In today's environment, Chief Officers are concerned with security, governance, and policy compliance. They are also concerned with risk-management, contract compliance, patch management, hardware maintenance, inventory management, and the cost-conscious lifecycle management of all elements of the technology portfolio. Moreover, best practices in IT enterprise architecture suggest that organizations should maintain an accurate, automated and current central repository (a Configuration Management Database or CMDB) that describes all of the IT assets in the organization and their configurations. The ITAM discipline embraces all of these areas. So as one of the largest employers and the most diverse user of technology in the country, and as stewards of the public trust, the federal government must be in the forefront of IT asset management.

From an operational perspective, effective ITAM initiatives help cost-conscious Chief Officers to achieve the critical goals of managing smarter, buying smarter, and fostering compliance with policies and standards.

ITAM is an acronym which stands for information technology asset management, the practice which embraces an accounting of all IT assets (hardware, software, network facilities, telecommunications, digital assets, etc.). SAM, on the other hand, is an acronym which stands for software asset management, a practice which primarily focuses on the software asset area of ITAM.

The Federal ITAM Framework is an integrated strategic approach to managing six key interdependent process areas of IT asset management where each area informs all the others: 1. approving software and hardware for the enterprise architecture; 2. managing IT asset purchases; 3. managing licensing and contract compliance; 4. monitoring inventory and usage; 5. complying with policies and standards; and 6. financial and capital planning. The FedITAM Framework also offers guiding questions to help officers and managers ensure that information, assets, people, and processes are adequately detected, protected and connected across the federal government.

The International Business Software Managers Association (IBSMA) publishes documents answering frequently asked questions about ITAM standards. View answers to some of the questions frequently asked of IBSMA at: http://www.ecpmedia.com/publicdownloads_open/IBSMA_InternationalStandards_FAQ_aug07.pdf View an explanation of some of the SAM standards at: http://www.ecpweb.com/ibsma_samstds.html

Alan VanderMallie, Federal ITAM Program Manager, Tel: (202) 501.6901, email: SamBox@gsa.gov