Asset Management

Know your environment

Inventory

Why Inventory?

Inventory Approaches

• WAN schematic– Sites, type of connections, carriers, circuit ID– Servers, users, IP addressing, key contacts,

street address

• LAN schematic– Site-specific, topology, switches, routers,

hubs, cabling, room locations

Inventory Approaches

• Server Hardware Inventory– Processor, memory, disk– Backup cycles, maintenance

• Server Software Inventory

• Communications Facilities– Circuit numbers, type/speed, repair phone

numbers

Inventory Approaches

• Vendor List

• Support Services

Inventory Approaches

• Write it down

• Keep it current

• If your entire system was destroyed…

Know Your Users

• Who are the people you are serving?

• Find out user needs

Planning Downtime

• Minimize impact

• Overestimate time slightly

• Scheduling

• Announcing

Testing

• Create a test environment

• Test in a production environment

• Using redundant systems

• Phasing

Legacy Systems

• “older” technology

• Keep documentation

• Training (if still available)

• Staff assignments – varied

TCO

• Total Cost of Ownership– Hardware/Software– Support– Network facilities– Training– Administrative– Money (depreciation,etc)– Wasted time– Consumables (paper, diskettes)– Coworker’s time

Asset Management

• Maintain standards

• Outsourcing

• Automation Tools

• Inventory Tracking software

• Effective Training

• Proactively checking for problems

Asset Management

What is the ultimate goal?