MD

IT Asset Management

Copyright January 2002

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MDE Enterprises
www.mde.net

Introduction
The techniques and insight in all the publications of The IT Manager Development Series have
been part of how Ive managed IT organizations for many years. Results will vary by individual
interpretation and implementation of the tools and concepts discussed.
Managing the technology assets of your company has become a very important issue. IT Asset
Management will help you get started quickly by identifying what needs to be tracked and by
providing you tools to help you manage the technology assets of your company.
Its no longer a luxury to be organized in maintaining accurate records of your technology assets;
its really a requirement. Not having accurate records of your technology environment means
you are spending thousands of dollars that you shouldnt be spending. The errors are almost
never in your favor, so take advantage of the material presented in IT Asset Management to
help you get on top and stay on top of your business.
Two tools are used to enhance the material:
Sidebar: an example or additional information provided to clarify a point.
Personal Note: a personal experience or war story used to reinforce a point or concept.
Managing organizations at a high level is serious business, but having fun along the way is half
the battle. I hope you find the material helpful in your quest and I welcome your feedback. You
may contact me at mike@mde.net.
The IT Management Development Series includes the following titles:
IT Management-101
Building a Successful IT Organization
IT Project Management
IT Staff Motivation and Development
Technology Asset Management

Developing an IT Business Plan

Building a Strategic IT Plan
Acquisition - IT Due Diligence
Acquisition - IT Assimilations
What to Look For in a CIO

To learn more or to view Table of Contents and see excerpts of a publication, log onto
www.mde.net/cio . All the tools described in this publication and many others are available in
the IT Manager ToolKit in EXCEL, VISIO, or WORD files that you can modify as needed to
assist in managing your operation. Visit the web site for a complete list of over 70 tools.
MDE Enterprises provides one to three-day IT management education classes. For more
information, go to www.mde.net/manageIT. Standard classes are available or we can develop a
customized approach to meet specific needs of your organization
Information contained within this publication may not be copied or distributed in any form
without the express written consent of MDE Enterprises.

Mike Sisco
Copyright January 2002
All rights reserved
MDE Enterprises
www.mde.net

IT Asset Management
Table of Contents

Introduction
I. What is IT Asset Management ? .. 4
II. Which Assets Need Managing ? .. 5
A. Computer Equipment 5
B. Software Licenses . 6
C. Phone/Fax Systems 6
D. Telecommunications (data) 6
E. Local Area Networks (LANs) . 6
F. Staff .. 7
G. Facility floor plans 7
H. Vendor contracts 7
III. Define the Information to Track . 8
IV. Gather the Data ... 10
V. IT Asset Management Tools ... 12
A. Network Diagram . 13
B. Servers .. 14
C. Data Center Equipment (non-CPU) . 15
D. Software Licenses 16
E. Phone / Fax / Dial-up Modems . 17
F. WAN Circuits 18
G. Vendor Support Contacts .... 19
H. IT Staff .. 20
I. Vendor Contracts .. 21
J. Desktop PCs, Laptops, and Local Peripherals 22
K. External Client Software Licenses 23
VI.
Change Management Processes . 24
VII. Software Usage Policy 27
APPENDIX
A. Server Template
B. Data Center Equipment (non-CPU) Template .
C. Software License Template ..
D. Phone / Fax / Dial-up Modem Template ..
E. WAN Circuit Template
F. Vendor Support Contacts Template .
G. IT Staff Template .
H. Vendor Contract Template ..
I. Desktop PCs, Laptop, & Local Peripheral Template .
J. External Client Software License Template
K. Employee Equipment Change Request Form .
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I.

What is IT Asset Management ?

With the added usage of technology by companies more than ever comes an ever growing
dependency on technologies for companies to perform well. One of the truly great things in our
lives is that technology capabilities keep advancing rapidly, but the costs drop as well. It is one
of the phenomena of our lifetime that allows companies to use more and more technology. The
trend is likely to continue for a long time.
As companies depend more and more on technology for successful operation, the need exists to
be able to support a much more diverse technical environment. In the 60s and 70s, a company
might have a single computer system with a few users, all directly attached. In the 80s we saw
companies push their technologies out to remote operations and the abilities of networks to
create much higher levels of access to company computer investments.
Today, a desktop PC has more power than some of the most powerful computer systems of the
1970s. Its awesome to think about the power we have on our home PC costing about $1,000 as
compared to what was available in the 70s and early 80s. We are truly living in a great time.
A companys technology environment is much more complex today with computer systems and
software distributed throughout the enterprise. Knowing what you have, where you have it, and
the configurations and capabilities of all of these computer systems is important to maintain a
stable environment. As companies rely more on their computer systems, more pressure is placed
on the IT organization to maintain a technical environment that is stable and allows employees
the greatest access to those systems as possible.
We will define IT asset management for this publication to be the organization, tracking, and
support of the technology assets of a company. What this means is the following:
1. Organizing the assets by identifying all technology components of the company, their
release level, and physical location of each item.
2. Tracking all technology components using tools that allow for groupings of assets by
location, by type of technology, by cost, etc. to assist management analysis and
support.
3. Supporting the technology assets by creating change management processes and
having support resource information readily available when needed.
One definition point to make is that IT assets discussed in this publication relate to physical
assets. The asset must be something that is a physical item such as a printer or an item that can
be copyrighted as in software or publication materials. As we work through the material of this
publication, you may identify an asset that should be considered for your company that is not
included in these pages. I have included enough different tools that you should be able to
develop your own tracking system for any unique asset of your company.

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II. Which Assets Need Managing ?

Any technology asset that has value to the company, requires ongoing support, or creates
potential risk to the business by lacking the necessary documentation that shows proper
ownership or licensure by the company should be tracked.
The first step in managing the technology assets of your company is to know what you have.
You would think this to be a simple thing to do, but in reality it can be difficult and time
consuming to get your arms around.
Technology assets require different tracking methods and unique information is needed for
different types of assets. An IT asset should have something to do with technology, either the
item is a technology item or it is related to something that is managed by the IT organization of
the company.
This publication tries to focus in on the data elements you need to track for each IT asset to stay
on top of your business. The perspective is that the categories are fairly self-explanatory so we
spend more time on defining the information you should maintain. Discussing record keeping
and managing technology assets is not the most glamorous subject, but it is a necessary evil of all
our jobs as IT Managers.
The categories included are:
A. Computer equipment
B. Software
C. Phones / Faxes
D. Telecommunications (data)
E. Local Area Networks (LANS)
F. IT Staff
G. Facility floor plans
H. Vendor contracts
A. Computer Equipment
All computers should be tracked with up to date information on type, model, purchase date,
operating system release level, etc. This includes:
- Mainframes
- Application servers
- PCs
- Laptops
- Data center equipment (UPS, air conditioning, etc.)

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B. Software Licenses
Software license records must be maintained. Software theft is a significant problem, and
inappropriate use of non-licensed software has major penalties associated with it, even business
continuance risk. Penalties for non-compliant use of software can be three to four times the
purchase price of the software and can include jail time. Non-compliant use of software is theft
and should be treated as such. Solid records and communication of a software usage policy can
prevent liability problems and business disruption.
Managing software should include both the software that your company uses as well as software
that you company sells, or licenses, to other companies.

C. Phone/Fax Systems
Most high growth companies have opportunity to reduce expenses by quantifying their phone
lines and getting rid of many that arent used or needed. This is especially true in a company that
has had fast growth or grown through acquisition. This category is used for all phone lines and
phone equipment for voice and fax.
There are companies that specialize in auditing a companys telecommunications usage (phone,
data, fax, phone card, phone services, contracts, etc.) and are paid a percentage of what they save
your company. This is a great deal if you happen to find yourself in a company that has grown
very rapidly. Auditing phone bills is tough work, and the telecom carriers dont make it easy.
If you do not have good records and clear understanding of the phone usage throughout your
company, I can assure you that you are paying more than you should be.
D. Telecommunication circuits
This category itemizes telecommunication circuits and dedicated data lines of the companys
communications networks. Getting these assets defined and organized may take some time,
especially in a large organization. Once you do, it is going to be much easier to reconcile your
telecom costs to insure your company pays for what it needs and is using.
E. Network Information for Local and Remote Locations
Companies with several locations often have local area networks (LANs) in the remote office.
Keeping track of the assets and the configurations that exist will make the job much easier as
your company grows and adds additional services to its employees.
Where possible, you should maintain an organized network diagram that has a disciplined
change management process in place to keep it current. This is easier said than done. Only the
strong IT operations maintain an up to date network diagram. It helps their productivity and their
ability to maintain a stable technology environment.

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F. Staff
The IT staff is a major asset of the company. To manage this asset effectively, you need to
maintain records in a manner that helps you to take proactive action when it comes to employee
reviews, raises, etc. Take care of this asset and you empower those that can help you manage all
the other technology assets of the company.
G. Facility Floor Plans
Having access to physical floor plans and network wiring and addressing schemes saves
significant time in troubleshooting problems. While a floor plan is not actually a technology
asset, it becomes a valuable tool in supporting remote facilities, especially for office moves and
changes. This is all that we say about floor plans in this document. The IT Infrastructure
organization should have enough documentation to help them support all facilities effectively.

H. Vendor Contracts
Similar to maintaining records on employees, you should keep track of the vendor contracts that
you manage. Maintaining a complete list of contracts that you are responsible for does several
things for you such as:
1. Provides quick access to contract information such terms, contacts, etc.
2. Assists you during budget time.
3. Helps you anticipate renewal or cancellation provisions.
To some extent, you may find keeping a contract log to be repetitive of some of the other asset
lists we will discuss. In fact, it really isnt duplication because the contract list will have
information about the contract that equipment or software lists do not include. It also will be one
source that you can refer to quickly concerning contract issues or questions that come up over the
course of the year.

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III. Define the Information to Track

Now that you know what technology categories to track, we can define the data that you might
need for each asset type. The data included in the pages that follow are the data elements that I
have found to be helpful, or necessary, to manage a well run IT organization.
Every tracking list has been developed and fine tuned over the years as I managed different IT
organizations. You may find certain asset types to be lacking a data element that you need for
your specific use. The tracking lists are set up in tables so its very easy to add or modify any one
of them to meet your specific purposes.
As mentioned, each asset tracking approach has been fine tuned and modified over the years to
help me organize and manage my IT organizations. The real purpose of any asset tracking tool is
to make the information readily available to you or your staff so they can better support the
technology services they provide to your company.
For example, a Vendor Support list isnt an asset, but if you have ever needed to find the vendor
to repair a crashed server or data center air conditioning system, you know the importance of
having the information readily available to help you manage your technology assets.
In this publication, we take a short cut in defining the information to track for a particular type of
asset. The asset tracking tools that are provided provide the data elements and a description of
what each element pertains to. If you have additional assets that you believe are needed to be
tracked, approach defining the data elements you want to maintain in the following manner:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Maintain information that is pertinent to the asset and that you might need.
Include information that is needed for vendor support.
Include information needed to assess upgrade options when needed.
Where possible, maintain location information by the physical location rather than by
an employee name since employees tend to move around.
5. Use consistent naming schemes for assets in an asset category.
6. Use naming schemes that allow you to identify equipment assets easily for support.
7. Consider the administrative time so keep it simple.

While we are on the subject of naming schemes, put thought into how you name various assets,
especially key equipment components. Application and network servers, printers, faxes, and
equipment used by groups of people can be named so everyone remembers them easily.
You should also have your infrastructure team label each major component for convenience
when troubleshooting problems. You often have to rely on a user that must convey the proper
information over the phone so your staff can troubleshoot the problem. Make it easy on yourself
and your staff. It goes without saying, label equipment in the same physical location on the
equipment and with nicely printed labels that maintain a professional image of the company and
your IT staff.
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The sample in Figure-1 can be used to label equipment throughout your company to increase
your support teams productivity in troubleshooting user problems. Remember, if it helps your
IT staff fix a problem faster, it also improves the users productivity; and thats actually the goal
you should be working for. Your technology users will appreciate it, and it reflects a positive,
organized image of an IT team that knows what its doing. GOOD STUFF !!

Figure-1 Sample Equipment Label

A big part of managing technology assets effectively is in providing the necessary information to
your support staff quickly so they know exactly what item they are troubleshooting. Leave it to a
phone discussion with a user that is not technically oriented and you often spend a lot of time
troubleshooting the wrong problem. When a user can convey the information from an equipment
label like the one above, the IT staff will know exactly what they are working with.
If you are just starting to name and label equipment in your company, you can use the Device ID
data element to meet both the IT naming scheme needs as well as company inventory ID needs.
Like I said, keep it simple and make it easy on yourself to maintain.

Key Thought:
Make it easy for your client and your IT team !
Develop a set of data elements for each technology asset type that you plan to track. When you
know what you need, only then should you send out the troops to gather the information.
You may also want to consider adding a bar code to the label. With scanning capability that
exists today, you can implement an inexpensive bar coding approach to help you take a physical
inventory in record time..
Technology investments quickly run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Keeping track of
your investments is important. If you dont, you may find some of your equipment walks out
the door. I know thats something we dont like to acknowledge but it does happen and one
deterrent is maintaining accurate records of the equipment that exists and where it is located.

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IV. Gather the Data

There is no easy way to initially gather the data on the technology assets of your company. There
are excellent tools that you can install on your network that will retrieve information from each
physical device located on the network, but I dont know of anything that can help you label the
devices and to identify the physical locations of where they are located.
Depending upon the size of your technology environment, you may want to look into network
tools such as Microsofts SMS, Track-IT, or a host of other solutions to help you monitor, track,
and manage your network environment. These software products offer many advantages
including the ability to reach out to all devices on the network and to report the existence of all
hardware and software it finds.
Lets make an assumption that your company has not maintained organized records of the
technology assets in the company. Hopefully, this isnt the case; but it may be the best place to
start. Anything you find documented will be upside.
To gather the data about your companys technology assets, you can use the following steps:
1. Break the project into multiple categories similar to the categories listed in
Chapter II - Which Assets Need Managing?
2. Define the information you want collected. Refer to Chapter V - Asset Management
Tools for assistance.
3. Determine an approach to retrieving the data that you want to take.
4. Distribute the assignments and start the data gathering process.
5. Set up your tools to organize and maintain the data that is gathered.
There are a couple of ways to begin. If you find yourself in a situation where there are literally
no records to be located easily, you can begin organizing your asset management approach by
starting today. Incorporate the following approaches and within six months to a year, you will
have most of your technology assets organized and in position to track going forward.
1. Start labeling and recording all new technology equipment and software that is
installed from this point forward using the tools in the next chapter.
2. Instruct your desktop staff to begin labeling and recording equipment that they are
called to work on in their daily support routines.
3. When your staff has an opportunity to visit a remote office, have them conduct a
physical inventory of all equipment and software technology in the office while they
are there and also to label the equipment.
4. Start your own search and organize the pertinent technology information from:
A. Contract files
B. Vendor records
C. Company managers
D. Key IT staff that have information in their heads (like vendor support)
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10

The key push on all of this is that you need to pull the information together so that you have
access to it and others have access to the parts they might need to support the technology
environment of the company.
Once you start gathering the data, you need someone responsible to record it and assemble it for
you and who you can assign responsibility for maintaining the data going forward. It doesnt do
a lot of good to make the effort to gather all the data if you dont plan to maintain it.
In fact, if you dont plan to maintain the information, stop here. You will just be wasting
everyones time to develop a snapshot of what exists today. It will be obsolete next week if
you dont put in the processes and are committed to keeping your information up to date.
Maintaining accurate records of your technology assets requires two things:
1. Someone responsible
2. Change management process
You can assign the record keeping to someone on your staff, your secretary, or take care of it
yourself. This is simple to do, but it will be difficult to do an effective job unless you have a
process in place that helps reinforce the maintenance of accurate records of your technology
environment. Chapter VI - Change Management Processes discusses this topic in more detail.

T o organize or not to
organize,
That is the question.

It may be a question, but its not really an option.

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V. IT Asset Management Tools

There are dozens of tools available to help you organize and track the technology assets of your
company. If your company has something, use it. If not, you should define what you want to
maintain and develop a process to keep your information updated before you go out to buy a new
product. This document assumes you have no tools.
The tools included in this chapter can be used by anyone and can be maintained entirely
manually if necessary. I would recommend that you use Microsoft EXCEL or another
spreadsheet software product to allow yourself the ability to sort the data in various ways to
assist your management of the information.
Each tool included in this publication is available in MDEs IT Manager ToolKit. More than 80
tools are included in the ToolKit and are provided in a format that allows you to use each tool
as is or modify as needed for your unique needs. The tools in this publication are included in
the ToolKit in Microsoft EXCEL spreadsheet format to allow sorting of certain fields of data.
Information on the IT Manager ToolKit is available at www.mde.net/cio/page12.html .
The tables used later in the chapter are presented in portrait format for easier viewing in this
publication. You will probably want to set them up in landscape format due to the amount of
information included and to make some of the columns wider.

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A. Network Diagram
Use a network diagram to maintain a graphic representation of your companys systems and
network environment. There are many levels of detail you can use. For our purposes here we will
stay with a summary level. The closer you work with the network infrastructure, the more
detailed the diagram should be.
Maintaining an accurate network diagram takes considerable discipline, especially in high
growth companies. Changes take place daily and unless you have a strong change management
process in place to record the changes, your network diagram will become obsolete about as fast
as you put it together.

Figure-2 Summary network diagram

The network diagram shown in Figure-2 is very general. The purpose for use here is to lay out
the primary components of the companys network in a summary fashion. The tools that follow
will provide more detail concerning the individual assets that make up the network and other
parts of the technology assets within the company.
A detailed network diagram will include server IP addresses, representations of routers, printers,
and other equipment that is part of the network. The infrastructure team should maintain a
detailed network plan so they can identify every component in the network.
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B. Servers
Servers include mainframes, application servers, communication servers, e-mail servers, and any
computer supporting multiple users for an application. You should maintain information that
helps you identify the equipment for support and high level configuration information. The
following table can be used as a guide. This table does not include desktop PCs or laptops for
single users. Another table is used for that purpose later on.
Server
ID

Vendor
Model

IP
Addr.

Data Fields:
Server ID
Vendor Model
IP Addr,
Serial #
O/S Level
CPU,Memory,Disk
User Capacity
Install Date
Location

Servers

Serial #

O/S
Level

CPU,Memory,Disk

User
Capacity

Install
Date

Location

IT defined ID
Vendor model
The IP address that the network uses to recognize the device
The vendor equipment serial number
Operating system and release level
CPU speed in megahertz (Mhz)
Main RAM Memory in megabytes(MB) or gigabytes(GB)
Disk capacity in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB)
The number of users the server will realistically support
Date the server was installed
Physical location of the server

Sort Comments:
Depending upon the number of servers, you may need to sort the table by:
1. Vendor Model - to review the equipment being maintained from a specific vendor.
2. CPU, Memory, Disk - sorting by the CPU speed will help you identify older servers.
You may want to separate disk and memory into separate fields if you believe you
may want to look at your servers in those terms, but it is unlikely.
3. O/S Level - sorting the servers by the O/S groups them by type of support required.
4. Install date - tells you the age of the server
5. Location - identifies the servers by location
Data Source:

IT Infrastructure Organization

You may want to add a column to provide information pertaining to upgrade costs. It is handy
for budgeting purposes to know what the incremental costs will be when you reach a point that
an upgrade is necessary. This is more true for mid-size or mainframe computer systems than for
smaller network servers because of the differences in upgrade costs.
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C. Data Center Equipment (non-CPUs)

Other equipment in the data center or computer center are tracked in this table. This includes
separate disk drives, printers, tape drives, UPS, special air conditioning units, etc.

Equipment
Type

Vendor
Model

Device
ID

Data Fields:
Equipment Type
Vendor Model
Device ID
Serial #
Capacity
Install Date
Location
Support Vendor
Comments

Data Center Equipment

Serial
#

Capacity

Install
Date

Location

Support
Vendor

Comments

Equipment type (use your own naming scheme)

Vendor name and model
IT departments assigned device ID
Vendors serial number
Capacity of the device
Installation date
Physical location of the device
Support vendor
Comments

Sort Comments:
You may need to sort the table by:
1. Equipment type - to group like components together to see what you have
2. Vendor Model - helps you quantify vendor equipment for support needs
3. Install Date - provides a relative age of the device
4. Location - allows you to group equipment by location
5. Support Vendor - lets you see all the equipment supported by a vendor
Data Source:

IT Infrastructure Organization
Data Center Operations Organization

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D. Software Licenses
All software licenses should be maintained in a filing system that can substantiate you have
purchased the license and are in compliance in the use of valid licensed software throughout your
company. Depending upon your company, IT can maintain a central log book or you can have
each facility manager maintain one for their physical location. It is more reliable to maintain a
central log.
In addition to maintaining records of software license purchases, you should also develop and
communicate a software usage policy throughout the company. Non-compliant use of software
by employees without a software usage policy in place can create liability for the managers of
the company. A sample software usage policy is included in Chapter VII.

SW

Vendor

#
Users

Data Fields:
SW
Vendor
# Users
Date Purchased
License #
Description
Terms
CPU ID
Support

Software Licenses

Date
Purchased

License
#

Description

Terms

CPU
ID

Support

Software title
Software vendor
Number of concurrent users or licenses purchased
Date the license was purchased
Software license number
Software description
Terms of use, renewal, etc.
The specific CPU the software is loaded onto
Support vendor, contact, and phone number

Sort Comments:
You may need to sort the table by:
1. SW - software name to group like software products together
2. Vendor - to group all software products from the same vendor together
3. Date purchased - to provide a history of purchases
Data Source: IT Infrastructure Organization
IT Managers
For large, multi-user software licenses, you may want to add a column to provide an estimate of
the cost for the next level of upgrade. As you begin to reach the maximum user limits of such a
license, it is handy to know what the upgrade costs are going to be for budgeting purposes.
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E. Phone / Fax / Dial-up Modem Lines

It was mentioned earlier that if your organization does not have a good handle on the
telecommunications usage and services provided to your company, you are most likely paying
too much. This table is intended to identify all the voice, fax, and dial-up modem lines that exist
in the company. Wide area network circuits or dedicated data lines are not included in this table;
they are tracked separately.
Two types of asset items are recorded in this table. The phone lines are the key and the
equipment connected to each line is also included. With this table, you can easily track all the
telephone points of entry into your company other than long distance credit cards.

Phone / Fax / Dial-up Modem Lines

Line #

Location

Telco

Data Fields:
Line #
Location
Telco
Install Date
Voice/Fax/Modem
Model & Capacity
Equipment Serial #
Vendor Support

Install
Date

Voice
Fax
Modem

Phone System, Fax, Modem

Model & Capacity

Equipment
Serial #

Vendor
Support

Telephone line ID number

Physical location of the line (office, department, individual)
Telephone company name
Installation date of the line
Voice, fax, or dial-up modem line (V, F, or M)
Phone system model and capacity
Fax model and capacity/speed
Modem capacity/speed
Serial number of the device connected to the phone line
Vendor name, contact, and phone number

Sort Comments:
You may need to sort the table by:
1. Line # - for easy retrieval of a specific phone line
2. Location - to group all lines by location
3. Telco - to help you reconcile and manage billing from a specific telephone company
4. Voice/Fax/Modem - to group like devices together
5. Vendor Support - to group equipment by support vendor
Data Source:

IT Infrastructure Organization
Facility and Department Managers
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F. WAN Circuits
Maintaining a current list of the WAN circuits will help you reconcile your telecom carriers
invoice each month. In a dynamic environment that changes a lot, this becomes very important.
If you arent staying on top of these charges, you are being overcharged.

Circuit
ID

Location

Data Fields:
Circuit ID
Location
B/W
Monthly Cost
Telco
Router Model
Serial #
Install Date
Comments

B/W

Monthly
Cost

WAN Circuits
Telco

Router
Model

Serial #

Install
Date

Comments

Telco circuit ID
Physical location of the circuit (office)
Bandwidth
Monthly cost
Local telephone company
Router model
Router serial number
Installation date of the circuit
Comments

Sort Comments:
You may need to sort the table by:
1. Circuit ID - for easy lookup
2. Location - to group circuits by location, state, region, etc.
3. B/W - to analyze low speed or high speed bandwidth usage and need
4. Telco - to identify all circuits supported by each local telco organization
5. Router model - to identify future upgrade needs
6. Install date - to help you reconcile your carrier invoices
Data Source:

IT Infrastructure Organization

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18

G. Vendor Support Contact List

Keeping records available of vendor support contacts is helpful since you never know when you
are going to have the opportunity to call someone in for help.

Vendor

Phone

Contact
Name

Data Fields:
Vendor
Phone
Contact Name
Manager Name
Mgr. Phone
Services Provided
Contract Terms

Vendor Support Contacts

Manager
Name

Mgr.
Phone

Services
Provided

Contract Terms

Vendor name
Phone number
Primary contact name
Vendor managers name when escalation is needed
Vendor managers phone number
Services provided
Contract terms (include special billing terms)

Sort Comments:
You may need to sort the table by:
1. Vendor - for easy lookup
Data Source: IT Infrastructure Organization
All IT Managers

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19

H. IT Staff
This table will help you manage salary and performance plan timing of your IT staff. It also
helps you have a great start in developing your annual budget, especially since employee
compensation tends to be a large part of the IT departments budget.

IT Staff
Name

Org.

Location

Data Fields:
Name
Org.
Location
Resp.
Start Date
Salary
Bonus
Last Increase & %
PP Date & Rating
Status

Resp.

Start
Date

Salary

Bonus

Date of Last
Increase & %

Review
Date
& Rating

Status

Employee name
IT organization
Physical location the employee works from
Responsibility or title (use your own codes)
Start date
Salary
Bonus amount (generally in quarterly or annual numbers)
Date of last salary increase and percent of the increase
Last performance plan review date and rating
Current status (full time F, part time P, contract C)

Sort Comments:
You may need to sort the table by:
1. Name - for easy lookup
2. Org. - to group employees by sub-group organization of the IT department
3. Location - to group employees by physical location
4. Resp. - to group employees by responsibility or title
5. Start Date - to pull a monthly anniversary list
6. Bonus - to help you prepare for bonus check preparation or for budgeting
7. Last increase - to help you prepare for annual increases
8. PP Date - to provide a tickler for annual review
9. Status - to group employee types
Data Source: All IT Managers

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20

I. Vendor Contracts
This table is intended to maintain all the vendor contracts your IT department manages in one
place. Keeping a list of all the active contracts will help you monitor them and insure that you
cancel a contract in a timely manner without penalty as well as anticipate an annual increases
based upon terms of the contracts.

Item

HW/SW/
Other

Annual
Cost

Data Fields:
Item
HW/SW/Other
Annual Cost
Terms
Cancel Terms
Anniversary Date
Vendor
Contact
Comments

Vendor Contracts
Terms

Cancel
Terms

Anniversary
Date

Vendor

Contact

Comments

Contract item
Hardware, software or other related services
Annual contract cost
Contract terms
Cancellation terms (Ex. 30 days prior to anniversary date)
Annual anniversary date
Vendor name
Vendor contact
Comments

Sort Comments:
You may need to sort the table by:
1. HW/SW/Other - to group contracts by type of contract
2. Anniversary date - allows you to anticipate renewal or prepare for cancellation

Data Source: All IT Managers

IT Infrastructure Organization

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21

J. Desktops, Laptops, and Local Peripherals

This table tracks the user equipment in all of your facilities. It is a valuable tool to provide to
your infrastructure support staff when you need to troubleshoot issues or to confirm the existence
of equipment for department or office moves, changes, etc.

Item
D/L/P/O

Vendor
Model

Desktops, Laptops, Local Peripherals

Serial
#

Data Fields:
Item D/L/P/O
Vendor Model
Serial #
Device ID
Location
Date Purchased
Network IP Addr.
O/S Rel.
Comments

Device
ID

Location

Date
Purchased

Network
IP Addr.

O/S
Rel.

Comments

Item (D-Desktop PC, L-Laptop, P-Printer, O-Other)

Vendor name and model
Device serial number
IT departments device ID
Physical location of the device
Date purchased
IP address that the network recognizes the device
Operating system release level
Comments (For laptops and other assigned equipment, you
may want to include employee name)

Sort Comments:
You may need to sort the table by:
1. Item - the code D,L,P,O allows you to group all like equipment together
2. Vendor model - allows you to get an inventory of all items of a certain model
3. Location - lets you see what is installed in each facility
4. Date purchased - gives you the age of the equipment
5. O/S Rel. - will help you assess costs for upgrading operating system levels
Data Source: IT Infrastructure Organization
Human Resources
All company department managers
These assets are more prone to theft. You may want to consider including employee names for
each item or to develop a technology inventory report by employee for easy reference.

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22

K. External Client Software Licenses

If your organization or company sells software licenses to external clients, you will want to
maintain records of your clients purchases. Support depends upon contract terms, release level
of software the client is using, and many other factors. Maintaining an up to date client log with a
few data elements will help you monitor and manage your clients.
Personal Note: I maintain a detailed log of all clients that purchase publications or tools from
each of MDEs product lines. It helps to know what is selling and it is important to be able to
offer additional products and services to those that appreciate the work.
My client list includes contact information, date of purchase, and a detailed list of every item the
client has purchased. It has been a great reference tool for me.

Item

Ser. # or
ContractID

External Client Software Licenses

Purchase
Date

Data Fields:
Item
Ser.# or ContractID
Purchase Date
Release Level
HW Platform
# Users
Terms
Annual Maint. $$
Comments

Release
Level

HW
Platform

#
Users

Terms

Annual
Maint. $$

Comments

Software title
Serial number or contract ID
Date of purchase / anniversary date
Current software release level
Hardware platform
Number of licensed users
Key terms of the contract
Annual maintenance/support costs (revenue)
Other comments

Sort Comments:
1. Item - sort by item to determine all clients that have a certain product
2. Purchase Date - helps you review upcoming renewals
3. Release Level - helps the support team as well as notifying clients of upgrade needs
4. HW Platform - identifies platforms that will not support new releases of the software
5. Annual Maint.$$ - assists in forecasting maintenance revenue and budgeting
Data Source: Sales Department
IT Manager responsible for software sales, professional services, or support

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23

VI. Change Management Processes

Implementing thorough change management processes will be important to maintain accurate
records of the technology assets in your company. You certainly do not want to go through all
the effort to gather and assemble all of the data and then forget about maintaining it. You will be
back to where you started within a few months.
The key area to place emphasis on maintaining the records and in creating a process that helps
reinforce this need is in your IT Infrastructure organization. For the most part, this group is
dealing with desktop and peripheral adds, changes, and deletes of equipment for the users of
technology in the company. The Infrastructure Support staff is also the group that will tend to
need the information the most outside of the managers that are responsible for supporting the
technologies of the company.
The CIO and any manager that develops an annual IT budget will also benefit by having many of
the tools provided in this publication. For example, an up to date WAN Circuit log tells you how
much your monthly WAN circuit costs are. The Software License log and the Vendor Contracts
log will help you anticipate additional increases or annual expenses to renew the services. Even
the External Client Software License log will help you forecast additional revenue from software
upgrades and maintenance renewals for existing clients.
There are many sources that you will need to coordinate with to maintain all the records that
have been presented in this document. They include the external client sales group, all company
departments using technology that you support, and especially your IT infrastructure team.
Each data source of the information you are collecting was identified in the description of each
tool. This may vary depending upon your company, but the insight that was provided should help
you modify your approach as needed. There are no hard and fast rules here. To maintain accurate
records of the companys assets, you must obtain the new data somehow and you must record it.
Sounds easy, but it wont be.
You can develop a paper form, add an input form to your company Intranet application, set up a
standard e-mail message, or take many other approaches to create a process to facilitate getting
the information you need to maintain accurate records. The reality is that it is very hard to
reinforce, especially outside of your IT organization. Anything that you can do that makes
delivery of the information a byproduct of another process already in place in your company will
increase the odds of you getting the information.
An example of this is that every employee change (add, change, or delete) usually requires a
department manager to make Human Resources aware for Payroll purposes. By tapping into the
process that already happens in the company to notify HR of staffing changes you can get the
information you need to maintain the PC log.
The logs that require input from within the IT organization will be easier to implement. Focus on
processes that facilitate getting updated information from the other departments of the company.
Copyright January 2002
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24

The following form is a sample that Ive used to help my infrastructure team respond to
department managers as they have staffing changes. When we received this form, it served as a
work order for the infrastructure team which we logged into our Help Desk Request Log.

Employee Equipment Change request

____ Add
____ Change
____ Delete

Requested by: ___________________________

Request D ate: ______________

Employee Name: _______________________

Department:
_______________________
Effective Date: _______________
Physical Location: ______________________
______________________
Equipment Needed:

Services Needed:

____ PC
____ Laptop Computer
____ New Phone
Special phone needs ?
__________________________
__________________________
____ Fax
____ External modem line

____ AS/400 (Billing,A/R)

____ CA
___ NC,SC
____ New Jersey
____ Indiana
____ Ohio
____ Texas

Software Needs:
____ MS/Office (Includedw/PC)
____ FRX
Other software needs:

____ AS/400 Infinium (Acct.)

____ FRX
Primary Printer __________
Other services needed:
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________

Submit form to Information Technology Support Desk for completion:

Copyright January 2002

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MDE Enterprises
www.mde.net

25

The material presented so far should give you a quick start to organizing your companys
technology asset records. There are other things to do in order to organize your technology
environment to help you maximize the productivity of your support staff. Creating a truly
organized environment will save time and help you troubleshoot issues more productively.
Some of these are very basic, but you might be surprised at how many organizations dont pay
attention to the detail. A list of things you can do to help you manage your IT assets include:
-

Tag your cable connections

Label facility wall outlets for phone, data, and fax.
Use a standard naming scheme for everything you do including:
- IP addresses
- UserIDs
- E-mail
- Network connectivity
- Server access and business applications access
- Phone IDs
- Equipment ID and/or inventory identification
- Facility department ID
- External client ID
Use memorable names for your servers and production printers and fax machines
You might be surprised at how receptive users are when you use the Seven Dwarf
names (Doc, Sneezy, Sleepy, Grumpy, Bashful, Happy, and Dopey) for major
equipment components. Its perfectly acceptable to have some fun.
Data is an asset of the company, normally worth more than all the other technology
assets in the company. Insure you have excellent backup procedures and maintain
off-site backup copies for recovery.
Insure your computer room and other areas of the company with large concentration
of expensive computer equipment have fire extinguishers readily available and are
tested annually.
Develop and implement standard shutdown procedures for main components of your
infrastructure during electrical storms, etc.
Develop a disaster recovery plan. You cant prevent the flood, tornado, or hurricane
but you can control the time it takes to recover. It boils down to how much you are
willing to pay for reliable systems recovery insurance.
Your company should have insurance riders to cover your more expensive equipment.

Copyright January 2002

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MDE Enterprises
www.mde.net

26

VII. Software Usage Policy

This section was included because of the importance of maintaining compliance in the use of
valid software licenses. The penalties are severe and can even include jail time for major
offenders. In an earlier chapter we focused on the data you need to track for the software titles
your company uses. Managers of the company can still be held liable for non-compliant use of
software by users in the company, even if the manager does not know about it.
WOW ! How is that possible ?
Well, it is possible; but your exposure can be minimized or completely avoided by creating and
communicating a sound Software Usage Policy. When an employee has been told what is proper
and what is not, it pushes the liability to the individual who chooses to conduct themselves
inappropriately.
A Software Usage Policy needs to incorporate the following elements:
-

Standard software applications and products of the company

Guidelines for external software usage
Expectation that all software is expected to have an appropriate license

You can use the following document as a beginning point in developing your own policy.

Copyright January 2002

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MDE Enterprises
www.mde.net

27

Company Software Usage Policy

To: All Employees

Revision Date: ____________

Our company believes in and operates in a manner that respects the development rights of other
companies for software, publications, and other copyright or trademarked items. It is our intent
to maintain the highest level of compliance in the use of software within our company to:
A. Protect the companys technology business environment by using standard products
B. Maintain licensure compliance in the use of all software products on all computers in
the company.
C. Enhance the supportability of the technology infrastructure
Standards: Our company uses the following licensed software applications as standards
throughout the company:
_____________________

______________________

_____________________

_____________________

______________________

_____________________

_____________________

______________________

_____________________

_____________________

______________________

_____________________

Use of external software products: Additional software products outside the standard list
above may be used by individuals or departments within the company once approved by the
software review committee. This review is in place to ensure compatibility of the application
within the companys infrastructure, to review for an appropriate solution to meet the need being
addressed, to screen for virus, to verify license compliance, and to maintain the reliability of our
systems capability. Violations of adhering to this policy may result in disciplinary action due to
the potential damage and/or productivity loss to our business.
Compliance: Our company expects all employees to maintain the highest ethical approach in
the use of software using company equipment. Notification of violations should be sent to our
Chief Information Officer (CIO). We all must take steps to protect the integrity of our systems to
maintain the highest level of reliability possible.
Questions: Send questions or comments to our CIO.
Thank you for adherence to this important company policy.

Mike Sisco

Mike Sisco, President & CEO

MDE Enterprises
Copyright January 2002
All rights reserved
MDE Enterprises
www.mde.net

28

Appendix
A. Servers Template
Server
ID

Vendor
Model

IP
Addr.

Servers

Serial #

O/S
Level

CPU,Memory,Disk

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User
Capacity

Install
Date

Location

29

Appendix
B. Data Center Equipment (non-CPU) Template
Equipment
Type

Vendor
Model

Device
ID

Data Center Equipment

Serial
#

Capacity

Install
Date

Location

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Support
Vendor

Comments

30

Appendix
C. Software License Template

SW

Vendor

#
Users

Software Licenses

Date
Purchased

License
#

Description

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Terms

CPU
ID

Support

31

Appendix
D. Phone / Fax / Dial-up Modem Line Template
Phone / Fax / Dial-up Modem Lines
Line #

Location

Telco

Install
Date

Voice
Fax
Modem

Phone System, Fax, Modem

Model & Capacity

Copyright January 2002

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Equipment
Serial #

Vendor
Support

32

Appendix
E. WAN Circuits Template
Circuit
ID

Location

B/W

Monthly
Cost

WAN Circuits
Telco

Router
Model

Serial #

Copyright January 2002

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Install
Date

Comments

33

Appendix
F. Vendor Support Contacts Template

Vendor

Phone

Contact
Name

Vendor Support Contacts

Manager
Name

Mgr.
Phone

Services
Provided

Copyright January 2002

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MDE Enterprises
www.mde.net

Contract Terms

34

Appendix
G. IT Staff Compensation Template
IT Staff
Name

Org.

Location

Resp.

Start
Date

Salary

Bonus

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Date of Last
Increase & %

Review
Date
& Rating

Status

35

Appendix
H. Vendor Contracts Template

Item

HW/SW/
Other

Annual
Cost

Vendor Contracts
Terms

Cancel
Terms

Anniversary
Date

Copyright January 2002

All rights reserved
MDE Enterprises
www.mde.net

Vendor

Contact

Comments

36

Appendix
I. Desktop PCs, Laptops, and Local Peripherals Template
Item
D/L/P/O

Vendor
Model

Desktops, Laptops, Local Peripherals

Serial
#

Device
ID

Location

Date
Purchased

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Network
IP Addr.

O/S
Rel.

Comments

37

Appendix
J. External Client Software License Template

Item

Ser. # or
ContractID

External Client Software Licenses

Purchase
Date

Release
Level

HW
Platform

#
Users

Copyright January 2002

All rights reserved
MDE Enterprises
www.mde.net

Terms

Annual
Maint. $$

Comments

38

Appendix
K. Employee Equipment Change Request Form

Employee Equipment Change request

____ Add
____ Change
____ Delete

Requested by: ___________________________

Request D ate: ______________

Employee Name: _______________________

Department:
_______________________
Effective Date: _______________
Physical Location: ______________________
______________________
Equipment Needed:

Services Needed:

____ PC
____ Laptop Computer
____ New Phone
Special phone needs ?
__________________________
__________________________
____ Fax
____ External modem line

____ AS/400 (Billing,A/R)

____ CA
___ NC,SC
____ New Jersey
____ Indiana
____ Ohio
____ Texas

Software Needs:
____ MS/Office (Includedw/PC)
____ FRX
Other software needs:

____ AS/400 Infinium (Acct.)

____ FRX
Primary Printer __________
Other services needed:
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________

Submit form to Information Technology Support Desk for completion:

Copyright January 2002
All rights reserved
MDE Enterprises
www.mde.net

39