An overview of the IT Asset Management courses

IT Asset Management is a set of business practices that incorporates IT assets across the business units within the organization. It joins the financial, inventory, contractual and risk management responsibilities to manage the overall life cycle of these assets including tactical and strategic decision making.

– The International Association of IT Asset Managers (IAITAM)

ABOUT IT ASSET MANAGEMENT

IT Asset Management (also known as ITAM) is the process of ensuring an organisation asset are accounted for, deployed and maintained, upgraded and disposed of when the times comes. An IT Assets include: hardware, software systems or information an organisation value. In a nutshell, an organisation is making sure the valuable items, tangible and intangible in an organisation are tracked and being used. An IT lifecycle would need to be proactively managed to maximise the value of the assets as every asset have a limited period of use.

Over the years, IT departments were able to control assets within their own domain. The general stages of the Lifecycle include planning, procurement, deployment, maintenance and retirement. The asset management practice is now moving far beyond which present new asset management challenges. A modern way of teamwork would require the IT team to be flexible and adapt their asset management process as an enabler to the business.

Many might are confused about which IT Asset Management course to sign up for and which would fit you the best. Here is a preview on each certification features for individual’s consideration before making a decision on certification to sign up:

Certified Hardware Asset Management Professional (CHAMP)

Hardware Asset Management can benefit an organisation in many ways especially in the recent economy and the shrink of IT budgets, ability to sustain are crucial through savings. Organisations that had never had asset management in place now educate their staff and implementing best practices to optimise every asset that purchased. The success of the Hardware Asset Manager can be measured via capturing these savings by showing the percentage of the total IT hardware budget that was free up to fund other projects within the organisation.

This certification is designed to address the numerous issues in pursuing professionals in managing hardware assets, the IAITAM Certified Hardware Asset Management Professional (CHAMP) course follows the lifecycle of IT hardware assets beyond the scope of the framework to grave analogy and discusses the business practices that can best be used to manage those assets efficiently and cost-effectively. The focus of the course is the emphasis placed on identifying the policies that enhance lifecycle management. In general, these policies are only effective shall it developed by a cross-section of the relevant departments and also reviewed frequently to remain updated and govern a consistent communication and enforcement.

Certified Software Asset Manager (CSAM)

The IAITAM Certified Software Asset Manager (CSAM) course is a foundation education program that ensures students are able to manage software assets. The learning covers the ever-changing variables throughout the industry which includes software piracy and compliance issues to legislation and organizational challenges. The evaluation always involved both internal and external influences that change the way on how an organisation manage their IT assets. A successful software Asset Manager is able to look at the organisation overall goals and determine whether the Software Asset Management would be a strategic impact in achieving these goals.

The CSAM certification is designed to guide profession within the industry to gain awareness of existing software regulations as well as the importance of adhering to the regulations and how these regulations have an impact on every aspect of current and future business venture. In addition, the course also taught about the importance of a proactive viewpoint when concerning software compliance by taking into account the necessary steps to achieve the end results. The importance of a well planned and executed Software Asset Management Program would be focusing on:

• Communication & Education
• Policy
• Procedures
• Project Management
• Software Assets and Compliance Management

The well-planned program also associates with a higher Return on Investment (ROI), compliance risk mitigation and increased overall productivity. The goals for best practices in Software Asset Management include:

• Reducing Risk
• Increase Accountability
• Uncovering Savings
• Gaining Control of the IT Environment

Certified IT Asset Manager (CITAM)

The Certified IT Asset Manager (CITAM) course is aligned with the IAITAM Best Practices Library (IBPL). The ITAM program will showcase the foundation plan for starting or improving the organisation’s ITAM program. It is also showcasing real-world experiences design to ensure the program work more effectively and efficiently. In this certification, the highlight will be addressing each Key Process Area (KPAs) that identified within the IBPL. The overall objective is to ensure professional who take part are able to combine then empowers the organisation to maximise the value of the IT assets. This will be achieved by review the core processes that comprehend the ITAM program and the projects that will help the organisation to build a productive and profitable business unit that is applicable to the global workplace that inclusive of a dynamic range of issues especially properly managing IT assets across the enterprise.

The main takeaway of this certification is to guide professional within the field and align the needs of the organisation along with the ITAM best practices for the benefit of the organisation while creating awareness to the team on the necessary commitment in order to fully implement a functional IT Asset Management Program.

Certified IT Asset Disposition (CITAD)

The IAITAM Certified IT Asset Disposition (CITAD) program prepares professional to manage the IT asset disposal process within the organisation. Asset Manager would be exposed to knowledge on how to leverage success towards the organisation even after the asset is no longer in use.

IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) best practices break down into:

• Policy Management
• Data Security
• Chain of Custody Transitioning

The said best practice focus on how to avoid the risk of data loss as well as public exposure throughout a breakdown in ITAD process management. The IAITAM’s ITAD best practices will turn the view of corporate overhead into a profit centre and area of risk mitigation. The program will provide guidance on how to mitigate associated risk with improper disposal of IT assets by determining the appropriate path for the organisation together with options available. ITAD is no longer a waste item for the organisation, professional would gain a view on options for enterprise disposal as well as savings opportunities from equipment reuse, resale to afford a much healthy cash flow.

Certified Mobile Asset Manager (CMAM)

Mobile Asset Management is gaining popular recent year with the number increase of mobile asset requirement on business needs. External influences for technology upgrades and enhancements came through the business units as a recommendation while the IT direction was governing by IT experts within an enterprise. Over time, user behaviour leans towards devices that are smaller, much functional yet portable with easy operation gain great support within the corporate environment.

The course aims at getting the team ready and organisation to be responsible for the management of mobile devices. Proliferation of mobile devices within the enterprise is either corporate-owned or BYOD basis has led to complexity that never seen in IT environments before. The key elements of this program are to manage personnel, policies and processes.

The best practice library is the foundation that incorporates:

• Financial viability
• Risk mitigation
• Policy enforcement
• Lifecycle management of mobile assets

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