In this lesson,
we're going to cover asset management.
Now, asset management refers to the systematic approach
to the governance and realization of value
from the items that a group, or entity,
is responsible for over its entire lifecycle.
Asset management can be conducted for any asset
your organization is responsible for.
From tangible assets like office buildings,
computers, and machinery,
to intangible assets like your intellectual property,
your organization's reputation and its goodwill.
But for the sake of this lesson,
we're mostly going to be focused on technological
and digital assets.
Now let's pretend that you work for a large
Fortune 500 company, that has many different departments,
a myriad of employees, and a wide range of projects
that all must be accounted for, and kept track of.
For example, some of the organization's assets
could be laptops that each employee is going to use.
Or, the software licenses that they've purchased,
or the company servers that are holding
the organization's sensitive data.
By using asset management,
the entire process of managing these assets
can be improved so that the organization
is going to run smoother.
Now asset management is really focused on two main areas.
The assignment of, and accounting for the assets,
and the monitoring and tracking of those assets.
Now first, let's take a look at the assignment,
or accounting of those assets.
Each assets for the organization has been assigned
to a person, or group of people,
who are going to be known as the owners of that asset.
This process is often referred to as the allocation,
or assignment of ownership.
And it's going to be used to determine which asset
belongs to whom, or which department.
For instance, a high-performance computing machine
may belong to the graphics design team.
While specific software license
could be assigned to a person, like Angela,
who works in the marketing department.
Now, the proper assignment of these assets
will ensure that there's no ambiguity about
who uses which asset.
And this could also help us when we're
conducting troubleshooting, upgrades,
and replacement of a given asset.
Now in addition to assigning the owner of each asset,
each asset should also be classified and categorized.
Classification is the process of categorizing assets
based on certain criteria like their function,
their value, or other parameters
that deemed necessary by the organization.
Proper classification of the type and the value
of the asset is also important so the company
can make an informed decision
about their asset's maintenance, replacement,
or its eventual retirement.
For example, your organization's servers
may be holding critical data that may be classified
as a high value asset.
And therefore, you may need to have more stringent
maintenance schedules involved for that data.
Conversely, if you're looking at an old laptop
that's sitting in storage,
and has been classified as a low value asset,
this laptop might be considered for recycling,
or disposal, because it's at, or near,
at the end of its useful lifecycle.
Now, once the assets are properly assigned and classified,
the next logical step in efficient asset management
is going to be to conduct monitoring, or tracking,
of those assets.
Now, monitoring and tracking of our assets,
ensures that each asset is properly accounted for,
and is being used optimally.
Asset monitoring usually is going to entail
maintaining an inventory, or a record,
of every single asset, its specifications,
its location, its assigned users,
and other relevant users like that.
This asset monitoring will allow your asset managers
to maintain a well-maintained inventory
that can help us understand which employee
is using which laptop, its specific make and model,
and when it was last serviced.
Now, asset tracking on the other hand,
is going to take asset monitoring a bit further
by monitoring and managing the location, status,
and condition of physical assets
by using specialized software and tracking technologies.
For example, your organization's asset tracking software
could be used to determine the exact GPS location
of a particular device at any given time.
Another key aspect of monitoring and tracking,
is the use of enumeration.
Now, enumeration involves identifying and counting assets,
especially in large organizations,
or during times of asset procurement, or retirement.
Enumeration usually involves the use of software tools
and scanners, to determine which assets
are connected to a given network,
what type of software, or operating systems
are being used by those assets.
And the overall status, or health, of each asset.
By regularly conducting enumeration,
organizations can ensure that they have an accurate
and up-to-date inventory, detect unauthorized devices,
and make informed decisions about software updates,
patches, and potential security vulnerabilities.
This proactive approach is going to aid in risk management,
and optimizing the utilization of your resources
within your organization.
For example, here at Dion Training,
if we wanted to buy another training company,
one of the first actions we would take would be
to enumerate their network to see what types
of assets they have, that are connected to that network,
that we would be able to reuse, upgrade, or retire.
Now one of the biggest assets in our modern workforce
that we need to keep track of,
is actually all those mobile devices we're using.
Now, mobile devices include smartphones, tablets,
laptops, and wearable devices.
And because work is no longer confined to the office,
we have employees that are often on the move,
and they're using various types of devices
to access our company data,
from wherever they are in the world.
To better assign, configure, monitor,
and track these devices,
most organizations are going to rely
on a mobile device management solution known as an MDM.
Now a mobile device management solution, or MDM,
will allow an organization to securely manage
and monitor the mobile devices of their employees,
including their smartphones, tablets, or laptops.
A mobile device management solution can provide
administrators with all the tools they need
to enforce corporate policies,
to ensure software uniformity,
and to safeguard the device's sensitive data.
The centralization provided by a MDM,
not only streamlines the management processes,
but also enhances the security,
by ensuring that all of our devices adhere to
the latest security standards and protocols.
Additionally, if an employee were to lose
their company-provided smartphone,
your organization's information technology department
could remotely lock, or even wipe that device,
to ensure the security of its sensitive data
by using a mobile device management solution.
Similarly, if there's a new software update,
or a new company application,
it can be remotely installed on all of your devices,
using that same MDM.
By using a mobile device management solution,
administers can push out software patches, updates,
and corporate applications
to thousands of devices simultaneously,
to ensure more timely updates
in a consistent user experiences occurring
across all of your management devices
inside of your organization.
This ensures that even in a vast, diverse ecosystem
of devices, there's a certain level of consistency
and standardization that is occurring.
This centralized approach to device management
not only increases operational efficiency,
but it also significantly reduces the risk associated
with unsecured, or outdated devices.
So remember, asset management ensures
the optimal utilization, maximize value,
and a security of your organization's assets.
Through a proper assignment and classification,
combined with diligent monitoring and tracking,
your business can make certain that its assets
are not just accounted for,
but they're also contributing to the organization's
overall growth and efficiency.
Whether it's a multi-national corporation,
or a budding startup,
the principals of asset management remain the same
by placing a large emphasis on structured, proactive,
and efficient asset governance and use.