asset management software can also track all software being used in devices, and the usage of such software, in turn, compares it to the software’s compliance agreements and expiry dates of licenses. Through automation, such tools can alert organisations about when they need to renew certain software licenses.

Using the data gained from these tools, companies can prove their compliance during software compliance audits. Or, in case of a breach in compliance, companies can assess and identify what and where the exact cause is and how to resolve it and circumvent the same problem in the future.

"Over 40% of organizations have spent $1 million+ over the past three years in audit penalties and true-ups" – IBM Article on Software License Management, Flexera 2023 State of ITAM Report

Strengthens data security and privacy:

The use of IT asset management tools can help fortify a company’s IT asset-related data security. With real-time visibility and a proper overview of its IT infrastructure, the risk of shadow IT use within the organisation is lowered. Learn more about shadow IT in our article.

Cyber incidents, such as cyber-crime and data breaches, were reported to be the leading risk to businesses globally for 2023 by 34% of risk management experts - Statista Report

The data that can be derived from IT asset management software can provide insights into which devices are secure and protected– whether the necessary security software programmes and firewalls have been installed can be verified. Such tools can also monitor how data is being used across the organisation, and in turn, tighten security and ensure compliance with necessary data compliance regulations.

Organisations need to be on their feet when it comes to regulatory compliance, they need to have the right tools in place to ensure that they remain within the bounds of compliance laws. IT asset management software is one solution that can provide useful data and analytics to help organisations stay up-to-date and be compliant with the ever-changing but crucial regulatory processes.