10 Best IT asset management software (ITAM) 2024

An IT asset management (ITAM) system provides such a solution, typically offering a plethora of useful tools to help organizations manage these resources from procurement all the way through retirement. With ITAM software, businesses can confirm that the potential benefits of assets justify their cost, ensure that they’re compliant with relevant regulations, and verify that resources are always operating at peak efficiency.

In this guide, we delve into the realm of ITAM software, exploring its significance, and the myriad benefits it offers, and highlighting the top 10 IT asset management software platforms that are shaping the way businesses manage their technological resources.

Benefits of IT asset management software

The exact benefits to be gained from the use of IT asset management tools depend on your particular business needs and how you plan to use the technology. For instance, companies experiencing security vulnerabilities may enjoy the enhanced safeguarding of sensitive information most, while those struggling with poor resource allocation may appreciate improved asset tracking capacity more.

Enhanced operational efficiency

• Centralized asset tracking: Provides a single view of all IT assets, reducing redundancy and enabling better resource allocation.

• Optimized procurement: Streamlines purchasing by identifying when and which assets are needed, avoiding unnecessary acquisitions.

• Reduced downtime: Monitors asset health, enabling proactive maintenance to avoid disruptions in critical operations.

• Compliance management: Ensures that all assets meet regulatory requirements, reducing the risk of non-compliance penalties.

Cost optimization and savings

• Asset lifecycle optimization: Tracks assets from acquisition to disposal, verifying that assets are used to their full potential, which reduces the need for premature replacements.

• Prevent overbuying: Provides visibility into current assets, preventing the purchase of unnecessary hardware or software.

• Reduced licensing costs: Tracks software license usage, ensuring compliance and avoiding over-purchasing or penalties for underutilization.

• Minimized maintenance costs: Monitors asset performance to schedule timely maintenance, minimizing expensive repairs and replacements.

Risk management and security

• Data security: Tracks devices containing sensitive information, verifying proper handling, encryption, and disposal of data, thus reducing data breach risks.

• License and patch management: Monitors software licenses and ensures timely updates and patches, mitigating vulnerabilities from outdated or unpatched software.

• Geolocation and Remote Locking: Keeps track of the physical location of assets and can trigger remote locking or wiping of stolen or lost devices to protect sensitive data.

• Asset retirement procedures: Verifies the secure disposal of assets through proper decommissioning processes, preventing data leaks from retired devices.

Improved strategic planning

• Forecasting future needs: Analyzes asset lifecycle data to predict future hardware and software requirements, ensuring resources are allocated efficiently.

• Budget optimization: Helps plan IT budgets by tracking asset costs, maintenance, and replacement schedules, verifying accurate financial forecasting.

• Technology roadmap alignment: Aligns asset acquisition and lifecycle management with the company’s overall technology strategy and business objectives.

• Scalability support: Tracks asset usage patterns, helping to plan for scalability and growth without over-investing in unnecessary resources.

Enhanced lifecycle management

• Efficient Deployment: Streamlines the process of deploying assets to the right departments or users, minimzing delays and ensuring operational readiness.

• Asset Utilization Monitoring: Analyzes how assets are used, identifying underutilized resources that can be repurposed or retired, maximizing value from all assets.

• Automated Warranty and Support Tracking: Keeps records of warranties and support agreements, enabling timely claims and avoiding unexpected repair costs after warranties expire.

• Planned Refresh Cycles: Uses lifecycle data to plan asset refresh or upgrade cycles, preventing obsolescence and ensuring that the IT environment remains up to date.

How to choose an IT asset management software

When combing through potential ITAM software providers, you’ll first need to look internally, assessing your existing infrastructure and identifying your most pressing pain points, before moving forward to ensure that potential vendors provide the functionalities that align with these needs.

Step 1: Assess your IT infrastructure needs

Begin by cataloging all existing hardware and software assets, including servers, workstations, network devices, and licenses. Identify any gaps or inefficiencies in your current asset management processes, such as manual tracking, outdated records, or lack of visibility into asset utilization. 

Understanding the scope of your IT infrastructure will help determine the specific capabilities required from your ITAM software. 

Step 2: Evaluate software features and capabilities

Once you’ve evaluated your needs, you’ll need to identify vendors who offer features that align with these requirements. Tools to prioritize typically include automated discovery and inventory management, which ensure real-time tracking and accurate documentation of all IT assets. Don’t forget to consider comprehensive lifecycle management as well, including maintenance schedules and warranty tracking. 

Step 3: Consider user-friendliness and support

The layout of an ITAM platform should be intuitive and user-friendly, allowing your team to perform tasks efficiently without extensive training. Consider conducting a trial or demo to assess how easily your team can access key features and perform common tasks like asset tracking and reporting.

You’ll also want to seek out a provider that provides comprehensive support services, including technical assistance, troubleshooting, and software updates. Make sure that vendors’ response times and availability for resolving critical issues align with your specific requirements.

Step 4: Review scalability and flexibility

Start here by evaluating the software's ability to scale across your entire IT infrastructure. Consider factors such as the maximum number of assets the software can manage, its performance under increased workload, and its compatibility with diverse technical environments. 

Next, you should determine whether software can be tailored to align with your business’s unique asset management processes. Look for features that support integration with other IT tools, such as help desk solutions and security platforms. A flexible ITAM platform will empower you to adapt workflows and configure settings to meet specific operational needs. 

Step 5: Analyze cost and return on investment

Gauging costs and return on investment (ROI) begins with evaluating the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the software, which includes initial licensing fees, implementation costs, and ongoing maintenance. Be sure to compare pricing models such as subscription-based versus perpetual licenses to determine which best suits your financial strategy.

Then, you’ll need to calculate potential cost savings from improved efficiency, minimizing asset downtime, and reducing the risk of non-compliance penalties. Also, don’t forget to consider intangible benefits such as enhanced data accuracy, improved decision-making, and better alignment of IT investments with larger business goals.

Step 6: Check compliance and security features

When evaluating compliance features, look for capabilities that facilitate adherence with standards such as GDPR, HIPAA, and SOX. These might include tracking software licenses, managing IT audits, and ensuring data privacy protections. Potential softwares should provide robust reporting and auditing functionalities to demonstrate compliance with regulatory mandates as well.

As for security measures, it’s essential to gauge whether providers offer encryption options for sensitive information, role-based access controls to limit permissions, and secure APIs for integrating with other IT systems. It’s also recommended to assess vendors’ commitment to data security, including their adherence to industry standards and certifications and their track record in handling security incidents.

Top 10 IT asset management software in 2024

1. Freshservice

Freshservice acts as a comprehensive IT help desk solution that provides an abundance of functionalities designed specifically to aid in IT asset management efforts. With both asset lifecycle management and an integrated configuration management database (CMDB) available, organizations can easily track resources throughout their lifecycles while enjoying enhanced visibility into how all assets interact with each other.

Additional standout features such as automated discovery empower businesses to capture and update asset information in real-time, while SaaS and contract management tools enable them to track different types of resources to ensure they’re always serving their best interests.

When it comes to combining a comprehensive ITSM platform with impressive ITAM capabilities, there’s simply no better choice than Freshservice.

Key features

• Asset normalization creates a unified view of all assets across multiple systems, offices, and clouds

• Automated asset discovery identifies and tracks asset information, with the ability to leverage agent or agentless discovery and even track assets off-network

• Integrated CMDB maintains a complete repository of all the assets in your organization and how they’re connected to each other

• SaaS management tools provide a 360-degree view of your SaaS applications, while optimizing usage with insight-driven actions

• Asset lifecycle management tracks purchase orders, initializes assets, and keeps a record of all information in a single unified view

Pros

• Easily monitor spending, optimize software license usage, and set reminders on expiries with contract management features

• Capable mobile app allows teams to monitor non-pingable assets while on the go

• Inventory is tightly integrated with all modules, eliminating tool hopping while tracking your assets’ lifecycles

• Seamlessly fulfill service requests in a single click by forming the backbone of your service delivery engine with asset information

• Acts as a unified solution for setting up your purchase processes with seamless approval tracking, integrated service request fulfillment, and one-click inventory replenishment

Why clients rave about Freshservice

Freshservice leaves no stone unturned when it comes to IT asset management. Whether you’re seeking to optimize your asset usage, track and verify their efficiency, or better understand the interdependencies between them, Freshservice provides the tools for achieve this all. Versatility serve as the core of the platform, empowering users to leverage it to address their unique challenges and strengthen their overall asset management efforts.

Take it from one of our satisfied clients on G2, who praises Freshservice’s asset and alert management capacity, saying, “Freshservice is the best tool for an IT department talking about ticketing, asset and alerts management. The best thing about it is its flow management and automatization of tickets and alerts. Also, its asset management works wonderfully; you can have all of your IT inventory in one system and with any incident or service request people raise, you can associate the asset and have better control over how many incidents that asset had.”

2. ServiceNow

ServiceNow is a cloud-based software that provides a platform for automating management workflows. This AI-driven software specializes in IT service management (ITSM), IT operations management (ITOM), IT asset management, and more.

Key features

• Extensive workflow automation allows businesses to expedite digital workflows at an enterprise scale, building complex workflows with no-code playbooks

• Single data models eliminate manual data inputs, redundancy, and siloed tasks

• Generative AI-powered actionable insights provide real-time analytics on asset management practices to refine strategies over time

Pros

• Impressive versatility, offering software asset management, hardware asset management, SaaS license management, cloud cost management, and more

• Great for risk management, empowering companies to quickly identify technology risks such as tech debt, shadow tech, vulnerabilities, license compliance, and lost assets

• Offers secure APIs, built-in audit trails, single sign-on (SSO) multi-factor authentication (MFA), and more to ensure the security of your ITAM

Cons

• Built specifically to manage processes and flows, meaning you’ll need to tie it into other systems to gain comprehensive features for ITSM, customer relationship management (CRM), or enterprise resource planning (ERP)

• Several user reviews indicate that that reporting tools leave much to be desired

• Non-intuitive interface can slow down workflows and make the software challenging to utilize in general

Price

You’ll need to reach out to ServiceNow directly for a custom quote on its various packages

3. SolarWinds

SolarWinds serves as a unified monitoring, observability, and service management platform. It offers a plethora of different tools for system management, network management, database management, and more.

Key features

• Provides full asset lifecycle management and audit history of hardware, software, licenses, contracts, and more

• Real-time, visual dashboards deliver clear and actionable insights

• Any changes to assets are meticulously documented and integrated into change management processes, empowering users  to understand the immediate impacts of adjustments

Pros

• Service desk enables organizations to link assets directly to tickets and specific incidents, improving troubleshooting and resolution times

• Sophisticated discovery and tracking functionalities offer a comprehensive view of the full inventory and lifecycle of each asset

• Centralized platform consolidates asset costs, usage statistics, and performance metrics in one place

Cons

• Constant updates can interrupt established workflows, steepen learning curves, and complicate ongoing training efforts

• Limited robustness and customizability of reporting and analytics tools

• Many products can be resource-intensive, requiring extensive hardware and system resources to run effectively

Price

You’ll need to reach out to SolarWinds directly for a custom quote on its various offerings

4. Zluri

Zluri serves as a comprehensive SaaS operations management platform. It enables IT teams to discover, manage, and secure multiple SaaS applications all from a single, consolidated dashboard. 

Key features

• Powerful discovery engine reveals every app in a business’s SaaS landscape, allowing for data-driven decision-making

• Risk management tools can track app-specific threat scores, data shared with third parties, and global security events

• 800+ out-of-the-box and secure integrations enable companies to connect seamlessly with existing IT tools to achieve maximum SaaS control

Pros

• 360-degree visibility allows users to keep an eye on every app in their environment, empowering them to monitor access, changes in user activity, active licenses, and spending

• Easily analyze SaaS usage data to identify and reclaim unused or underused licenses

• Centralizes SaaS contracts, vendors, and spend, enabling organizations to stay on top of budgets and make timely spending decisions

Cons

• Many popular integrations require the purchase of Zuri’s top-tier Enterprise package

• Complicated interface with an overabundance of features may present difficulties for some users

• Lacks some common automation features found in similar solutions, creating a heavier manual workload

Price

You’ll need to contact Zluri directly for a custom quote on its various plans and packages

5. Reftab

Reftab is an easy-to-use asset management platform that excels at managing fixed assets. Users can leverage reservations to keep track of assets, licenses, and accessories, while scanning asset tags with its powerful mobile app.

Key features

• Asset depreciation allows business to track depreciation on assets using straight line depreciation or double declining balance

• Custody verification periodically contacts users to verify they still have possession of their equipment and that it’s in working order

• Conditional routing automates the distribution of tasks based on predetermined conditions, streamlining the actions required to make purchases and assign equipment

Pros

• Provides an easy-to-use system for managing equipment loans and reservations, enabling businesses to know where their equipment is, who borrowed it, and when they’re running low on stock

• View equipment requests and approve or reject directly from within the body of email messages

• Ability to automatically create assets from approvals, so that when the item arrives, companies already have the asset in Reftab

Cons

• Rather simplistic, which can be great for small teams with limited assets, but may be less than ideal for larger organizations managing a high volume of resources

• Desktop version differs greatly from mobile app, creating two learning curves for users to adjust to

• Search functionality is relatively limited, making it difficult to track down specific assets users may be looking for

Price

Starter plan begins at $31.25 per month, while you’ll need to reach out to Reftab directly if you’re managing 3,000+ assets

6. Spiceworks

Spiceworks is a cloud-based help desk and network monitoring solution designed for systems administrators and IT professionals. It helps in managing tickets raised by clients, tracking agent's' performance, monitoring resource allocation, and more.

Key features

• Real-time system alerts automatically send relevant users email notifications when assets are unreachable from remote sites, as well as expiry date alerts for documents and certificates

• Robust asset tracking via a network inventory, which also allows administrators to access purchasing records and assign new devices to users

• Customizable reporting and analytics provide users with insights into labor data, tickets, and integrations

Pros

• Obviously, Spiceworks’ price point can be a major draw – all of its services are completely free of charge

• No limits on assets, devices, or users, making it ideal for large teams with straightforward asset tracking requirements

• Filters available that serve to alert companies when it’s time to upgrade software or replace hardware with newer technology

Cons

• Since Spiceworks is free, it generates its revenue through advertisements, which can further convolute an already-complex interface

• Heavily IT-based, which is great for technical teams, but will require additional technology purchases for businesses seeking a comprehensive asset management solution

• Tracks resources using IP address scanning, which is less accurate than the more commonly used GPS scanning

Price

Spiceworks offers four different packages to choose from, all of which are free of charge

7. ManageEngine

ManageEngine offers a suite of products that serve as an integrated network, system, application, and datacenter monitoring center. Its Asset Explorer software is a web-based ITAM solution that helps monitor network assets from planning through disposal.

Key features

• Auto-discovery and management of all hardware and software inventory deployed across networks

• Robust CMDB provides a detailed overview of all configuration items (CI) and their relationships, helping with root cause analysis and impact monitoring

• Software management and asset compliance tools empower businesses to stay compliant with license agreements by using easy-to-understand flash charts

Pros

• Static and dynamic asset grouping allows companies to add resources by selecting them as they wish and creating custom criteria for adding resources to groups

• Network range scans enable users to discover and track IP devices such as routers, switches, and printers

• Ability to easily create product types and list various products under them, with option to add vendor details for a particular product such as its name, warranty period, and price

Cons

• Costly add-ons for remote access can get expensive quickly

• Implementation and onboarding can be complex and time-consuming

• Tunnel vision on IT assets and processes, thus requiring additional software purchases for businesses overseeing non-technical assets as well

Price

You’ll need to contact ManageEngine directly for a custom quote for your specific requirements

8. Asset Panda

Asset Panda is an asset tracking and management platform that offers extensive flexibility, allowing users to mold the solution to fit their unique needs. It offers desirable scalability, enabling users to manage less than 250 assets or more than 100,000, depending on their current requirements.

Key features

• Asset kitting empowers companies to bundle equipment together to rapidly perform actions across multiple assets

• Full lifecycle histories provide better reporting, visibility, and forecasting

• Compliance tracking tools utilize recorded histories to reinforce established guidelines, verifying adherence to warranty, insurance, and government requirements

Pros

• Robust real-time tracking capacity allows businesses to monitor the current status, location, and condition of assets

• Custom actions available for deploying and returning assets to ensure all parties are informed and alerted with the most up-to-date information

• Tickets and work orders can be submitted directly from both your desktop and Asset Panda’s mobile app, helping speed up the asset repair process

Cons

• Lacks accounting integration, limiting financial management visibility and comprehensiveness

• User reviews mention that when handling a high volume of traffic, long load times may be experienced and software will even ‘freeze’ at times

• Dashboard performance could be improved, as some relevant metrics and analytics are neglected

Price

You’ll need to reach out to Asset Panda directly for a custom quote for your particular organizational needs

9. Pulseway

Pulseway is an IT management solution that empowers users to monitor and control all systems and servers from a smartphone, tablet, or browser. It’s most commonly leveraged as a remote monitoring and management (RMM) tool, enabling users to remotely oversee and maintain technical infrastructure and devices.

Key features

• Powerful automation engine combines workflow technology with an intuitive user interface (UI), allowing for smart triggers that can auto-remediate IT issues

• Patch management automates the discovery and application of OS and third-party application patches, while enabling you to define the what, when, and where in advance

• 28 advanced reporting templates support customized analytics tailored to your needs; these can be run manually or scheduled to occur regularly

Pros

• Versatile in its use; can be used for managed service providers (MSPs) or internal IT teams with impressive functionality for both

• Highly integrable with many popular third-party applications such as ConnectWise Manage, Autotask, Zendesk, PagerDuty, and more

• Customizable alerts empower companies to quickly identify problems, communicate with users, and resolve issues with built-in scripts

Cons

• Managed assets must be networked, creating problems for users who require a physical barcode or are managing non-network resources

• Can get extremely pricey, particularly for organizations managing a high volume of resources

• Advanced scripting and automation features are difficult to learn, making it challenging to maximize their potential

Price

Prices start at $44 dollars per month for 20 or fewer devices, while you’ll need to contact Pulseway directly if you’re overseeing more than 5,000 devices

10. Asset Sonar

AssetSonar is an ITAM solution that provides an abundance of tools for organizing, tracking, and reporting on resources across multiple locations. Its cloud-based nature empowers organizations to monitor their assets throughout their entire life cycles from a single unified platform.

Key features

• Robust CMDB provides 360-degree visibility into all IT asset dependencies

• Scan-based audits can be leveraged to help improve transparency and accountability

• Network discovery allows users to promptly identify network devices, automatically creating an accurate inventory database and reducing security risks

Pros

• Robust hardware and software asset management enables businesses to oversee both physical items and cloud-based software

• Combination of asset management, inventory management, and user management capabilities result in a comprehensive solution that verifies all aspects of business operations are adequately monitored

• Service and warranty features ensure that service tickets can be easily created, maintenance alerts are in place, and service history can be tracked

Cons

• Verification signatures lack important details for what individuals are signing for

• Non-intuitive interface with a lot of redundancy, requiring unnecessary navigation to utilize certain features

• Limited notifications available for when assets are running low or reach a pre-specified level

Price

Begins at $69.99 per month for 100 or fewer devices, while you’ll need to reach out to Asset Sonar directly if you’re managing more than 3,900 devices

Key features of IT asset management software

One of the main draws of ITAM tools is its versatility in assisting with a wide variety of business initiatives. Its utility allows it to be used to enhance asset tracking, inventory management, compliance management, and more from a single, unified platform. Freshservice offers an abundance of ITAM-aligned tools that are designed to help optimize the use of technical resources within your organization. Some of its core attributes include:

• Asset normalization: Creates a unified overview of all assets across multiple systems, offices, and clouds. You can integrate this feature with existing inventory systems to create a single pane of glass for your entire asset inventory. 

• Asset lifecycle management: Allows users to track purchase orders, initialize assets, and keep a record of every piece of information from procurement to retirement in a single, centralized view.

• Automated discovery: Automatically discover and track asset information by using our out-of-the-box discovery tools. Users can leverage agent or agentless discovery and even track assets off-network for full visibility. 

• Integrated CMDB: Maintains a complete repository of all the assets in your organization with in-depth visibility into how they’re all connected to each other. This tool allows you to identify critical assets, and easily link them to incidents, requests, problems, changes, or projects with just a single click.

• SaaS management: Get a 360-degree view of your SaaS applications and optimize usage with insight-driven actions. It also helps prevent siloed subscriptions with unified discovery and usage tracking from directly within the platform.

• Contract management: Allows businesses to maintain a single record of all contracts with third-party vendors. Additionally, you can track spending, optimize software license usage and set reminders on renewals and expiries. 

Let’s take a look at how a feature like automated asset management might be used in a real-world scenario.

Imagine that a mid-sized software development company is expanding rapidly, making it increasingly difficult to manually track technical assets like laptops, servers, and software licenses. Automated discovery can continuously scan its network to identify and catalog all connected devices, software installations, and hardware configurations.

For instance, when a new employee joins and receives a company laptop, the ITAM software automatically detects the device, records its specs, and tags it with the employee's details. It also checks for any software installations and cross-references this with existing licenses, ensuring compliance. As a result, TechSolutions can easily monitor asset usage, plan for upgrades, and avoid license overages, thus reducing manual effort and ensuring all assets are optimized and accounted for.

Enhance your IT asset management capabilities with Freshservice!

Freshworks’ Freshservice acts as the market’s leading ITSM platform, offering an abundance of useful tools designed to help your company successfully manage its technical assets.

Freshservice offers a powerful arsenal of ITAM tools such as:

• Asset normalization
• Asset lifecycle management
• Automated discovery
• Integrated CMDB
• SaaS Management
• Contract management

Freshservice's ITAM capacity empowers businesses to manage and optimize their IT assets across their entire organization, ensuring that they’re always operating at peak efficiency and delivering maximum value. Try it for free today and experience the transformative power of Freshservice’s asset management features.