HAM practices as the result of COVID-19

Hardware Asset Management
#1

Hi all,

Does anyone have any key areas within HAM that they feel should be at the forefront of an ITAM team/Senior Managements mind? With the shift in working in 2020 and ongoing strange new norm into 2021, HAM has become more important than ever.

I’m keen to get your thoughts on:

  1. Home working setup - who pays?
  2. HAM lifecycle management - how are you recouping Assets from home workers and ensuring leavers return kit?
  3. HAM Scope - has this increased since COVID hit?
  4. The value of your Asset Management Database and CMDB - any tips for keeping this updated and accurate?
  5. IT Asset Disposition - have you been impacted by not physically being on-site when it comes to end of life (EoL) and disposing/selling your Assets.

Really keen to spark a discussion about HAM!

Best,
David

2 Likes
#2

I see 1 as high on the agenda of senior management, particularly as the questions are coming thick and fast to HR departments rather than IT as this is affecting people in their pocket.

There is often a clear difference in contracts from people who are homeworkers and people who have the opportunity to work from home. One gets home setup and expense benefits and the other is often expected to cover themselves as they are Office based. This extended working from home and the state of future working is testing HR departments to consider whether a third contract type is required to cover those who are required to be in the Office a few days a week or month.

It’s unlikely that home worker benefits will be applied to all, so I see a monthly stipend type approach being applied to cover; heating; electricity, office setup and expenses, which will appease the employee and protect the Company from unexpected bills.

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#3

Here’s how we’re managing:

  1. With exception of VIP users, people working from home due to the pandemic have to supply their own peripherals (monitors, keyboards, docks). We provide discount sites (including low cost refurbished equipment from our disposal vendor!) and low cost suggestions
  2. Recouping assets through lots and lots of shipping. We ship all our equipment to users and send them empty boxes with return labels when we’re replacing computers
  3. HAM scope has stayed the same
  4. To keep your assets up to date, the best solution is automated workflows where all assets are delivered through service requests
  5. Our ITAM team remains physically in the office and is doing more disposals than ever
3 Likes
#4

Awesome, thanks Elise! Regarding the disposals you mention, a lot of my clients have also disposed (or resold) of more Assets over the past year than ever before.

Some have already said split working will be the way forward, so have no need for thin clients anymore. Others have said you can work from home 100% of the time, so they are really stripping down the need for monitors, printers etc.

Another interesting on is managed print services. With no-one in the office and an expensive hardware service, customers are trying to get out of long-term contracts!

#5

Interestingly, I also have a managed print service that hit the end of its 3 year contract late last year. We were lucky to be able to negotiate rates down due to decreased print by implementing a tiering system that ties to print quantity, AND while the workforce is remote, we’re downsizing our printer fleet.