IT Management Systems: A Complete Guide for Modern Companies

With information technology extending to nearly every aspect of operations for many companies, effectively managing IT resources is a must. 

That’s where IT management solutions come in. 

These offer a centralized platform where businesses gain access to a holistic overview of IT assets to ensure optimal functionality, security, and compliance, while ensuring reliable service delivery.

What Are IT Management Systems?

From hardware to software to applications to cloud-based assets, every company has its own unique IT infrastructure. Ensuring operational efficiency and keeping everything moving as a well-oiled machine requires careful control and supervision across the board. 

An IT management system is a single platform that can allow you to do the following:

• Monitor all IT assets in real-time
• Streamline asset deployment and retrieval
• See which employees have access to what assets
• See the location of assets, including when they’re in storage and in transit
• Access reminders on when updates or upgrades need to be made
• Ensure compliance and security standards are upheld
• Initiate service requests to promptly respond to user needs

By using an IT management platform, you gain maximum visibility of your network with just a few clicks. So rather than having to manually monitor and track a potentially large number of devices, software, or applications, you have access to a bird’s-eye view.

Besides that, most of today’s platforms allow you to automate much of the IT management process to save time and reduce your workload. 

Additionally, the built-in analytics that IT management software platforms offer create actionable insights so you can make smarter, more informed decisions. 

Top IT Management Systems

1. allwhere

allwhere offers end-to-end IT asset lifecycle management, from procurement to retrieval and everything in between.  

And a key component of that is our IT asset management services and software, which let you access everything from a single user-friendly dashboard. 

For starters, allwhere lets you sync existing IT inventory into a centralized database and automatically add new equipment as it’s acquired. 

Our tools give you an overview of all of the devices within your IT ecosystem, allowing you to see which employees have what device, what the location for each device is, when it’s in transit, and when it’s in storage. 

And when a device is in transit, you can effortlessly track its progress, getting updates and notifications along the way.

allwhere solutions also show you when IT equipment was purchased and received, when upgrades or updates need to be made, and repair options to extend the lifespan. 

Besides that, you can use allwhere tools to initiate the recycling or resale process to a secondary market to increase your ROI.

With allwhere solutions offering global coverage, our IT management software is perfect if you have employees scattered around the world, because you can seamlessly distribute equipment without having to deal with the logistical headaches that come with customs and compliance. 

If you’re looking for hands-off asset management with full access visibility, allwhere is one of the best user tools on the market. 

2. NinjaOne

This is an endpoint management platform that focuses on simplifying IT assets and security.

Many businesses appreciate NinjaOne for the transparency it provides on IT infrastructure. 

In their own words, “Unify visibility and control and automate the most tedious IT tasks with NinjaOne’s easy-to-use, all-in-one endpoint solution. Monitor, support, and control your endpoints regardless of operating system, from smartphones to servers.”

Whether you're a small business with only a handful of employees or a large business with extensive IT infrastructure needs, this IT management solution puts you in the driver’s seat. 

That way, you always know which assets you have, which employees have access to them, where they’re located, their condition, and more. 

And when it comes to security, NinjaOne is one of the best tools on the market. 

They offer remote monitoring and incident management to ensure everything is secure and each access request is controlled. Whenever a security threat occurs, you’ll be instantly notified so you can take proactive action to protect your IT resources. 

There’s patch management, which helps you remotely fix bugs and install software updates, which is ideal for securing devices and applications for remote employees. 

And NinjaOne has robust analytics tools with in-depth reporting to help optimize system performance, industry compliance, and improve risk management.

3. ManageEngine

ManageEngine is mainly geared toward enterprise-level companies, but their tools can still be viable for many SMBs as well. 

If you want an IT management software that goes beyond just managing physical equipment like hardware and servers, ManageEngine can be a good choice because it also includes access to software and license management.

This software can be quickly deployed so your team is up and running with a minimal learning curve. There’s asset automation discovery, which means there’s no manual effort in locating the devices in your network. 

When new hardware assets are added, ManageEngine lets you add them to your inventory in real time. As for the software management process, you can monitor usage across your network and identify any time there’s an unauthorized access request.

And for software licenses, you can use automation tools to upgrade or downgrade licenses while ensuring everything meets compliance standards.

Besides that, there are detailed analytics tools for reporting, so you can keep your organization running smoothly and boost productivity and efficiency.

IT Management Best Practices

Use a Single Asset Management Software Platform

One of the main goals of using IT management software is to give your organization a unified view of your network. That’s why it’s important to only use a single, centralized platform rather than multiple solutions. 

Doing so should result in a holistic perspective and maximum consistency for each user, while eliminating unnecessary complications. 

Besides that, this greatly lowers compliance and security risks because your data isn’t being exchanged between multiple management software solutions. 

In turn, you can seamlessly manage your network, and you can smoothly move between different stages of the IT lifecycle, including procurement, deployment, storage, retrieval, and so on. 

The only exception where multiple solutions would make sense would be if you’re a large enterprise and need highly specialized IT management software tools. Otherwise, a single platform is your best bet. 

Use Automation for Systems Monitoring and Maintenance

Another main purpose of using this technology is to save time and reduce your workload. So if you have to handle the bulk of the tasks manually, it defeats the purpose of using IT management software in the first place. 

Not only are manual routine tasks time-consuming, but they also increase the chance for human error, which can be problematic for security and compliance. 

That’s why it’s smart to stick with IT management software that emphasizes automation or offers service management so you don’t have to do any heavy-lifting. 

allwhere, for example, offers a hands-off software and service management experience, where logistics and communication are taken care of, and you can monitor your entire IT inventory with just a few clicks.

And ManageEngine automates much of security, with automated security checks and patch management to give your organization greater efficiency, while keeping operations safe and secure. 

Fully Leverage Analytics Reporting

One of the other IT asset management best practices involves using the built-in reporting features that many solutions offer. 

Regardless of the technology you use for IT operations, you’ll want to take advantage of those reporting capabilities so that you 1) have a clear understanding of your IT resources and 2) can identify inefficiencies that could compromise efficiency, compliance, or security. 

That way, you can take steps toward resolving any issue that comes your way to increase productivity, improve compliance and security, and boost your ROI. 

If, for example, you find that your team isn’t using a particular type of device or software as much as you intended, you could potentially get rid of it to prevent wasteful spending. 

Also, be sure that you’re sharing the data generated from analytics with all relevant departments and stakeholders across your organization so that you’re more collaborative and make better IT-based decisions. 

Putting it All Together

With the average size of an organization’s IT infrastructure being bigger than ever, fragmented IT management can be a huge problem. Without a centralized system in place, managing IT hardware, software, and cloud-based assets can be incredibly difficult.

But with IT management solutions, you have a single point of truth, which allows for efficient asset monitoring and tracking so you never miss a beat. 

Besides that, the intelligent automation capabilities allow you to perform tasks in a way that would be impossible with manual effort, while also taking human error out of the equation. 

And by using built-in analytics tools, you’ll learn how to optimize all aspects of IT operations for greater productivity, stronger security, and improved compliance. 

It just boils down to choosing the IT management software that best aligns with your needs. 

To recap, allwhere is best for overall end-to-end IT lifecycle management software and service management. 

NinjaOne works well for seamless endpoint management and patch management. 

And ManageEngine is ideal for larger enterprises that need to closely manage physical assets, as well as software and cloud-based solutions. 

If you’re specifically interested in allwhere, you can request a platform demo here.