ITAK Volume 3 Issue 9 Official publication of International Association of IT Asset Managers, Inc.    Download the complete magazine ITAK Volume 3 Issue 9 (2.75 MB) - Program Management   President's Letter  By: Barbara Rembiesa, President of IAITAM  Program Management is the whole enchilada when it comes to ITAM.  Picture this – you’re a newly named IT program manager and someone has dropped the ITAM program in your lap.  It can be a daunting responsibility and considering the touch points within the enterprise, the program complexities and departmental interdependencies – are you up for the challenge?   Read More... Cover Story Program Management: Maintaining the Ecosystem  By: Jenny Schuchert, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications for Animus Solutions, Inc Program Management is the least understood best practice for IT asset management.   Often confused with Project Management, Program Management is a set of activities that support an entire department or a set of projects.  Like Project Management, Program Management processes include planning, organization and coordination but differ in their scope. Read More... Feature Article ISO 19770 Primer - Development Begins for ISO/IEC 19770-3 Software Entitlement Tag Data Standard  By:  John Tomeny, Convener of ISO/IEC 19770-3 Working Group on Software Entitlement Tags, Sassafras Software Inc. The ISO/IEC 19770-3 Other Working Group (“OWG”) was convened this month on September 9.  Over thirty Software Asset Management (SAM) industry participants have joined the work so far and more are continuing to join.  The Working Group has been tasked with drafting an international data standard for software license entitlement tags.    Read More... Feature Article ISO SAM Standards - Software and IT Asset Management Standards: Benefits for Organizations and Individuals   By:  David Bicket, Convener of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC7 WG21, Deloitte & Touch, LLP The subject of standards can arouse passions in a few people, but for others it is mind-numbingly boring.  Nonetheless, our lives are dominated by standards – even currencies are really standards, alternatives to the gold standard.  If we did not have such standards, the business world as we know it would not exist, and our social and personal worlds would also be turned upside down.  The development of the business world tends to be accompanied by the development of standards, to allow people and organizations to work together more effectively and efficiently.    Read More... Making the Grade - Tips for Choosing an IT Asset Disposition Vendor   By:  Robert Houghton, President of Redemtech, Inc. When choosing an IT asset disposition provider, there are a number of criteria that you need to look at to ensure the vendor you select can meet your organization’s needs when it comes to asset recovery and disposition, sustainability goals and data security.  The best vendors are those that provide services that look at a variety of issues, including longer lifecycles, effective reuse, improved utilization and security, lower total cost ownership (TCO) and better sustainability. Here are some key qualities to look for when selecting a vendor.    Read More... Adventures in Program Management - A Best Practice View of Program Management By:  Dan Ingouf, Content Development Manager for IAITAM Program Management in the ITAM world, as well as in all business environments, is all-encompassing of so many physical aspects; the bits and pieces, all needing to be aligned as part of the focused approach to attaining the overall goals of the organization.  As a simplification in my own mind, I view a program as a whole pie, with the wedges of that pie representing the projects needed to make the program complete.  Obviously, there are many pieces to the program pie; some larger than others, but all having importance in the continuity of the program as a whole.  Drill down even further to find the ingredients; the personnel, the funding, the schedules, the achievements and the pitfalls.  Generically speaking, when all ingredients are combined, (properly managed) you end up with a fully functional program.    Read More... Plan for Success - A Business Strategy for Successful ITAM Initiatives ©2008 IAITAM Many organizations have formalized a corporate learning strategy that identifies knowledge targets, learning objectives, sources of knowledge, preferences for delivery and measurement of results. They then put the plan into action and reap the benefits of increased performance and return on investment (ROI). On the other hand, we have heard from IT managers in large, well-known organizations who said that their learning strategy was to “get as many people in the classroom as possible and flood them with information.”    Read More...