The Essence of TAM (Technology Asset Management) Part 2
Published on February 28, 2019,
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#2 in the TAM basics series - the definition of the TAM Baseline
The Technology Asset Baseline by definition is the trusted source of data to the infrastructure as it relates to the assets within. It must transcend all protocols in the gathering of the asset and configuration items, to be able to take advantage of all the instrumentation of the device and utilize a vast array of protocols in its mission. If you are beginning this process take heed. If you have tools already; are they able to interrogate the asset with more than one option? Do they have additional intellectual property to use in cases where protocols and instrumentation are disabled and lacking?
The Baseline must be deep and granular, and it must be “created” with the following capabilities and components in mind.
• Agnostic to the operating system of the technology device
• Not limited to desktop or network or Data Center assets or IoT devices, it must be gathered from all categories of the organization’s active environment
• Able to capture, contain and update the current state of ANY technology asset and display the associated components of the technology at the time of the scan
• Include all technology hardware and related software regardless of what it is.
• Connect with and by its nature combine the intelligence of other standard infrastructure tools - examples are Active Directory, Directory Services for ownership and location
• Have examined the binaries of the software installed to expose particularly difficult areas like Oracle and IBM software
• Can capture and serve assets in highly sensitive and secure areas.
• Be gathered with Agentless scanning and the intrinsic ability to normalize the scanned data
• Be organized and technically capable of interacting and connecting with any area of the Infrastructure
• Must not create or open security issues and by its nature must be able to work in the most secure areas of any infrastructure
• Must be able to gather information utilizing virtually any protocol or, if protocols are disabled or not available the Baseline must have alternative methodologies to collect the required information to the creation of the Baseline
• Serve any part of your business or any project with the salient asset information required to power the organization
The Baseline must have the ability to view your technology assets over time and by their status to ensure the accuracy and supply deltas to illustrate the evolution of all Technology assets. Also, let’s not forget - have seamless integration with any area of the infrastructure. The baseline is the single trusted source of accurate information on all assets.
