Asset Management concept
Discovery applications discover CI data and store the data in an internal database, which can then be populated into BMC Helix CMDB. These applications discover data on a regular basis such as when new hardware or software is installed or uninstalled and as updates happen in the company's environment. You must set up the required filters at the discovery level itself so that only necessary data is populated in the CMDB when data is discovered.
BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management provides the following features to reduce the total cost of ownership of your CIs and increase return on investment:
Feature | Description |
|---|---|
Contract management | Tracks the status, type, terms, conditions, payments, and other information about lease, software, warranty, and maintenance contracts. This feature can be performed only in BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management classic Mid Tier interface. |
Blackout schedules | Lists available or unavailable time for CIs. This feature can be performed only in BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management classic Mid Tier interface. |
Inventory management | Specifies, tracks, and manages individual CIs and bulk items. |
Configuration management | Defines standard configurations, or setups, for different people or groups within a company, and maintains the status of the CIs within the configurations. |
Lifecycle IT CI management | Uses best practices workflow to handle all phases of the IT CI management lifecycle from requisition, purchase, and receipt, to installation and deployment. This feature can be performed only in BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management classic Mid Tier interface. |
Cost module | Consolidates CI costs from procurement to disposition, and allocates and tracks costs to cost centers. This feature can be performed only in BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management classic Mid Tier interface. |
Requisition management | Creates purchase requisitions, manages the approvals of the requisitions, initiates the creation of purchase orders, and manages the receipt of items from suppliers and the creation of the associated CIs. This feature can be performed only in BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management classic Mid Tier interface. |
Scan assets via mobile clients |
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Software asset management
Organizations can acquire software in different ways. Software can be built for a specific purpose within the company. Software can be purchased from a software vendor or outsourcer. Software can be acquired through an acquisition or merger between companies, or between departments within a single company.
Software asset management is a core component of an overall asset management policy. IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) in the Software Asset Management Book defines software asset management as "all of the infrastructure and processes necessary for the effective management, control and protection of the software assets within an organization, throughout all stages of their lifecycle."
ITIL indicates that the following processes make up the holistic approach to software asset management:
- Overall management processes — The management processes surrounding the other software assets management processes. The overall management processes are related to change management.
- Core asset management processes — Identification of software assets, including maintaining this information in BMC Helix CMDB.
- Logistic processes — Control of the software asset lifecycle. These processes include procurement, deployment, and end of life.
- Verification and compliance processes — Verification and compliance of software asset management policies and procedures.
- Relationship management processes — Software contract management.
Standard configuration
The Standard configurations functionality is integrated with the BMC Change Management application to facilitate the procurement process. The standard configuration compares what is available in the inventory to determine which items are available and which items need to be procured. The standard configurations define what type of software or hardware a particular group is entitled to. The configurations are stored in the Configuration form. This form has a header component that describes the configuration and a line item component that describes each of the components (hardware or software) that make up this standard configuration.
For more information on product and operations catalogs, see Configuring product and operational catalogs.
Configuration management
In BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management, Configuration Management consists of processes that ensure CIs are available when BMC Helix ITSM: Change Management requires CIs. If CIs are not available, request new CIs. For acquiring new CIs, you can create new or use existing contracts with the suppliers. Configuration management also consists of processes to ensure that the supplier and the contract information is updated.
The following figure shows the configuration management process flow:
Sequence | Process | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Configuration administrators, purchasing agents, and approvers order new CIs. Purchasing agents use the Requisition Console from Mid Tier interface to create requisitions for assets, submit them for approval, and generate purchase orders. | |
2. CI Registration | Configuration administrators and purchasing agents register when they create new CIs. A user with Asset Admin permissions can directly create assets. | |
3. CI Update | Configuration administrators update the attributes or relations of the existing CIs by using the Asset Action feature to perform routine and repetitive tasks with just a few clicks. | |
4. Contract Administration | Configuration administrator when they create new contracts or update the existing contracts. |
Configuration catalog
Use the configuration catalog in BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management to set up and manage approved configurations in your company.
Reports
BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management provides various predefined reports to give you quick and easy access to information about your system. Use the Report console to generate these reports. If the predefined reports return more information than you need, you can manage the scope of the report by using qualifications. For more information, see Using-reports-and-flashboards.