Visibility and Agility: A Perspective on IT Asset Management During and After a Crisis

Snow's Jelle Wijndelts looks at potential considerations for managing the IT estate today and in the future

We’ve seen a tremendous shift in remote work policies around the globe in the last few weeks. Organizations and individuals alike have had to quickly adapt to a new reality around how business gets done. How this impacts the future of work remains to be seen but, for now, large parts of the workforce are connecting from home, and that means IT is working hard to manage it all. 

Thankfully, many countries have the underlying IT infrastructure needed to make remote work possible. The rapid adoption of the cloud and SaaS applications was already changing the way we work. But today’s unprecedented time has undoubtedly escalated this fact. Ready or not, we’ve all jumped headfirst into this new normal. And, as a result, the role of IT Asset Management (ITAM) in empowering organizations to keep a close eye on cloud and software investments, has never been more vital.

With all organizations having to adapt at speed, chances are that many have been pushed into making hasty decisions. And that’s okay as the first priority is to keep the company running and your newly remote workers supplied with the new technology resources they need. But the consequences of those decisions could have a lasting impact. For example, that offer for six months of free software may have been necessary at the time to seamlessly enable productivity. But was it the right software for the long haul and, if not, will the business be tied into a product that was never budgeted for?

As organizations adapt to the current market uncertainty, ITAM has a critical role to play when it comes to supporting their short-, medium- and long-term IT strategy.

Managing the here and now

With most workers now up and running at home, it’s time to begin getting your arms around what your new reality looks like. Here are some recommendations for smoothing out your go-forward path.

Preparing for extended working from home

As you begin to think about long-term requirements, your organization’s leadership team will inevitably be having some future-of-work discussions and your company processes will need to adapt. To prepare for what comes next, consider these ideas in your planning.

Shifting focus to cost savings

No one knows the long-term effects of our current reality, but economies around the world are already feeling the impact. During a time like this, asset management can be a tremendous help to the business as you start planning for the following cost-saving scenarios today:

Regardless of what’s in store, having complete visibility across your IT estate has never been more critical. This comprehensive insight into your infrastructure, cloud usage and applications will keep you within budget and compliant as you ride out this storm.

For more on managing through a crisis, see our CIO’s perspective, A New Reality for IT: A CIO’s Perspective During a Business Continuity Event.