A
AssetMon
Pricing
Blog
Security
About
Contact
Sign in
Start free trial
Glossary
ITAM, defined.
20 short definitions of the words you'll meet on the job — from
asset tag
to
true-up
.
A
B
C
D
H
I
L
M
P
Q
R
S
T
A
Asset tag
A unique identifier (often a QR or barcode label) attached to a physical asset for scanning and lookup.
B
Barcode
A one-dimensional encoding of a serial number, read by a laser scanner or phone camera.
Book value
Acquisition cost minus accumulated depreciation: what an asset is worth on the balance sheet today.
C
Configuration Management Database (CMDB)
A database of configuration items (CIs) and their relationships, typically used to support ITSM.
D
Depreciation
Allocating an asset's cost across its useful life on the balance sheet.
Declining-balance depreciation
Front-loaded depreciation that matches how technology assets actually lose value.
H
Hardware Asset Management (HAM)
The practice of tracking physical IT hardware — laptops, monitors, phones, servers — through its lifecycle.
I
IT Asset Management (ITAM)
The discipline of tracking and managing every hardware, software and digital asset across its full lifecycle.
L
License compliance
Operating within the seat counts and terms of every software license you have purchased.
M
MTTR (Mean Time To Repair)
The average time between a ticket being opened and resolved.
Multi-tenant SaaS
A software architecture pattern where one deployment serves many customers, each with isolated data.
P
Preventive maintenance
Scheduled maintenance to prevent breakdowns, as opposed to reactive repair after the fact.
Physical audit
A periodic walk-the-floor count that reconciles your records with reality.
Q
QR code
A two-dimensional barcode that encodes arbitrary text and scans from any modern phone camera.
R
RFID
Radio-frequency identification — read multiple tagged items at distance, no line of sight required.
S
Software Asset Management (SAM)
The practice of tracking software entitlements vs. deployments to stay compliant and avoid over-spend.
Straight-line depreciation
Equal-expense depreciation: (cost − salvage) / useful life, per period.
Service ticket
A workflow object representing one unit of repair or support work, with status, owner and resolution.
T
TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)
The full cost of an asset over its life — including purchase, maintenance, energy, training and disposal.
True-up
A vendor adjustment for past over-deployment — usually expensive.