# IT asset management: record devices, software and contracts completely and steer them > Know what you have: record devices and software, manage the life cycle, reconcile licences with actual use, keep contracts and deadlines in view and reduce cost. URL: https://techport.ai/en/it-beratung/betrieb-und-support/it-asset-management --- 1. [IT Consulting](/en/it-beratung)/ 2. [Operations and Support](/en/it-beratung/betrieb-und-support)/ 3. Assets and licences under control [Operations and Support](/en/it-beratung/betrieb-und-support) # Assets and licences under control By Redaktion techport.ai, IT-Beratung · Last updated on 21 August 2026 The question of how many devices and licences a company owns is usually answered with a spreadsheet that was maintained some time ago. What is actually in use regularly differs: devices still on the list that were disposed of long ago, accounts for people who have left, and software installed without anyone using it. Asset management sounds like administration. In practice it is about three things: cost you can cut without losing anything, security risk from unknown devices, and evidence you need in an audit. ## How you notice it * A vendor enquiry about licence usage finds no solid figures. * Accounts for departed employees are still active and still being paid for. * It is unclear which devices are on the network and who owns them. * Contract renewals only become apparent when the invoice arrives. ## Why this happens Assets arrive from many places: purchasing, departments, projects, providers. Recording them is IT's job, but IT only learns about some purchases when support is needed. When employees leave, blocking accounts usually works while returning devices and cancelling accounts frequently does not, because it is part of no process. Over the years a gap opens between the list and reality that nobody created on purpose. ## How we go about it 1. **Survey the inventory automatically.** We capture devices and installed software through the existing management tools and the directory service rather than through surveys, and reconcile the result with purchasing and contracts. The difference is the actual finding. 2. **Assign ownership and life cycle.** We assign every device to a person or an area and define the steps from procurement through issue and change to return and disposal, including secure erasure. 3. **Reconcile licences with usage.** We compare purchased accounts with actual use and with the terms of the contracts. Unused accounts get cancelled or reassigned, missing rights get bought before an audit finds them. 4. **Track the deadlines.** We keep contracts with term, notice period and contact in one overview and set reminders that trigger well before automatic renewal. ## What you gain * Savings that require no process change. * Evidence for licence audits without a lengthy search. * A network where it is known which devices are present. ## From our projects The first reconciliation of purchased accounts against actual use finds a double digit percentage of accounts in nearly every company that are unused or belong to people who have left. That is the fastest saving in IT and also the one that most reliably returns unless a recurring review is put in place. The second recurring finding concerns device returns: without a fixed step in the leaver process, devices stay missing for months, and with them the data stored on them. ## Häufige Fragen Do we need a dedicated tool for this? In smaller companies a maintained overview fed from existing sources is enough. A dedicated tool pays off from a few hundred devices, across several sites, or when you have to provide evidence for certifications. What matters is not the tool but that additions and removals arise automatically from the processes rather than being typed in afterwards. How do we prepare for a licence audit? By holding the evidence before it is requested: purchase records, contract terms, the assignment of accounts to people or devices and a documented counting method. Pay particular attention to server licences, virtualised environments and indirect use through interfaces, because that is where the counting method deviates from intuition. ## Let us talk about Assets and licences under control In a thirty minute first call we work out where your biggest lever sits and whether we are the right people for it. [Arrange an initial call](/en/kontakt)[Our software](/en/loesungen) ## Further reading [IT Governance and ComplianceLicences and IT contractsCount licences correctly, review contracts on the points that count, prepare for vendor audits, cap price increases and agree an orderly exit.](/en/it-beratung/it-governance-und-recht/lizenzen-und-vertraege)[Operations and SupportWorkplaces and devicesHow workplaces become maintainable: set device standards, introduce central management, secure mobile devices, plan procurement and replacement, reduce effort per workplace.](/en/it-beratung/betrieb-und-support/arbeitsplatz-und-endgeraete)[IT Strategy and SteeringIT costs and value contributionWhat your IT really costs and what for: make cost blocks visible, attribute effort to the areas that cause it, separate run from change, and evidence the contribution IT makes.](/en/it-beratung/it-strategie-und-steuerung/it-kosten-und-wertbeitrag)[KnowledgeIT metricsDefinitions and formulas read the same way across the company.](/en/it-beratung/kennzahlen)[KnowledgeIT maturity checkKnow where your IT stands in ten minutes.](/en/it-beratung/reifegrad-check) Back to the field [Operations and Support](/en/it-beratung/betrieb-und-support) Rt Written by [Redaktion techport.ai](/ueber-uns), IT-Beratung Mehr als 15 Jahre Erfahrung in IT-Projekten des Mittelstands, Auswahl und Einführung von Unternehmenssoftware, Aufbau von IT-Betrieb und Informationssicherheit in wachsenden Organisationen. [More about us](/en/ueber-uns) More from techport.ai [ Software Custom process software for mid-sized companies. ](/en/loesungen)[ HR consulting People processes and the systems behind them. ](/en/hr-beratung)[ IT maturity check Ten minutes to a clear position. ](/en/it-beratung/reifegrad-check)[ HR maturity check 24 statements, a result per field. ](/en/hr-beratung/reifegrad-check)[ Funding BAFA grant plus more than 50 programmes for delivery. ](/en/foerderung)[ Process in practice How workflows become reliable software. ](/en/sop-praxis)[ Data and AI Analysis, forecasts and assistance systems. ](/en/daten-ki)[ About us The people behind techport.ai. ](/en/ueber-uns)