Companies still lax about asset inventory
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Businesses are putting themselves at risk because they are failing to keep accurate records of their IT assets.
According to a survey commissioned by configuration and security management company, LANDesk, almost two thirds of IT managers do not have a completely accurate record of their IT assets. In fact, just 28% use a single management tool to discover, track, secure and manage all the IT hardware and software assets in their organisation.
Rather, the vast majority of respondents profile their IT assets using manual methods, usually by physically checking the location of equipment in the office or logging all new hardware and software as it arrives, and then manually updating spreadsheets.
The survey, which questioned 500 enterprise IT managers across the US, UK, Germany and France, also revealed that 15% of companies do not have fully licensed software installed. Of the 85% that do, less than half would welcome an audit from a software vendor.
Moreover, 17% of respondents would request extra time to prepare for a software audit, while 9% would request additional licences ahead of the audit.
The majority of companies (83%) that did keep a log of IT assets said they did so for legal reasons, while one-fifth said reducing the costs of redundant equipment and software was a key motivator.
