The Dead Asset Syndrome

Organizations procure assets, both software and hardware, based on certain projections or needs. Also, there are assets which are no longer utilized or rarely utilized. In case of software assets many organization continue to spend on recurring license cost besides spending on support cost for both software as well as hardware support for dead assets. From the organization’s RoI perspective these are dead investments and hence dead assets.

Another concern that organizations have is regarding the utilization rate of their assets. Organizations continue to invest on IT assets whereas they could have optimized their asset utilization, which results in a poor RoI. With passage of time these too contribute to dead assets.

An even more alarming fact is that a number of organizations are not even aware of possessing dead assets. Dead assets not only have poor RoI but poor TCO as well.

If we try to segregate the dead asset in terms of hardware and software assets, then the percentage is higher for software assets. Software assets are more of invisible assets since they are determined by the licenses which are not mostly physically visible or consume physical space.

Since hardware assets consume physical space (data center, desk space, inventory or others), they are visible assets. Thus, comparatively organizations are more proactive in disposing dead hardware assets that have reached end-of-life.

If we plot a graph of asset procurement and its utilization against time over a period it would give a pattern for dead assets. This is what I would term as Dead Asset Syndrome.

It is very important for organizations to come out of Dead Asset Syndrome by proactively eliminating dead assets and improving their asset utilization rate along with RoI for the assets. How this can be done is what I would cover in another blog sometime later.

At this stage it is important to be able to know whether your organization suffers from the dead asset syndrome. If answer to any of the following question is ‘No’ then it is very likely that your organization is a victim of dead asset syndrome:

• Do you have a list of ALL hardware and software assets procured (with details regarding date, cost, depreciation, support, etc.)?
• Do you know where ALL your hardware and software assets are being used?
• Do you know when ALL your hardware and software assets were last used?
• Have you been able to recover ALL your hardware and software assets if it was no longer in use?