Next-Generation Asset Management turns out to be on the rise faster than expected

Are you ready for Next-Generation Asset Management?

Industry analysis by Beth Schultz, plus the latest news headlines.

I have to admit that doing research in many of its various forms is probably what I enjoy most about my current job. Since I'm an industry analyst, that's, I suppose, a good thing. And more specifically what I enjoy about research isn't simply gathering data, but testing out ideas about how the overall IT management marketplace is evolving and seeing the difference (and or similarities) between what I anticipated and what turns out to be "real."

To be honest, I enjoy finding out the truth either way - no point investing in perspectives that are either wrong or so far ahead of the market as to be of minimal interest. But of course, I enjoy it more when it seems like we at EMA are "on to something."

And that would appear to be the case for a report (and an online Solutions Guide that should be completed by end of summer) on what we call "Next-Generation Asset Management" (NGAM). Virtually all of the data is in, and what remains are tuning perspectives on a wide range of companies that have been generous with their time in answering questions about "asset management" that go far beyond traditional ways of thinking about asset management.

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

I have to admit that doing research in many of its various forms is probably what I enjoy most about my current job. Since I'm an industry analyst, that's, I suppose, a good thing. And more specifically what I enjoy about research isn't simply gathering data, but testing out ideas about how the overall IT management marketplace is evolving and seeing the difference (and or similarities) between what I anticipated and what turns out to be "real."

To be honest, I enjoy finding out the truth either way - no point investing in perspectives that are either wrong or so far ahead of the market as to be of minimal interest. But of course, I enjoy it more when it seems like we at EMA are "on to something."

And that would appear to be the case for a report (and an online Solutions Guide that should be completed by end of summer) on what we call "Next-Generation Asset Management" (NGAM). Virtually all of the data is in, and what remains are tuning perspectives on a wide range of companies that have been generous with their time in answering questions about "asset management" that go far beyond traditional ways of thinking about asset management.

The general notion of NGAM is that it represents the gradual convergence of asset management and service management. The logic of this is that services are the end "products" and hence the "ultimate assets" for any IT organization. Therefore, all components (infrastructure, operational costs, contracts for outsourced services) ultimately have to be understood in parent-child fashion as they map to the services they support. Another concept that's closely related is that NGAM reflects capabilities to understand assets in terms of performance and contribution and not merely as static entities that simply go through life cycle procurement to retirement with a passing nod to TCO.

Of course doing all this goes far beyond traditional tools and traditional organizational models. It's more like ITIL's notion of "Financial Management for IT Services," and will require new organizational, process and even political models for it to fully come of age within IT. Integration is also a key requirement if asset management is to evolve towards NGAM. We asked vendors specifically about: CMDB support and integration with capacity, change, service management, and service accounting or chargeback. Dynamic awareness of the real environment is important, as well, so we also asked about inventory and discovery.

As a whole, the vendors we spoke with were all "works in progress" when it came to NGAM, but that was very much our expectation. If anything, progress was further along than I anticipated on many fronts. And while only a few of the participants, for instance, claimed full-fledged CMDB strategies, almost all reported supporting a CMDB in terms of integration and data normalization for northbound and southbound requirements. Since in my view the CMDB is becoming less and less of a "thing" and more a way of approaching the integration and reconciliation of management investments as a total strategy, I was very pleased to see this trend.

Schultz is a longtime IT journalist. You can email her or find her here.