IT Asset Management during COVID-19
Published on : July 20, 2020
What is the importance of IT asset management during COVID-19?
- Maintenance of assets remotely
- Improvement of security
- Protection against cybersecurity threats
- Speeding up of workflows
- Identification of key weak points
- High scalable properties
- Centralized asset viewing
Many workplaces have been left with no choice but to shift from work from home schemes during the course of this pandemic. For offices, this means much of the equipment that was once stored in brick and mortar structures and physical locations would have to be transferred. Data centralization and management has become a challenge for offices who’ve not yet invested in remote IT asset management during COVID-19.
Employees would now have to conduct their usual office activities in remote locations. This means that they’re operating with a much higher level of variation, as opposed to working in a shared network.
What is IT Asset Management?
IT asset management simply refers to a set of practices all geared towards the maintenance of IT-related assets. This involves equipment, hardware, software — all of which are being utilized in a company’s IT network. The purpose of this is to keep track of every IT element that is constantly uploaded into the network. Continue reading.
Maintenance of assets remotely
Incorporating IT asset management technology for your business means that you’ll have the convenience of viewing, tracking, and maintaining your office’s many assets remotely.
Remote management solutions come with built-in software that is user-friendly and can easily be utilized by your employees. Those who have been delegated the responsibility of tracking your assets can easily view an organized inventory that contains detailed information on the status of software updates, new hardware, software, equipment functionality, and many more. All of these can be done in the comfort of computers or even mobile devices.
Improvement of security
As employees begin working in disjointed networks, there is a danger that not everyone will experience the same level of cybersecurity protection. This is due to the fact that most of your employees will be conducting their work in disjointed networks. They won’t necessarily be able to properly secure their laptops, CPUs, and the like.
By using IT asset management software, however, your employees can keep track of which equipment needs to be paid more attention to. Once this is done, they can take the necessary steps to improve the hardware’s security features.
Protection against cybersecurity threats
Hotels and accommodation-providing establishments are undoubtedly some of the hardest hit by the virus. Some of them may still be hanging in limbo. Without any knowledge of when they’d be able to reopen, there still needs to be a mechanism in place to protect valuable hotel IT assets like biometrics, key card systems, and computers.
With the use of management solutions such as RFID tags and software, each of these assets can easily be tracked remotely. They’d still be able to protect themselves against cybersecurity attacks which could threaten the security of personal information that’s stored in the hotel’s network. These solutions would also aid in preventing hotel hardware and software from getting compromised.
Speeding up of workflows
An asset management software also helps in speeding up the workflows — whether your employees are working remotely or working in office buildings.
Improved productivity is an important consideration, especially now since most offices are operating at a limited capacity. Tasks can still be completed in a much faster time. Your employees don’t need to wait long hours even when it comes to doing basic functions, allowing them to increase the overall output and improve their work productivity.
Identification of key weak points
When you’re handling an accommodation facility, for example, you can easily be lax about the kind of security you’re providing all of your equipment. You might not be able to easily understand that just as COVID-19 exposes vulnerabilities in the healthcare system, it exposes the many weak points present in other industries as well.
Fortunately, this technology can help you out in identifying the areas of improvement when it comes to your facilities’ systems. Asset management software can help you make informed, data-based decisions on which of your assets need to be protected. It can also help you improve many of your outdated equipment and allow you to fully automate your building’s security protection.
High scalable properties
One of the most convenient features of an asset management network is that it has a high level of scalability. This means that businesses can continually adapt new software and install new equipment without having to worry about aligning them to the already-existing asset network.
As your business grows, the IT asset management system will also grow with you. COVID-19 has presented many disruptions for many industries, causing them to find alternative means — IT asset management can easily help these alternatives fit in, or subsequently replace the ones that you already have.
Centralized asset-viewing
Even if you’re far away from your business’s physical location, you’d still be able to view the many assets handled by your business, through IT asset management. This way, you can always keep track of your equipment wherever you may be.
It may not really be safe to travel outdoors and inspect on the equipment yourself, due to the many health and safety risks posed by COVID-19. Fortunately, you won’t have to. As long as these equipments have been properly integrated into the asset management network, you can still identify their status, even on a daily basis.
Key Takeaway
The importance of IT asset management during COVID-19 cannot be underestimated. Faced with a wide variety of disturbances, it’s now more important than ever for businesses to find more accessible methods of viewing and identifying the status of their equipment, even if they’re in remote locations.
Investing in an IT asset management network, especially during times of crisis, ultimately benefits your business in many areas — whether it be in improving security, addressing vulnerabilities, or improving employee productivity.