Johannesburg, 25 Jul 2012
The evolving and growing role of IT asset management (ITAM) is driving both increased demand for existing skills and a new requirement for augmented financial, commercial and legal skills, says Gartner.
Gartner has identified six skills that are considered a priority for ITAM leaders.
1. Communication
ITAM staff must be able to communicate effectively with staff and management at all levels of the organisation in writing and verbally. ITAM staff must ensure robust internal communication: to effectively raise end-user awareness of ITAM's importance, to make senior management aware of potential risks, to provide input into decision-making processes, and to collaborate with teams such as HR, IT security, internal audit and privacy. Communication includes the ability to negotiate organisational politics and tailor the message to ensure it is appropriate to the audience and its priorities. Communication with external contacts, including vendors, auditors and consultants, will also be required.
2. Technical
An understanding of licence models, software delivery models and metrics is necessary, as well as understanding the application of the licence entitlements that go along with them. ITAM monitors and tracks assets over time. Tracking performance by device type and model enables improved sourcing and a better understanding of total cost of ownership. ITAM employees need to understand whether existing tools can deliver the data they need, and to specify any new requirements. ITAM leaders must develop and maintain technical skills to match the rapidly evolving IT environment, hardware technologies and software licensing models.
3. Administrative
Administrative tasks are necessary at all levels of ITAM maturity, and in larger teams are carried out in entry-level roles. Individuals recruited into these roles for their administrative and organisational ability have the potential to learn ITAM-specific skills, such as licence management, and can be developed into more specialist roles as the ITAM discipline matures. Too often considered unimportant, skilled administrative personnel can be a key enabler of effective ITAM. Leaders should ensure that strong administrative skills, which include attention to detail, organisational skills and the ability to follow established processes, are included in role profiles.
4. Financial
As ITAM changes from an inventory management function to a more strategic financial management role, it must develop financial awareness. The role of ITAM is to assist in determining business value by providing the cost analysis and asset-related financial data required to support the business in its decision-making process, and ITAM staff must have the necessary skills to deliver these. They must understand the basic principles of financial management and work with finance to carry out financial analysis and develop financial models. They will also need an awareness of accounting standards where they are relevant to, and impact on, ITAM.
5. Negotiation
ITAM has had, and continues to have, a close relationship with procurement. Knowledge of the supplier negotiation process, including competitive bidding and leverage points, as well as related policies and procedures, all supplement communication skills. Organisations with mature procurement and vendor management will have documented standard procedures for supplier interaction. ITAM managers should request copies of procurement and vendor management policies and processes, and ensure they are understood and followed.
6. Legal
ITAM staff must understand the risks of non-compliance, and be able to quantify and effectively communicate these to executive management teams with the aim of preventing situations that might compromise compliance or cause contract breaches. Legal counsel should engage the ITAM team when dealing with mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, to ensure the impact on both hardware and software assets are fully understood.
Additional information is available in the report: "Core skills your ITAM team needs now", which is available on Gartner's Web site.
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