ITAK Volume 5 Issue 4 - Disposal & Documentation Management Official publication of International Association of IT Asset Managers, Inc.    Download the complete magazine ITAK Volume 5 Issue 4 (3.12MB) - Disposal & Documentation Management   President's Letter By: Barbara Rembiesa, President of IAITAM   Responsibility, an ominous word that has been ingrained into our heads since early childhood as to what our personal obligations are.  As IT Asset Managers your responsibilities reach far beyond just knowing where all your organization’s assets are located.  ITAM as a core business practice, and reasonably new to most organizations means change and that change falls squarely on your shoulders!  Read More... Cover Story ITAD: More Than Disposal - With a Knowledgeable IT Asset Refresh Comes Strength By: Ed Stukane, Chief Marketing Officer and Gabrielle Bove, Marketing Manager of PlanITROI Inc.  Companies and government agencies are often told by ITAM providers that IT asset management means disposal, and disposal comes with liabilities.  That is true and compliancy has to be taken very seriously, because the downside penalties for not being compliant are severe on multiple levels.  However, it is a misconception that disposal solely means dealing with environmental and financial susceptibility. Compliancy is only half of what a full, highly beneficial ITAD program can be.  By establishing best practices for a forward looking ITAD program, organizations can realize that being compliant with environmental and data security requirements, and realizing a significant Return-on-Investment, are NOT mutually exclusive objectives.   Read More... Feature Article The Forgotten Process - Documentation Management: Taming Unstructured Enterprise Information to Create Business Value   By:  Phara McLachlan, CEO of Animus Solutions, Inc.      As Benjamin Franklin observed more than 250 years ago, “Time is money.”  But effective document management does more than optimize business practices and processes to save time and money.  It also reduces risk relating to legal and regulatory matters, facilitates the legal discovery process, maintains control over information access, increases security and, ultimately, provides a means of disaster recovery in the event of fire, flood or other calamities.   Read More...  Your Enterprise Upgrade Options - Licensing Strategies for Windows 7 Upgrade  By: Paul DeGroot, Research Vice President for Directions on Microsoft   Matching IT and business objectives with the right licensing plan can significantly reduce the cost of Windows 7 upgrades The release of Windows 7 has prompted many organizations to begin planning desktop OS upgrades. In addition to planning the technical aspects of a desktop OS deployment, they must also determine how best to purchase the Windows 7 licenses they need. Options range from simply bringing in Windows 7 as they purchase new PCs to volume licensing programs that give them the immediate right to upgrade every computer to the new OS. Choosing the right licensing program requires matching IT and business objectives to the licensing plan that will offer what they need at the lowest cost.   Read More... Adding Business Value - Catching Up After a Year or More in Emergency Mode   By: Jenny Schuchert, Education Specialist for IAITAM         The organization has changed rapidly in response to the new economy and the related shifting of priorities and plans.  Smaller IT budgets have led to delayed IT projects, downsizing and a focus on squeezing value from existing investments.  This reactive focus turns IT Asset Managers into hardware and software inventory counters, terminated personnel equipment reapers and process fixers.  These tasks are part of the ITAM role and are reasonable reactions to the needs of the organization during such emergency-style changes.  However, limiting IT Asset Management to these tasks leads the IT Asset Manager backwards to the era of managed chaos, with little overt value to the business.  This article will present ideas on how the IT Asset Manager can be proactive, preventing the long term loss of IT asset performance and value.   Read More...  Column Six Ways to Attract a Vendor Audit  By:  Martin Thompson, Independent ITAM Consultant & Owner, ITAM Review   Are you bored at work? Do you fancy a new challenge? How about the prospect of attracting lots of board level attention, the threat of legal action, loss of IT jobs, enormous punitive charges and all round fire fighting with a vendor audit? Simply follow this quick guide and you’ll soon be attracting vendor audits quicker than you can say “Six Figure Settlement”!    Read More...   View ITAK Online  Subscribe to ITAK  Advertise in ITAK  Author in ITAK