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In this lesson,

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we're going to cover asset management.

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Now, asset management refers to the systematic approach

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to the governance and realization of value

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from the items that a group, or entity,

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is responsible for over its entire lifecycle.

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Asset management can be conducted for any asset

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your organization is responsible for.

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From tangible assets like office buildings,

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computers, and machinery,

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to intangible assets like your intellectual property,

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your organization's reputation and its goodwill.

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But for the sake of this lesson,

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we're mostly going to be focused on technological

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and digital assets.

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Now let's pretend that you work for a large

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Fortune 500 company, that has many different departments,

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a myriad of employees, and a wide range of projects

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that all must be accounted for, and kept track of.

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For example, some of the organization's assets

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could be laptops that each employee is going to use.

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Or, the software licenses that they've purchased,

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or the company servers that are holding

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the organization's sensitive data.

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By using asset management,

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the entire process of managing these assets

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can be improved so that the organization

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is going to run smoother.

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Now asset management is really focused on two main areas.

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The assignment of, and accounting for the assets,

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and the monitoring and tracking of those assets.

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Now first, let's take a look at the assignment,

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or accounting of those assets.

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Each assets for the organization has been assigned

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to a person, or group of people,

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who are going to be known as the owners of that asset.

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This process is often referred to as the allocation,

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or assignment of ownership.

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And it's going to be used to determine which asset

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belongs to whom, or which department.

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For instance, a high-performance computing machine

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may belong to the graphics design team.

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While specific software license

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could be assigned to a person, like Angela,

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who works in the marketing department.

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Now, the proper assignment of these assets

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will ensure that there's no ambiguity about

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who uses which asset.

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And this could also help us when we're

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conducting troubleshooting, upgrades,

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and replacement of a given asset.

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Now in addition to assigning the owner of each asset,

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each asset should also be classified and categorized.

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Classification is the process of categorizing assets

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based on certain criteria like their function,

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their value, or other parameters

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that deemed necessary by the organization.

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Proper classification of the type and the value

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of the asset is also important so the company

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can make an informed decision

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about their asset's maintenance, replacement,

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or its eventual retirement.

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For example, your organization's servers

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may be holding critical data that may be classified

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as a high value asset.

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And therefore, you may need to have more stringent

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maintenance schedules involved for that data.

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Conversely, if you're looking at an old laptop

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that's sitting in storage,

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and has been classified as a low value asset,

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this laptop might be considered for recycling,

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or disposal, because it's at, or near,

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at the end of its useful lifecycle.

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Now, once the assets are properly assigned and classified,

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the next logical step in efficient asset management

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is going to be to conduct monitoring, or tracking,

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of those assets.

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Now, monitoring and tracking of our assets,

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ensures that each asset is properly accounted for,

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and is being used optimally.

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Asset monitoring usually is going to entail

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maintaining an inventory, or a record,

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of every single asset, its specifications,

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its location, its assigned users,

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and other relevant users like that.

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This asset monitoring will allow your asset managers

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to maintain a well-maintained inventory

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that can help us understand which employee

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is using which laptop, its specific make and model,

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and when it was last serviced.

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Now, asset tracking on the other hand,

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is going to take asset monitoring a bit further

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by monitoring and managing the location, status,

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and condition of physical assets

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by using specialized software and tracking technologies.

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For example, your organization's asset tracking software

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could be used to determine the exact GPS location

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of a particular device at any given time.

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Another key aspect of monitoring and tracking,

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is the use of enumeration.

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Now, enumeration involves identifying and counting assets,

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especially in large organizations,

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or during times of asset procurement, or retirement.

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Enumeration usually involves the use of software tools

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and scanners, to determine which assets

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are connected to a given network,

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what type of software, or operating systems

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are being used by those assets.

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And the overall status, or health, of each asset.

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By regularly conducting enumeration,

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organizations can ensure that they have an accurate

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and up-to-date inventory, detect unauthorized devices,

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and make informed decisions about software updates,

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patches, and potential security vulnerabilities.

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This proactive approach is going to aid in risk management,

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and optimizing the utilization of your resources

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within your organization.

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For example, here at Dion Training,

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if we wanted to buy another training company,

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one of the first actions we would take would be

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to enumerate their network to see what types

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of assets they have, that are connected to that network,

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that we would be able to reuse, upgrade, or retire.

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Now one of the biggest assets in our modern workforce

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that we need to keep track of,

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is actually all those mobile devices we're using.

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Now, mobile devices include smartphones, tablets,

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laptops, and wearable devices.

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And because work is no longer confined to the office,

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we have employees that are often on the move,

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and they're using various types of devices

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to access our company data,

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from wherever they are in the world.

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To better assign, configure, monitor,

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and track these devices,

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most organizations are going to rely

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on a mobile device management solution known as an MDM.

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Now a mobile device management solution, or MDM,

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will allow an organization to securely manage

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and monitor the mobile devices of their employees,

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including their smartphones, tablets, or laptops.

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A mobile device management solution can provide

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administrators with all the tools they need

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to enforce corporate policies,

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to ensure software uniformity,

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and to safeguard the device's sensitive data.

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The centralization provided by a MDM,

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not only streamlines the management processes,

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but also enhances the security,

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by ensuring that all of our devices adhere to

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the latest security standards and protocols.

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Additionally, if an employee were to lose

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their company-provided smartphone,

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your organization's information technology department

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could remotely lock, or even wipe that device,

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to ensure the security of its sensitive data

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by using a mobile device management solution.

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Similarly, if there's a new software update,

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or a new company application,

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it can be remotely installed on all of your devices,

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using that same MDM.

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By using a mobile device management solution,

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administers can push out software patches, updates,

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and corporate applications

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to thousands of devices simultaneously,

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to ensure more timely updates

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in a consistent user experiences occurring

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across all of your management devices

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inside of your organization.

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This ensures that even in a vast, diverse ecosystem

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of devices, there's a certain level of consistency

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and standardization that is occurring.

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This centralized approach to device management

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not only increases operational efficiency,

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but it also significantly reduces the risk associated

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with unsecured, or outdated devices.

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So remember, asset management ensures

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the optimal utilization, maximize value,

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and a security of your organization's assets.

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Through a proper assignment and classification,

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combined with diligent monitoring and tracking,

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your business can make certain that its assets

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are not just accounted for,

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but they're also contributing to the organization's

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overall growth and efficiency.

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Whether it's a multi-national corporation,

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or a budding startup,

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the principals of asset management remain the same

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by placing a large emphasis on structured, proactive,

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and efficient asset governance and use.