Four Reasons to invest Time and Efforts in Asset Management
The IT managers knows it well; asset management and the use of a configuration management database - CMDB - is a process that requires a lot of investment, both in human resources and in terms of instrastructure and maintenance. To measure its effectiveness and its contribution in terms of value and return on investment, a good approach would be to break its implementation by type of usage, in order to specifically invest in a service improvement objective.
We can divide this potential ROI of 4 different components. Here are some goals or measurable benefits related to the effective management of a CMDB:
1. Financial Component: Cost Rationalization
Effective asset management for an organization can bring its own set of measurable benefits, especially on the expenditure side.
- Lower CIs maintenance costs
- Lower software licensing costs
- Optimization of expenditures through better supplies planning
- Economic gains (for the company) in terms of availability
- Evolution of configuration management cost
- Registration of financial data in order to facilitate the assessment of costs and billing
- Cost reductions related to the unavailability of user activity
2. Process Component: Configuration Elements Compliance
The CMDB provides managers with accessible, accurate and immediately information exploitable on:
- The number of implemented CIs
- The implementation progress index
- The % of changes made without CI (Configuration Item) identified or with the wrong CI
- The % of false information following an audit
- The % of false information following automatic inventories
- The progression index of false information
- Number of unauthorized components discovered
- Time spent on configuration management
- Evolution of incident resolution time (involving the managed CIs)
- Evolution of consecutive incidents of uncontrolled changes
- Evolution of the number of corrected problems
3. Quality Component : Improved Handling of Information
One can also feel the positive effects of asset management on the quality of the service delivery and support offered to users / customers.
- Impact on service availability and the reduction of incidents
- Improved responsiveness on incidents
- Improved perception of the service by users
- Immediate information access on the infrastructure and services
- Accelerate and improve the recording of incidents and their resolution
- Facilitate problem identification and resolution
- Improve changes planning and evaluating business risks
- Support life cycle management of IT assets
- Check license usage and compliance
- Record maintenance information and contract provider
- Record service levels
- Record financial data in order to facilitate the assessment of costs and billing
4. Learning Component: Better Audit, Better Control
The use of a CMDB also supports a continuous improvement process.
- Number of improvements to the CMDB model
- New integrated information (links, attributes)
- New control procedures or audit improving the validity or use of the CMDB