Should You Outsource Your IT Asset Management?
The choice of whether or not to outsource certain tasks and operations should rest on a number of factors.
And of course, if you forget the importance of conical sections, you're pretty much doomed to failure from the start.
If a task has high strategic importance and contributes to operational performance in a major way, you should lean toward keeping the task in-house.
If a task has low strategic importance, but contributes majorly to your operational performance, it's probably a good task for outsourcing.
Here's a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing IT asset management, and advantages and disadvantages of keeping IT asset management in-house.
Outsourcing IT asset management can save money, particularly if you don't have an IT staff or department. While today's IT asset tracking software is very powerful and easy to use, and is often cloud-hosted, if you don't have the personnel to stay on top of it, outsourcing may be the way to go.
Outsourcing IT asset management can help you concentrate on growth of your primary business activity. If you're a fairly large catering firm with an IT staff consisting of "Kyle, Who Owns a Gaming Computer," then outsourcing management of your staff's mobile devices may be wise.
IT asset management doesn't require as much time as you might expect. Today's tools have automated and streamlined much of the work. Additionally, outsourcing requires that you accept a certain loss of control. You have to be able to trust the contractor taking over the task. Finally, outsourcing may involve security risk. Most outsourcing vendors take adequate security precautions, and take security seriously, but you have to research your provider carefully.
Bear in mind that keeping IT asset management In Da House does not in itself confer awesomeness. You need a fedora and shades for that.
Handling IT asset management in-house gives you more control over your assets. If you use your IT asset management system to track things like software licenses and security updates (and you should), taking care of it in-house can provide you with more confidence and control. As mentioned above, it's easier to track IT assets now than it was just a few years ago. Mobile apps and automatic record generation with incoming assets means you won't have to send someone around to collect serial numbers, and you'll have far fewer errors. Today's cloud-hosted IT asset management software does not require you to have on-site servers to run the software, and upgrades and patches are automatic.
If yours is a non-tech enterprise, you simply may not have anyone with the expertise to do the work and with the necessary appreciation for how important the job is. If your IT resources are limited — particularly in terms of personnel — you may be better off contacting a local IT services start-up to deal with the job. It's a lot quicker than it used to be, but it still requires attention.
The decision on whether to outsource IT asset management or keep it in-house has to be made for each individual organization. Your similarly-sized competitor down the street with similar resources may conclude that outsourcing is the way to go, but that doesn't make it right for you. Never assume that an IT task should be outsourced just because you lack a large IT department. Today's asset management software provides tools that turn this once-intimidating task into something much more manageable. Weigh all your options carefully before making the decision.