1. Ten mistakes not to make when
implementing ITAM/SAM
Yvette Mathews | @itam4life
Senior Consultant, ITS Partners
Patricia Adams | @patriciaadams
ITAM Evangelist, LANDESK

2. Section heading hereMistake 1: Governance
• Align program to C level
goals
• Involve key stakeholders
– ITSM, Security, EA,
Business units
• Gain consensus on
problems, roadmap,
timeframes, deliverables

3. Let’s talk about process…

4. Mistake 2: Not documenting your
processes
Let’s talk about process…
●Lack of reproducible activities
●Nothing to share with those
inside/outside of your team
●Nothing to work from as a baseline
to make improvements

5. Key Productivity Indicators
Financial based metrics:
Purchase price,
Maintenance,
Discounting,
Evaluate total cost of
ownership,
Timeframes and
associated costs,
Value of inventory, Asset
depreciation,
Forecast future spend,
Track lifecycles,
Mismeasurement can lead to mismanagement.
Mistake 3: Not Putting in Place Metrics to Measure Effectiveness

6. Mistake 4: One process does not fit all
Let’s talk about process…
●Processes should be standardized
but not inflexible
●Processes should be adjusted
based on specific requirements
●Exceptions to the process
should be expected and
documented

7. Effective policies? What exactly
does that mean?

8. Section heading here
●Policies reflect current business environment
and need to be revised when business changes
●Create policies that apply to third parties and
contractors
●Ensure ITAM is included in security policies too
●IT policies should be accessible and not buried
in HR manual
●Revision and updates should be noted on policy
Mistake 5: Never Revise Policies

9. Mistake 6: Not socializing your
policies
Effective policies? What exactly does that mean?
●Communicate your policies within
your organization
●Not knowing the policies does not
exempt people from following them
●Communicating policies enables
buy-in within your organization

10. Define ITAM Policies
●IT, Third party contractors,
Temporary workers, Vendors,
Suppliers, Service providers
●Acceptable use
●Purchasing
●Loss/theft
●Asset and data security
●Adherence to ITAM process
Mistake 7: Create Policies that Apply to End-
Users Only

11. So you have a tool…now what?

12. Mistake 8: Confusing your asset
repository with your CMDB
So you have a tool…now what?
●An asset repository contains the
physical, financial and contractual
data around an asset
●A CMDB contains information about
Configuration Items currently in use
●Assets are tracked from dating to
haunting
●CI’s are tracked while in use

13. Mistake 9: Relying on Discovery Data From a Tool that Isn’t
Fully Deployed
Now where did it go?
• Define which assets are in scope
• Ensure agent is deployed on all
assets and credential level access
for agentless
• Use bar code scanning, RFID,
sensors to detect assets not on
network
• Have a process for tracking new
and used spare parts
• Track assets by user, location,
project, cost center

14. Mistake 10: Never normalizing your data
So you have a tool…now what?
●Review for duplication:
oFoundational Data: Users, Departments,
Locations
oAsset data: Models – SW/HW

15. Thank you!
Yvette Mathews| @itam4life
Senior Consultant, ITS Partners
Patricia Adams | @patriciaadams
ITAM Evangelist, LANDESK