I attended ECPweb's Software and Asset Management Summit '04 at The University of Chicago to deliver a workshop on software auditing and compliance. It was a great opportunity for me to talk with other industry professionals as well as to speak with IT and asset managers tasked with implementing asset management (AM) and compliance programs.

As I reflect back on my conversations, I realize that certain hurdles to achieving AM program success are common in just about every company, regardless of size. I spoke with folks from organizations trying to manage 100,000+ IT assets, as well as with those who were trying to manage just a few hundred assets.

The problems are the same everywhere, only the scale changes. I probably said a hundred times, "You are not alone; most companies have the same problems!" To summarize the issues, I've identified the following key problem areas: