Throughout the country, schools have significantly ramped up their use of technology. But along with that increased adoption comes an increased scope of work for IT departments, who must manage, secure and optimize the ever-increasing array of devices across their network. One of the first and most important steps in that process is to conduct a technology audit.
What is a technology audit? Simply put, it is the process of identifying and confirming the status and location of an organization’s information technology assets.
The list of IT assets that need to be audited includes desktops, notebook and tablet computers, along with server computers, printers, networking equipment, and presentation equipment such as projectors and electronic whiteboards. Confirming proper software licensing is also a significant part of a technology audit. Unlicensed software installations can expose your organization to expensive fines and even civil litigation.
Regular technology audits can improve compliance, protect assets, minimize unauthorized installations, and provide a blueprint for future upgrades and replacements. However, conducting these audits manually can impose a significant additional burden on your already thinly-stretched staff.
Why use software for a technology audit
IT asset management has become increasingly complicated. Using software to manage IT audits can help you:
- Reduce the amount of staff time and resources that are devoted to audits
- Discover and monitor software on all computers in the organization
- Improve customer service and IT support
- Improve security of your data, hardware and network
- Support budget planning by maintaining an accurate asset database
How to Get Started with Audit Software
To find the best auditing software product to meet your needs, follow these five steps as you complete your evaluation:
Step 1: Look for a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution that lowers total cost of ownership and permits multiple users
Widespread high-speed connectivity, lower data storage costs, and the explosion in mobile computing have combined to make SaaS solutions an excellent choice for K-12 school districts, colleges and universities of all sizes. Ideally, your vendor should make their product available to an unlimited number of staff.
Step 2: Work with your vendor to ensure all assets and IP addresses are imported into the software
Ensure that your technology audit automation vendor can import your existing data, as well as work with you to collect any asset information that may not currently be accurately tracked.
Step 3: Appoint an audit manager or champion to manage the process
For your implementation of technology audit automation to succeed, an internal project manager should serve as the liaison between your district or campus and your vendor. This person should also serve as the main internal advocate for the project.
Step 4: Conduct audits on a regular basis to monitor hardware, software licenses, and more
After selecting and implementing your technology audit automation solution, develop a technology baseline by conducting audits in all departments. These audits will establish current capacity across the district or campus, and provide support when additional resources are needed.
Step 5: Analyze time saved through reporting functionality—assess, evaluate and improve!
After your baseline has been established, review the reports provided by your system. They should offer a blueprint for areas which you can target for improvement, with documents that are easy to generate and full of actionable data.
Conclusion
Automating your technology audit process can eliminate the expense and errors of manual audits, automatically manage your software licensing and hardware deployment, improve the security of your technology investment, and help you comply with applicable fiduciary regulations. In today’s technological and budgetary climate, a technology audit automation solution is an essential element of your technology plan.
About SchoolDude
Founded in 1999, SchoolDude (and its parent company, Dude Solutions) has served as the market leader in education enterprise asset management, with over 1 million education professionals using our applications. We deliver Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications to help both small and large institutions better manage their facilities, IT and business operations. We help clients save time and money by managing support services effectively and efficiently, allowing institutions to provide a safe teaching and learning environment. Today, we’re the #1 provider of SaaS solutions for public and private schools, colleges and universities.
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