Audit Defence
In ITAM, as in many other areas, a one off challenge such as a software licensing audit or corporate merger or disposal, may demand deep subject matter expertise beyond that available in-house.
We will work with your existing teams to support them through these challenging events, providing support and advice to ensure you get the results you need while upskilling your team to help them meet similar challenges in future
Software audits can be divisive and destructive of both internal and vendor relationships. Often demanded at short notice, and conducted against strict timelines, audits can be one of the most stressful things your IT teams will ever need to deal with. ITAM Intelligence can help you with all aspects of a software audit, from project managing the audit process itself to validating the results (which are often wrong!) to negotiating a settlement with the vendor. We can also help you work with internal stakeholders to reach agreement on the settlement and understand how to distribute the costs – a process which is often more fraught than the audit itself. In many ways an audit is just the beginning – the audit may have highlighted that a different software asset management strategy is required, or ways in which processes need improvement. Finally, you may still need to work with the vendor – particularly if they are strategic for your business – and the relationship will need repairing. Our ITAM Strategies and Frameworks and Vendor Negotiations expertise can help get vendor relations back on track and ensure that you are audit ready for when they next come knocking.
Click here to learn more about how ITAM Intelligence helped a federated multi-national company respond to a Microsoft audit.
Make IT Asset Management Fit for the Future
Six Steps to Total IT Asset Management
Is poor quality IT Asset Management posing risks to your business? Or do you have some ITAM in place but it’s time to step up to the next maturity level? Either way, we can work with your internal teams to identify and implement the changes they need to make to keep your IT Assets safe and maximise your return on investment.
1. ITAM Current State Diagnostic and Gap analyses
Many IT Organisations find that short diagnostic exercises are useful in helping them define and articulate the problems they are facing in order to obtain senior management sponsorship for change. ITAM Intelligence will conduct a current state diagnostic to help you understand existing ITAM capability and provide high level recommendations for improvement and can also carry out tool, resourcing and process gap analyses to deepen understanding of specific areas of concern.
2. ITAM Strategy
We will work with you to develop a detailed IT Asset Management Strategy that is aligned to your IT and Business needs. It will include a detailed process maturity assessment to provide a baseline of current service maturity, clearly outline the future vision and desired state and provide recommendations regarding how to achieve this. The Strategy development process will also address resourcing, reporting lines, risk management and assurance, procurement and cross-charging requirements and IT governance.
3. ITAM Service Design
With a large number of stakeholders, both within and external to IT (such as HR and Finance) we recommend that businesses treat ITAM as an end to end IT Service. ITAM Intelligence can support the development of detailed service designs including re-charging models, process documentation, ITAM policies and resource plans. In addition, we can help you with budget applications and project proposals to allow you to implement desired changes as soon as possible.
4. Service Implementation
As with all things IT, implementation is key – all the planning in the world won’t bring benefits until a project has been implemented. ITAM Intelligence can provide the technical and subject matter expertise you need to help drive change and realise its benefits. Whether you are implementing a formal ITAM project, or have gone down the route of continuous improvement, we can support your team to identify low hanging fruit, identify and support ITAM best practice and work with stakeholders to ensure that new processes work for them and that the change will stick.
5. Service Operation
ITAM risks are classic black swans – low probably but high risk – with the result that although day to day processes and operations are effective and well-supported by analysts and practitioners, there is a skills gap at senior subject matter level that really bites when a software vendor decides to audit, or it’s time to negotiate a new contract with a strategic vendor. ITAM Intelligence can help fill this gap through a bespoke retainer arrangement that provides the senior SME support your team needs to manage and escalate risks appropriately, respond to changing IT and Business strategy and requirements, and drive increasing benefits from ITAM.
6. ITAM Assurance
Measurement of the tangible changes and benefits a project or continuous improvement activity brings is an important but often overlooked aspect of management. Identifying and publicising the tangible and visible benefits of any activity boosts morale, maintains momentum and can support the business case for more resources. ITAM Intelligence can provide independent evaluation of ITAM benefits and assure the progress your team is making towards their targets so that senior managers are confident the investment they have made in improving ITAM is worthwhile.
ITAM Coaching & Mentoring
IT Asset Management requires cross-functional skills, and in smaller organisations may be carried out by individuals with completely different job titles, such as IT Procurement Analyst or Service Desk Engineer. No matter what their job title, they deserve to be empowered to identify and implement improvements, both for their sake and for yours.
ITAM Intelligence’s ITAM Mentoring Programme works with both individuals or teams to develop new skills and competencies and increase productivity by building a continual improvement plan and providing support and guidance as the team implements the desired changes.
Professional Development is critical for ITAM Practitioners to ensure they keep up to date with changing technology, licensing models and IT Asset Management best practice. Throughout our mentoring programme, we focus on ensuring your teams develop the skills they need to navigate the ever-increasing complexity that is inherent to IT while keeping your IT and Information Assets safe.
Click here for some of our success stories or contact us on 020 3633 0174 to hear how we benefit your ITAM teams through our coaching and mentoring programmes.
