Hardware And Software Inventory Control

Hardware and Software Inventory Control

Summary – IT organizations manage an important part of the company’s total assets. IT assets are expensive both to acquire and maintain. As a result, asset management is to say the control of hardware and software inventories plays a fundamental role in helping IT teams to guarantee efficient use of organizations ‘resources to support both users’ needs and functions of the business, this with the purpose of providing a precise record of the costs and risks of the life cycles of technologies in order to maximize the value that decisions related to the technological strategy, architecture and financing bring to the business. This trial treats the relevant points within the inventory control of HW and SW, as well as their acquisition, seeing necessary to make a comparison of said points at the level of Ecuador with the different schemes, regulations and existing codes.

Terms index – IT asset management, acquisition.

Introduction

Every organization must know the importance of having its controlled hardware and software inventory, there is a discipline that is responsible for this and is known as IT assets management and in case of applying it provides innumerable benefits, this management together with the responsibilities Financial, inventory, contractual and risk management, serves to manage the life cycle in general of such assets, including tactical and strategic decision making, IT assets include all hardware and software elements found in The organization’s environment.

This IT asset management is also known as IT inventory management, because it usually involves collecting detailed information about hardware and software inventories, which is subsequently used to make decisions about acquisitions and use given to assets. Having a precise inventory of IT assets helps companies to use their assets more effectively, and avoid unnecessary purchases of assets by reuse of existing resources. In addition, this IT assets management allows organizations to reduce the risks associated with the costs of inadvertently building new IT projects on outdated foundations (or strangers) .

Developing

Types of IT Assets Management

Assets management is a broad term, which can have a multitude of meanings below are the most common types of asset management that are usually in IT organizations.

• IT asset management

• It is the global set of business practices that brings together financial, contractual and inventory functions to support the management and strategic decision -making of the life cycle in the environment of the IT. In addition, it is part of a company’s services management functions.

Examples of assets:

•  Infrastructure hardware: network devices, data centers, physical servers, etc. that your company has bought and operates.
•  Facilities and Infrastructure Lease Agreements: Infrastructure provided by third parties are not considered part of their company’s assets. Agreements governing the access and use of third -party infrastructure can be considered assets.
•  Software developed internally: things your IT team has written or built internally, that your company is owned.
•  Software licenses: also known as commercial software packages, they are things that someone else has created, and for whose use for a certain period you have bought a license, it should be taken into account that the asset is the license, and not the software.
•  Devices for end users that are owned by the company: desktop computers, monitors, printers, telephones and other devices for end users have been traditionally considered IT assets, taking into account that the devices that are owned by employees are not company assets. This is important, since the concept of ‘bring your own device’ has become very common.
•  Digital operations data: more and more, the data is treated as IT assets, which have a value, cost, management and maintenance during their life cycle. Operating data are particularly important for digital companies.

 What is the life cycle of a IT asset?

Assets are those things that have a finite useful life. To maximize the value generated for the company, asset management processes use the concept of asset life cycle to structure activities and support decision making. As explained above, each type of asset management function within a given organization can have its own definition of the stages of the life cycle and the information that interests them. However, regardless of whether they refer to buildings, equipment or software, the inherent cycle is the same. Assets management is the systematic process of developing, operating, maintaining, updating and discarding assets economically.

In the context of IT assets management, the structure of the life cycle of an asset usually has this form:

• Planning: The strategy and decisions about which assets are needed within the organization, how to obtain them, how they will be used and how they will be financed. Planning usually includes TCO and cost/benefit analysis of alternatives.
•  Acquisition: The procurement of assets through its construction, purchase, lease or obtaining licenses.
•  Assignment: Introduction of asset in the IT ecosystem This includes installation, integration with other components, establishment of operation / support processes, and user access supply.
•  MAINTENANCE: As assets are operated and used, maintenance, repair, improvements and reconditioning may be necessary to maximize the value for users, prolong the useful life of the asset, mitigate risks and reduce support costs.
•  Withdrawal: At the end of the useful life of the asset, this must be discarded or eliminated in any other way. The withdrawal usually includes the transition from users to other resources, the update of asset records, the cancellation of support agreements, the completion of licenses renewals and the start of the planning of spare assets.

Some infrastructure offer guidance for asset management processes in the operational context, the officially recognized standards for IT assets management are those established by the International Standardization Organization (ISO).

•  ISO/IEC 19770-1: a process infrastructure that highlights the best practices for IT assets management in an organization. It allows to demonstrate to an organization that is executing IT assets management in sufficient compliance with the established standard to meet corporate governance requirements and support service management activities.
•  ISO/IEC 19770-2: A data standard for software identification labels (SWID). This standard allows organizations to identify uniquely to the software implemented on a specific device.
•  ISO/IEC 19770-3: a data standard to describe the accreditations and rights related to specific software and the method of license/accreditation consume.
•  ISO/IEC 19770-4: A measurement standard that allows the generation of standardized reports for the use of resources. This standard is particularly important when managing complex data centers, and for cloud -based software management and hardware resources.
•  ISO/IEC 19770-5: It offers a general vocabulary perspective and standards for IT asset management defined by ISO [2].

 Assets management at Ecuador

In the internal control standards of the State Comptroller’s Office in section 410-09 on the maintenance and control of technological infrastructure, it is specified that the control of computer goods will be maintained through an updated inventory with the detail of the characteristics of the characteristics And responsible, reconciled with accounting records, this can help sustain itself by means Hardware, software and networks support and also specifies which would be responsible for these assets, it is important to highlight what the computer goods classified in the three categories previously appointed.

Within hardware assets all mobile equipment such as smartphone (smartphone), tablet, laptop, etc., as well as fixed equipment such as tower server, blade server, rack server, desktop computer, laptops, etc. Input peripherals known as the keyboard, mouse, microphone, touch screen, etc., output peripherals such as monitor, projector, headphones, speakers, laser printer, ink injection printer, matrix printer, thermal printer, pleotr, Fax machine, etc. In addition, communications peripherals are specified to take into account how USB cards for wireless networks (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth) also specifies the transfer boards (bypass) of the uninterrupted unit of energy (UPS), of electric power outputs , automatic energy transfer, etc., and finally the access control systems, air conditioning, automatic fire extinguishing, closed television circuit, etc.

In the Software Support Assets section, operating systems, service, maintenance or administration, software or base software packages such as office supplies, file servers of files of files, email, printing, prints, of instant messaging, applications, database, etc., and business applications.

Mentioning networks to take into account as the different types of communication cables, connection panels, racks, switch devices for different purposes, routers, firewall, intruder detention/prevention systems, intruders, intruder prevention/prevention systems, intruders, systems, etc.

It is even very important that all the aforementioned assets must be assigned to an individual as responsible for it, for example, there must be a responsible for desktop computers, another cell phone, another of the data center servers, etc., Highlighting that the responsible term does not imply that the individual really has the property rights of the assets if rather having different functions two of the most fundamental in the EGSI scheme would be to prepare the inventory of the assets under his charge and keep it updated as well as the function of classifying, documenting and keeping the information and assets updated, and defining the access permits to information all this would be given when consolidating the inventories of the load assets of each responsible appointed by area or Organizational Unit.

In the life cycle of a IT asset mentioned in section B of this document, it talks about the acquisition of them in this case, the hardware and software assets for existing public organizations in Ecuador are going to be based on Ecuador of the Organic Code of the Social Economy of Knowledge, Creativida and Innovation also known as Code Ingenios where it stipulates through articles what public sector institutions must take into account for the acquisition of hardware and software. The State in the acquisition of goods or services including those of digital technologies consulting, will always prefer the acquisition of free digital technologies. In this code in art. 143. The “Free Hardware” section is stated where it is specified that the different institutions and organizations of higher education and others must support in their research plans the use and implementation of free hardware. In case of free hardware developed in the country, it will have preference to hire it by the State, on the other hand, in art. 144. The “use of free digital technologies in education systems” is indicated where it is established that the institutions of the National Education System and the Higher Education System, only for its administrative functioning, must use software following the priority and criteria scheme established in art 148. Where it is indicated that, for public procurement related to software, public sector contracting entities must follow the following order of priority:

1.  Open source software that includes source code development services, parameterization or implementation with an important Ecuadorian added value component;
2.  Software in any other modality that includes services with a majority component of Ecuadorian added value;
3.  Open source software without majority component of Ecuadorian added value services;
4.  International software through national suppliers; Y,
5. International software through foreign suppliers.

In the case, the acquisition or development of open source software with services, with an important component of Ecuadorian added value, the public body involved in the acquisition must justify the acquisition of other technologies of other characteristics before the Electronic Government Regulation Entity determined by the President of the Republic by regulation.

In any case, after the acquisition of other non -free technologies, the acquirer institution must submit to the competent authority in the field of electronic government within 180 days the feasibility plan for migration to free digital technologies. If the migration is feasible, it will have the period of up to five years for its execution. In the case of not feasible, the competent authority in the field of electronic government will carry out periodic evaluations, in accordance with the provisions of the respective regulations [9].

Conclusions

The hardware and software inventory control is the basis where the administration of assets is supported, of good control in this inventory the appropriate strategies are derived to optimize the costs in the scalability of the computer equipment.

IT asset management is a process that allows organizations to achieve proper management of IT assets; to improve the efficiency and performance of it and with it minimize costs, among other things.

Assets management provides updated and complete information on the configuration of assets and their relationship with each other; It also takes care that this data is available when it is needed.

The management process combines financial, contractual, inventory and planning aspects; To provide complete visibility of IT assets. In this way the company can optimize the life cycle of its equipment; and facilitate decision making about IT systems.

IT asset management should be a key part of the strategy of a IT organization, by collecting information on hardware and software that make up IT services, IT assets management, it can be used as a Decision tool on the use of software and hardware, acquisition and redistribution.

The hardware and software acquisition process at the Ecuador free and in case this does not happen, the acquisition of technologies of other characteristics must be justified.

References

1. «Hardware and Software Inventory Control,» Ciset, May 14, 2019. [Online]. Available: https: // www.Ciset.ES/PUBLICATIONS/BLOG/340-CONTROL-DE-INVENTARY-HARDWARE-Y-SOFTWARE.
2.  «IT asset management,» Freshservice, [online]. Available: https: // freshservice.com/latam/it-asset-manage-software/.
3.  «Introduction to IT assets management,» Omegasoft, [online]. Available: https: // omegasoftve.com/INTRODUCTION-A-LA-Gestion-de-Actives-De-Ti/.
4.  «ITAM 101: Introduction to IT Asset Management,» Invgate, June 8, 2017. [Online]. Available: https: // blog.Invize.com/es/ITAM-101-Introduci%C3%B3N-A-the-Gesti%C3%B3n-de-Actives-of-TI.
5.  «IT asset management: why carry it out in your company?,»Tech, May 11, 2019. [Online]. Available: https: // www.GB-Advisors.com/en.
6.  «Software for asset administration,» Manageengine, [online]. Available: https: // www.Manageengine.com/Latam/Service-Desk/Management-de-Actives-Ti/.
7.  C. G. d. State, "Internal control standards of the State Comptroller’s Office," Lexis, Quito, 2014.
8.  A. P. d. Ecuador, «Government Safety Scheme EGSI,» Lexis, Quito, 2013.
9.  A. N. d. l. R. d. Ecuador, «Organic Code of the Social Economy of Knowledge, Creativida and Innovation,» Lexis, Quito, 2016.