You paid for it, where is it? How is your company managing its IT assets? Do you have an IT asset inventory system that identifies each piece of hardware, its location, age, and replacement schedule? Or is there just “that person” at your company who knows where all of your stuff is?
The latter can get out of hand quickly. As a business grows in its scope and capability, the amount of company-owned assets naturally accumulates over time. Adopting an asset management plan can be easily implemented by an experienced MSP. By tracking I.T. assets and asset information, your business can be running more efficiently and safely – and your days of relying on “that person” will be over.
What are the potential risks of poor asset management?
Two words: exploitation and vulnerability. Most companies have an asset that allows them access to the internet such as a router or network switch – these types of assets become a heavily targeted hacking opportunity since so much information can be gathered from them.
And with such widespread use of these IT assets throughout most companies, the most common issue we see is that they are not updated often enough to keep malicious operators at bay. Do you have a hardware asset plan in place?
This goes for your employee assets as well. Failing to remove inactive users, can easily result in former employees having access to information that can compromise your company.
Does your janitor need access to your engineering files? Do your engineers need access to payroll documents? A solid asset management plan can control user access levels to further secure your data.
Do you have an onboarding and offboarding process for your employee assets?
Keeping track of your assets: knowing you don’t need something is almost as important as knowing what you don’t have.
Again, part of managing and maintaining your assets means ensuring that all of your software and hardware are up to date with latest security enforcements. In addition, removing access for users who no longer work at your company and setting data permissions for those that do, will help you remain accountable to your customers as well.
Having a detailed profile on the specifics of your assets (serial number, make and model, etc.) will help your company stay organized, and create a clear path to keeping your IT devices a company asset, not a possible liability.
Moreover, ordering new equipment or replacing out-of-date technology becomes miles easier. Rather than your employees going back and forth with ticket-tennis trying to garner all the essential information needed, the specific requirements for your company needs are already on hand.
Tailor your asset needs with your I.T. company
Building trusting relationships with our clients is a core value at Attentus. One way we do so is by focusing on the onboarding process. Our onboarding process ensures that every detail of the different systems in your company are documented. For example, should one of your employees need a new monitor, our records will tell us the size, resolution, preferred brand-even what ports and cables you need. This helps create a seamless installation right into your existing systems.
As a business owner, you may not have the time or capacity to keep updated on developments in the I.T. field. One of the benefits of using Attentus, other than the local convenience of having an I.T. company in Seattle, is our ability to run reports on specific software your company utilizes that will show which ones are exploitable. This allows for us to draft up next steps and secure your software programs.
Feeling lost on how to keep track of everything or not knowing where to start? Reach out to Attentus Technologies to learn more about how we can help your business stay secure and organized. We are your go-to I.T. support in Seattle!
