IT asset management: Legacy of global financial crisis?

Even as the global financial crisis begins to bite, more companies than ever before will find IT asset management an indispensable tool to support the effective operation of their technology and communications environment.

That's according to Internet researcher, author and analyst Arthur Goldstuck, who also relates developments in the South African Internet environment to changing usage patterns of devices and equipment. In turn, this necessitates better management of corporate assets.

Speaking at a breakfast hosted by IT service management specialist Quintica and its technology partner WebINTELLECT, Goldstuck contended that IT asset management (ITAM) will in fact be a key consequence of the financial crisis.

“Asset life cycle management is becoming a key focus of business efficiency, the ability to survive and prosper in difficult conditions. The ideal is no longer to sweat assets, but rather to sweat them intelligently - and you have to have ITAM for that,” he pointed out.

Dan van der Westhuizen, Director: Sales & Marketing at Quintica, noted that companies today are under severe pressure to manage costs. “More than ever, ITAM is relevant as it provides the intelligence to identify, track and report on where, how and why IT assets, be they hardware or software, are being used,” he said.

Despite the financial crisis, Internet access and usage in South Africa is in a revolutionary state. “As deregulation of the telecommunications market finally takes hold, the number of Internet users in South Africa is likely to rapidly increase. International bandwidth is likely to increase from the present 240MB/s (of which only 40MB/s is available) to well over 10 terabytes per second in the coming 10 years,” Goldstuck stated.

While it is unlikely that the country will improve substantially on its poorly global ranking of Internet penetration, Goldstuck nevertheless indicated that the percentage of the population who access and use the Internet will increase from 9% to 20% or even 30% by 2018.

South Africa is presently ranked around 200th in the world, behind Egypt, Morocco and even Zimbabwe - which Goldstuck said is an indictment on monopoly players that have restricted the market. Growth is expected to come as a result of improved international connectivity, competition and reduced cost of access.

“Advances in Internet access, connectivity and capacity is and will continue to take massive leaps forward in this country between now and 2018,” says Goldstuck.

And while this is an overwhelmingly positive development for society, it has its drawbacks. “The only negative is that the Internet puts control [of assets] in the hands of the user; for administrators, that is bad news.” As a result, Van der Westhuizen said the market for ITAM is maturing. “Demand for ITAM solutions is increasing. Knowing what assets you have and how they are being used is recognised as the backbone of an effective service management regime that allows IT departments to meet business needs efficiently and cost-effectively,” he said.

Goldstuck said as Internet penetration and usage advances, the connected world will demand that the organisation takes back control of its IT. “By 2018, asset management on the fly will be a norm; at the push of a button, company managers will know where their equipment is and what it is being used for. If they cannot do this, quite simply, their business is out of control.” But, almost paradoxically, Goldstuck added that the reality of a tough trading environment will compel organisations to take rapid action to improve the performance of their existing and future investments. “ITAM is likely to come into its own as a result of the global financial crisis. It will be a legacy of the situation - but a legacy that will not go away,” he said.