GAA key terms

Any component under configuration control that must be identified, tracked, and managed to deliver a service, such as hardware, software, a document, or a service record.

A repository holding records of configuration items and the relationships between them, used to understand dependencies, assess change impact, and support incident and problem resolution.

The authoritative inventory listing of assets with attributes such as identifier, type, owner, location, status, and cost, forming the basis for lifecycle and financial decisions.

The full cost of an asset across its life, including acquisition, deployment, support, maintenance, licensing, energy, and disposal, used to compare sourcing and lifecycle options fairly.

The documented right to use software under specific terms, including quantity, metric, version rights, and restrictions, which consumption is measured against for compliance.

A calculated comparison of software entitlements against actual installations or usage, revealing over-licensing, under-licensing, and the financial exposure of any shortfall.

The unit by which software usage is counted and licensed, such as per user, per device, per core, per processor, or per named user, because it determines how compliance is measured.

Technical measurement of application execution, such as launches, active usage time, or concurrent users, used to right-size licenses and reclaim unused entitlements.

The practice of removing or reassigning software from devices and users that do not need it, then reallocating those entitlements to reduce new purchases and support compliance.

Agent-based or agentless scanning that identifies devices, software, and services on a network without manual data entry, providing the evidence base for inventory and compliance.

A discovery method that collects asset data remotely using protocols and credentials rather than installed software, reducing deployment effort but limiting detail on offline or remote devices.

A discovery method using software installed on a device to report inventory, usage, and configuration details, offering richer data but requiring deployment and maintenance effort.

Probing address ranges and ports to detect reachable hosts, operating systems, and exposed services, often the first step in building or refreshing an asset inventory.

Technology acquired and used outside approved channels or without IT visibility, creating security, compliance, and cost risks that discovery and procurement controls are designed to expose.

Recording and visualizing relationships between configuration items, such as which applications run on which servers, to assess change risk and speed recovery from incidents.

Processes that detect and correct duplicate, stale, or conflicting asset records by comparing sources and applying ownership rules, keeping the register trustworthy for decisions.

The staged journey of a physical asset from planning and procurement through deployment, maintenance, and retirement, with defined decision points and controls at each stage.

Milestones when a vendor stops selling a product (EOL) or stops providing patches and support (EOS), signaling refresh, risk acceptance, or migration planning.

The planned interval for replacing or upgrading assets based on performance, support status, risk, and cost, balancing user needs against capital and operational budgets.

The controlled process of retiring assets through data sanitization, reuse, resale, recycling, or certified destruction, with documentation to prove secure and compliant handling.

Irreversibly removing data from storage media before reuse, resale, or disposal using approved methods, supported by certificates or logs that evidence the action taken.

A documented, unbroken record of who held an asset and when, from collection through sanitization and final disposition, used to demonstrate control during audits or investigations.

The discipline of managing software assets through policy, process, and tooling to control cost, reduce risk, and maintain license compliance across the organization.

The discipline of tracking and managing physical assets through procurement, deployment, maintenance, and retirement, providing financial control and operational visibility.

Monitoring and controlling consumption-based cloud spend through tagging, budgets, anomaly detection, and rightsizing so that usage remains aligned with business value.

Adjusting compute, storage, or license capacity to match actual demand, removing excess provision and reducing cost without degrading agreed service levels.

Applying structured metadata to cloud resources, such as owner, environment, and cost center, enabling allocation, accountability, automation, and reliable cost reporting.

A policy allowing personal devices to access corporate systems, requiring enrollment, security controls, and clear rules on data ownership and support responsibility.

Tooling that enrolls, configures, secures, and wipes mobile devices, enforcing policy such as encryption and passcodes while tracking devices for inventory purposes.

Safeguards applied to assets, including access restriction, encryption, patching, and physical protection, chosen according to the asset's classification and risk exposure.

Assigning sensitivity levels such as public, internal, confidential, and restricted to information so that handling, storage, and disposal controls match the harm of disclosure.

The systematic allocation of an asset's cost over its useful life, affecting book value, refresh timing, and the reported cost of services that rely on the asset.

Deliberate action to reduce spend while preserving required service, such as consolidating licenses, reclaiming idle assets, renegotiating contracts, and eliminating duplicate tools.

Reporting consumed asset and service costs to business units (showback) or billing them for it (chargeback), creating accountability that discourages wasteful demand.

A defined, measurable value with a target that indicates how well an asset management process performs, such as inventory accuracy or license compliance percentage.

A repeating cycle of measuring performance, identifying gaps, implementing changes, and verifying results so asset management practices mature over time rather than stagnate.

A documented commitment between a provider and customer defining expected service levels, responsibilities, and remedies, which asset availability and support targets must support.

Rules defining how employees may use organizational assets and data, including prohibited activities and consequences, forming the basis for enforcement and investigations.

The process for handling standard user requests such as new hardware or software access, using catalog items and approvals to keep delivery consistent and auditable.