ITIL 4 ITAM flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

IT asset (ITIL 4 definition)

Any financially valuable component that can contribute to the delivery of an IT product or service; in ITIL 4 an asset is a configuration item whose defining characteristic is financial value.

IT asset management practice

The practice of planning and managing the full lifecycle of IT assets, covering acquisition, operation, maintenance and disposal, in order to control cost, compliance and risk.

Asset register

A structured record of every tracked IT asset, holding identity, ownership, location, financial and contract data, used as the authoritative source for cost and compliance reporting.

ITAM versus configuration management

ITAM manages the financial value and lifecycle of assets; service configuration management manages configuration items and their relationships to support service delivery. One device can be both.

Asset utilisation rate

Formula: assets actively in service divided by total assets owned, multiplied by one hundred. A low result signals redeployment or disposal opportunities before any new purchase.

Total cost of ownership

The sum of acquisition, implementation, operation, maintenance, support, training, energy and disposal costs, minus residual value; used to compare sourcing and refresh options across the whole lifecycle.

Straight-line depreciation

Annual depreciation equals acquisition cost minus residual value, divided by useful life in years; book value equals acquisition cost minus accumulated depreciation to date.

End-of-support date

The date from which the vendor no longer supplies patches or support. Refresh planning should target this date minus migration lead time, not the later or earlier end-of-sale date.

Three-way match

A receiving control that compares purchase order, delivery note and invoice before an asset is accepted into the register and the supplier is paid.

Asset retirement

The lifecycle stage in which an asset is removed from service; it requires a disposal decision and documentary evidence such as a sanitisation or destruction record before the record is closed.

Effective licence position

Entitlements minus consumption, normalised to the publisher's counting metric. A negative position is a deficit requiring true-up, removal of software or renegotiation before an audit.

Software asset management

The practice of controlling software entitlements and consumption so licence cost is minimised and audit exposure avoided; a subset of ITAM focused on software rather than hardware.

NIST SP 800-88 sanitisation levels

Clear applies logical techniques where the device remains in a controlled environment; purge resists laboratory attack; destroy is physical destruction. The level chosen follows data classification and intended next use.

Hardware-as-a-service

A sourcing model in which the supplier retains ownership and bundles device, support and refresh into a per-user monthly charge, moving cost from capital to operating budget.

Certificate of destruction

Documented evidence from a disposal supplier listing serialised assets that were destroyed or sanitised; required for audit, environmental compliance and data-protection proof.

Configuration management system

A set of tools and databases, potentially several CMDBs plus the asset register and discovery sources, used to collect, store, update and present configuration and asset data.

CMDB

Configuration management database: holds configuration items and the relationships between them, and is used for impact assessment rather than for financial tracking of assets.

Agentless discovery

Network-based scanning that identifies devices without installed software. It misses powered-off and off-network assets, so it is normally combined with agent data or manual verification.

Data quality dimensions

Completeness, accuracy, uniqueness, consistency, timeliness and validity. Each is measured separately by sampling the register against physical or discovery evidence.

Asset normalisation

Mapping raw manufacturer and model strings from different sources to a controlled catalogue, so that licence counting and reporting by model or publisher are reliable.

Asset owner role

The role accountable for the value, use and decisions concerning a specific asset or asset class; approves acquisition, transfer and disposal within delegated financial authority.

Asset custodian role

The role that performs day-to-day administration of assets on behalf of the accountable owner: tagging, assignment, recording movement and keeping the record accurate.

Joiner-mover-leaver integration

HR events trigger asset assignment, transfer and return; the asset record evidences the return and supports reclamation of software licences when a person leaves the organisation.

RACI rule for asset activities

Each activity has exactly one accountable role. Typically the asset manager is responsible, the asset owner accountable, finance consulted on capitalisation and internal audit informed.

Segregation of duties in disposal

The roles that approve disposal, physically remove assets and update the register are kept separate, so that loss or theft cannot be concealed by a single person.

Shadow IT risk

Technology acquired outside approved channels. It is absent from the asset register, so it escapes patching, licence compliance and cost control until discovered.

Licence deficit risk

Consumption exceeding entitlement. Exposure includes true-up costs, penalties, legal action and forced removal of software, usually identified only when a publisher audit begins.

ITAM control set

Mandatory tagging, periodic physical verification, automated discovery, licence metering, three-way match on receipt, disposal certification, register access control and audit trails on record changes.

Continual improvement model

ITIL 4's seven-step cycle: what is the vision, where are we now, where do we want to be, how do we get there, take action, did we get there, keep the momentum going.

Register accuracy KPI

The percentage of sampled assets whose register attributes match physical or discovery evidence; sampled independently rather than taken from the register's own completeness fields.

Baseline in ITAM

The measured starting point for improvement: record accuracy from a sample audit, effective licence position, asset age profile, cost per asset and the count of open exceptions.

ITAM maturity progression

Typical stages: reactive spreadsheets, defined register and process, automated discovery with reconciliation, integrated CMS with financial analytics, then predictive refresh and cost optimisation.