Recession Survival Secret: Manage Your IT Assets

When you consider the business landscape of just 10 years ago, the use of computer equipment has skyrocketed exponentially.You can't find a single department in an organization these days that doesn't depend on computers to work. So much so that efficient use of IT has given many a company the competitive edge over its rivals.

Behind this dependence on computers lies a heavy reliance on the IT hardware and systems supporting this. This could mean anything from computer hardware, keyboards and mice, software, monitors and more specialized hardware. In the US alone this amount goes into trillions of dollars.

But IT assets are notoriously tricky to keep track of and manage, particularly in large, sprawling organisations. Without tight control, monitoring and a strategic approach to replacing and renewing equipment, things can and frequently do descend into chaos. There isnt anyone in the organization with a handle on what IT equipment is being used and by whom. Noone has an handle on software usage and whether that software is properly licensed. The guys at the IT support line can't deal with many of their queries efficiently due to lack of info on the specs of the caller's machine. Upgrading equoment or moving to different sofware packages can descend into a slow, inefficient chaos.Sound familiar? The truth is that most organizations today face exactly this problem. Futhermore the expense associated with these issues can take a significant chunk out of your annual profits. Particularly considering the tax savings than can be made from properly keeping track of depreciation of IT assets.

The bottom line is that without managing your IT assets you could be haemorrhaging unknonwn amounts of cash through related costs. The answer comes down to a process called fixed asset management. When it comes to IT asset management, there are two basic parts that your business needs to be aware of:

Physical Assets. This basically means keeping track of all the IT Assets that exist in your organization. That includes what you have, where it is, and how it is being used. A robust system of asset tracking provides you with invaluable information on which you can act and introduce greater levels of efficiency.

Management of Financial Assets. This is where the really big cost savings can be achieved.After recording the equipment being used it is then possible to make a calculation of expected depreciation in value. This information is music to your accounting deparment's ears, as cutting costs on fixed assets can sometimes be the difference between profit and loss in a financial year.

Many organizations know full well issues they are facing with regards to their IT assets. The question for most is how to go about fixing a typically complex problem. The most common way of recording assets has been using a basic spreadsheet - yet these become a nightmare to keep track of and update as they grow bigger. However there are now highly sophisticated asset management software solutions on the market that are designed to tackle all aspects of asset tracking, accounting and management. It might be time for your business to think about investing in fixed asset management - it could be key to survival in the recession.