The level and detail of the information available to managers about the software and hardware on their network impacts greatly on the cost, as well as the success of IT out-sourcing and in-sourcing initiatives.

The illusion of control

IT managers are often frustrated in their efforts to centrally control all the hardware and software on their networks. With different departments and users ‘doing their own thing’, managing and supporting IT becomes more difficult. The inevitable result is an increase in costs.

Why over-paying for IT support is so common

Companies are keen to negotiate a good deal for the provision of managed IT services, or IT outsourcing. However, a contracts are based on the extent of the network to be supported,  overestimation of the number of servers, PCs, etc., results in organisations over-paying significantly.

With analysts suggesting that the gap between actual and real IT inventories can be as much as 20%, it follows that many organisations are significantly over-paying for IT support.

The Information Gap

The problem is that managers do not have sufficiently detailed, or accurate information about their IT inventory, leading to over-estimated support costs in respect of:

· Machines that are retired, or should be; retired, consolidated, or virtualized
· Software that is not in use, or should be removed

How Can You Support It If You Don’t Know It Is There

There is a very practical side of IT inventory accuray and IT support.   Put simply: how can you support something if you dont know it exists.

If a machine does not exist in the inventory, does that mean that it is not covered by support agreements?   Take it one step further: who is responsible when the network dies because a device (that nobody knew about) collapses?

Deliver Better Service

But, the benefits of a detailed and accurate IT inventory don’t stop there. With almost 50% of a typical support call spent establishing the status of the callers PC, ensuring that helpdesk staff have ready access to status information can greatly increase call handling efficiency.  That includes dynamic inventory data, such as; device characteristics and performance, software versions, security status, etc.

Revenue capture for in-sourcing

For organizations that are in-sourcing their IT – where the IT department is charging for the provision of its services – then the implications of underestimating the real number of PCs, servers, etc. to be supported can result in serious under-billing.

The Solution – More Accurate IT Inventory

Companies seeking to out-source should insist on a company-wide inventory (and on the capability to do this in an ongoing basis).  That will ensure more accurate billing, fewer issues due to non-conformance (to corporate standards, for example) and faster response times/efficiency.

To achieve this iQuate provides the tools to monitor and audit hardware and software to a levelof detail, accuracy and speed that was previously not possible.

Our audit, inventory and monitoring suite, called iQSonar enable organisations to discover, scan and track all PCs, software and devices in real time,pinpointing; licencing, utilisation, compliance and other issues.