By CNET Networks, 29 August 2002 14:00
NEWS By Vivienne Fisher Most companies have no knowledge of around a fifth of their IT equipment because they fail to keep proper audits, according to a leading industry analyst. Carl Greiner, senior VP at the META Group, believes that it's a worldwide problem as companies have a knee jerk reaction to try and control costs the best they can. Greiner said that an enterprise may know what 80 per cent of its IT inventory is. However, he suggests that rather than carrying out a one-off audit to increase this per centage businesses should take a more holistic approach - putting processes and tools in place so that the data being collected is accurate. He sees IT asset inventory as a task IT departments need to drive, so that they can understand their cost structure. "If management say they want to outsource functions they have to understand the cost structure [so they know] if they can save money or do it more efficiently inhouse," Greiner said. "What we're saying is you've got to bring financial discipline to the IT community," he argued. "And this works for hardware, software, communications ... you've got to understand all these different cost elements." According to Greiner, companies of all sizes are grappling with analysing inventory, although he admits that it's easier to control for smaller businesses because there is less equipment to manage. "[Enterprises] may have servers in closets and they don't know who owns them," he said. The benefits Greiner predicts are being able to make any budget cuts more effectively, in addition to improving the cost as well as quality of services the IT department is providing to the business. Vivienne Fisher writes for ZDNet.com.au
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