IT Asset Management is like a special skill within a bigger skill set. My career has been all about IT Support. That’s where I started in technology. IT Support might seem simple to most, since many people know about Help Desks, Service Desks, or Desk-side Support. These are all parts of what’s called IT Service Management.
I won’t bore you with all the technical details, but there are many different areas of IT that go beyond things like Development or Infrastructure. All of these areas are important for keeping IT running smoothly. Some of them include IT Operations Management (ITOM), IT Business Management (ITBM), and of course IT Service Management (ITSM).
For the past 15 years, I’ve been in charge of IT Service Management and all the processes that keep IT up and running. I make sure that everything is in order, from handling incidents and problems to managing changes and events. I also keep an eye on things like configuration management to make sure everything is set up correctly. And last but not least, I take care of IT Asset Management, which means keeping track of all the hardware and software we need to make everything work. I figure out what we need, where to get it, and how much it costs. I also make sure that we have the right vendors, contracts, and service levels to meet our needs. And I keep track of when everything goes end of life or end of service so that we can plan for the future and make smart investments.
I’ve been part of a central Service Management Organization, leading teams to manage various IT processes. But this year, I got to experience the thrill of setting up and leading a big IT Asset Management function from scratch. Managing a team of skilled Asset Managers is different from fully understanding, building, and running a mature ITAM Function. That’s something I’ve always been curious about and wanted to learn more about.
Part of that is my leadership style. I’ve always been a hands-on person. Back in my military days, I never asked others to do things I couldn’t do myself. So, when I have the chance to learn something new and take on a leadership role, I’m all for it. I believe that the best leaders are those who’ve been in the trenches and understand what it takes to do a job well.
These days, we see a lot of corporate leaders who don’t understand what it takes to do a job the best way possible. They’re just focused on the bottom line and the shareholders. It’s like Steve Jobs once said about Apple’s organizational design. Management was lifted from within the company, from those who were actually doing the work and knew what it took to focus on the customer and quality products. They weren’t just focused on revenue and cost-cutting to increase margins. It was like, “If you build it, they will come.”
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