What are the stages in the IT asset management life cycle

We’ve all learned about biological life cycles– caterpillars to butterflies, seeds to trees, crying babies to working adults. But what about in our everyday work, what about the laptops we use at the office? Our keyboards, mice, and headphones, where do they come from, and what happens to them as my company scales up?IT assets, like any other assets, have their own life cycle within the organisation’s operation. Here’s a quick breakdown of what it looks like.

1. Planning:

In this phase, companies assess and analyse their needs and requirements for new IT assets. The groups involved in this decision-making process can range from the finance and budgeting teams to the IT administrative staff. They evaluate the organisation’s currently owned IT assets to ensure that they get the maximum use out of them, or they repurpose them for different uses. The organisation accordingly budgets and prepares funds to procure the needed assets.



2. Procurement:

Once the budget is decided and funds are in place, the organisation then investigates how it can procure the right assets at reasonable costs. The procurement of these assets can be through buying, renting, leasing, or other methods.

Procuring and using certified refurbished devices allows organisations to save money while receiving good quality, working devices. This concept has gained popularity in modern times, especially with the advent of environmentally friendly outlooks. Sustainability in the workplace, and moving towards a green tomorrow are some concepts that companies are adopting.

3. Integration:

After the procurement of the right type and quantity of IT assets, organisations must then set them up to be ‘ready-to-use’. This involves installation, integration, setting up of required software, enabling user access, and finally distribution to the respective employees. Before distribution to employees, the company needs a system in place to track the assets, i.e. which device goes to which employee.

This is where IT asset management software services can begin to streamline the process of IT asset management. Read more about why you need IT asset management software.

4. Maintenance:

This stage involves the day-to-day management of the IT assets that have been put into the company’s operation. It revolves around:

• Tracking devices and their movement within the organisation
  
• Arranging for maintenance or repairs as and when required
  
• Setting scheduled maintenance periods for certain assets
  
• Updating or upgrading software and hardware components during scheduled maintenance periods

When a device moves from one employee to another, data stored in the device needs to be dealt with safely before it is transferred to another employee. This data must either be erased or simply transferred to another device, depending on the situation and company policy.


5. Disposal:

The final stage of the IT asset in its lifecycle– an IT asset needs to be disposed of when it has reached the end of its useful life or is deemed obsolete. Companies generally have guidelines on when a device is considered to be at the end of its life.

When an upgrade or change of devices takes place in an organisation, the devices being replaced must be treated in the same way as one that is at the end of its useful life.

Organisations also tend to have rigid disposal processes in place to ensure that sensitive data is fully erased from the devices before they are disposed of. This can be through physical destruction of the device or data erasure software that guarantees the removal of all data.

When a company needs to dispose of its e-waste, it needs to adhere to the strict regulations of e-waste disposal. The harmful effects of improper e-waste management have been studied and proven to be extremely toxic to the environment.

Post disposal of the respective devices, companies must work on updating their asset records, enabling the changeover of employees to new or different devices, and other supplementary tasks such as cancellation of licenses linked to the disposed devices.

If your organisation is seeking reasonable rates for the disposal of your devices, feel free to contact us for a quote.