How to Choose the Right Government IT Asset Management Software

From local governments to federal agencies, managing your IT assets in a secure and centralized platform is essential. Knowing the status, location, and condition of your IT hardware (e.g., laptops, tablets, etc.) will not only help your team effectively conduct business but will also ensure you're securely maintaining important records. In order to gain this visibility and control over your asset inventory, you need a proper government IT asset management plan and software solution in place. So, what exactly is government IT asset management, and how can you select the right software?

Government IT asset management (ITAM) is the practice of managing your agency's technology assets throughout their lifecycles, from acquisition to disposal. An IT asset can be physical (e.g., servers, desktop computers and laptops, keyboards, monitors, and other hardware) or digital (e.g., software licenses, licensing agreements for public and private clouds, etc.). With real-time insight into your entire IT inventory, you can increase security and data accuracy, optimize asset usage, and improve overall efficiency.

6 Considerations for Choosing Government IT Asset Management Software

No matter your branch of government or the number of assets, an IT asset management platform is essential for properly managing your IT inventory. Here are 6 features to consider when choosing the right government IT asset management software for your office.

• Ease of Use & Customization: The ideal government ITAM solution should be easy to configure and navigate so you can realize fast time to value. An intuitive user interface and customizable fields that match the way you already work will also help you promote user adoption across your team.
• Implementation & Ongoing Customer Support: Another crucial aspect of user adoption is proper implementation and customer support. Ensure that your government IT asset management provider offers robust onboarding and ongoing support (ideally available 24/7) so you can easily troubleshoot any issues that may arise.
• Data Security: As a government agency, an ITAM platform's security features are some of the most important factors to consider before signing on. Consider whether a vendor is cloud-based or on-premise, if it has security certifications like SOC 2, StateRAMP, or FedRAMP, and if it offers features like role-based user permissions, single sign-on (SSO), and SFTP.
• Integrations: To create a single source of truth for your government IT inventory data, look for a platform that integrates into your existing tech stack. More specifically, search for solutions that offer integrations with applications that relate to your asset management workflows, such as help desks/ticketing systems, network management tools, financial management systems, active directories, and device managers.
• Reporting & Auditing: Your chosen government ITAM software should provide robust reporting and auditing capabilities so you can maintain full visibility into the state of your IT inventory and easily report on it. Consider a solution that allows you to fully customize reports based on your key metrics and one that lets you create and assign routine audits to your team.
• Mobile App: When it comes to auditing, an easy-to-use mobile app with built-in barcode scanning technology can save you a lot of time and energy. By streamlining your IT inventory audit process with a mobile app, your team will be able to conduct audits more frequently, improving accountability and increasing data accuracy.

Conclusion

When paired with a comprehensive strategy, the right government IT asset management software can help your team save time, boost efficiency, and much more. For more in-depth tips to build your ITAM program, read our full Guide to Government IT Asset Management.

If you're ready to see Asset Panda's government IT asset management software in action, request your demo today.

Whether you’re starting from scratch or improving your existing ITAD plan, we’ve got you covered. Read our Comprehensive Guide to IT Asset Disposition for even more best practices to build and implement your plan.

Looking for the right ITAM software to manage the entire lifecycle of your IT assets? Request your Asset Panda demo today.