ITAK Volume 3 Issue 8 Official publication of International Association of IT Asset Managers, Inc.    Download the complete magazine ITAK Volume 3 Issue 8 (2.8 MB) - Policy Management   President's Letter  By: Barbara Rembiesa, President of IAITAM  Six years.  IAITAM was started just six years ago with an idea that asset management was indeed a true field of study and that organizations around the world were struggling to determine what that meant to their enterprise.  IAITAM has grown as the awareness and industry grew.  So, like any organization, with a handful of employees and drive enough for an army, policies were outward facing.  All was copasetic to our clients as we churned, created best practices, new courseware and a world-class membership organization.  Read More... Cover Story ITAM Policy Management 101 - A Necessary Program of Organizational Guidance and Control By: Dan Ingouf,  Content Development Manager for IAITAM The word “policy” can have strong influence and impact dependent upon which part of the policy spectrum your life happens to exist.  Do you consider yourself the person who writes the policies, or are you in the position of just trying to abide by them; the answer is YES.  Read More... Feature Article An Irreverent Look at Living with Less - Enterprise Software Policies - How They Can Save You Money   By: Ed Cartier, Partner of Sage Technology Resources  While giving a presentation at a national IT asset management summit, I began the show by asking, “How many IT managers out there have too much money?” Astonishingly, not a hand was raised! I suspect that the same condition holds true today, and perhaps even more so. I also suspect that the majority of IT managers are being asked to do more with less or the same budget. What’s an IT pro to do?  Read More... Feature Article The Hard Truth - Are Policies Really Necessary Since Employees Don't Follow Them Anyway?   By:  Phara McLachlan, CEO of Animus Solutions, Inc.  We all have them.  But, do we really know what policies we have or where they are? Are the users following them?  Do we take action when the policy is broken or turn a blind eye?  Are policies necessary? For the protection of the organization and the employees the answer is yes.  Policies are necessary and it is imperative that we manage them.  Read More... Can Your City Survive an Audit? ITAM and Local Government - Where it Goes Wrong By:  Mark Hilbish, Trainer for IAITAM I recently retired from a public safety IT position with a local municipality. Being too young to stop working and wanting to utilize both of my strong points, IT and training, I became a trainer with IAITAM. I was given the “Best Practices Blueprint” book to read and review on my first day here. WOW, what an eye-opening experience to see something I had preached on deaf ears at the city being reinforced so comprehensively. Read More... ITAD - Meeting IT Life-cycle Challenges to Maximize Value and Minimize Risk By:  Todd A. Bone, Chief Executive Officer of XS International, Inc. The amount of decommissioned IT assets is growing at an accelerated rate due to the rapid advancement of technological change.  The resulting challenge is determining how to capture additional asset value from this eWaste and avoid liabilities arising out of data security issues and non-compliance with legislative requirements. This paper explores life-cycle challenges and provides insights into effective ITAD programs. The goal of an ITAD program is to maximize return and minimize the risk associated with asset decommissioning.  Read More... Column Managing the People Part of Asset Management By:  Jenny Schuchert, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications for Animus Solutions, Inc IT asset managers are busy people.  With entire computer and software lifecycles to manage, documentation aplenty and multiple tracking tools instead of a single system to manage, problem situations are common.  Creating standards, policies and processes is an ambitious vision in any corporate environment.  While driven to improve IT asset management, the day is instead spent enforcing policies, correcting oversights and running reports.  Professional training and vendor literature focuses on business techniques that provide the best way to reach the apex of a mature IT asset management program.  In this article, let’s take a look at reaching the people in the organization to see if we are missing opportunities. Read More...