Gain Strategic Insight

When all systems refer to hardware and software by the same names, you gain strategic insight into a vastly simplified IT estate. A common language of IT makes it easier to aggregate disparate sources when they all use the same conventions.

With a common language, it is much easier to move information across key IT processes and projects. IT planning teams can design systems that are acquired by procurement departments and deployed by operations staff, eliminating ambiguity between core IT business processes.

Tools that rely on hardware and software inventory data often struggle to deliver return on investment due to poor source data. A common language ensures all tools receive high-fidelity information to improve ROI on existing investments.

Reconciling software deployments to entitlements is typically a manual, expensive and non-repeatable process. A common language provides consistent software-naming conventions to greatly reduce the time and cost incurred during vendor audits.

Enterprise architects struggle to maintain internal catalogs, which are critical for IT planning and business discussions. A comprehensive catalog like Technopedia provides enterprise architects with a technical reference and standards catalog that serves as a common language between IT and the business.

As new products swiftly enter the market, vendor companies are acquired and products reach the end of their useful lives, IT systems are out of date almost as fast as they are updated. A common language of IT keeps systems updated on an ongoing basis without putting a burden on the IT department.

IT purchasing systems often rely upon manually entered values for hardware and software purchases, which make reconciliation of data discrepancies prior to deployment a challenge. A comprehensive reference catalog provides well-formatted hardware and software information to populate procurement applications and ensure purchasing and operations are aligned.

IT service management (ITSM) applications rely upon product and market information to make decisions for break/fix and other common ITSM activities. A common language augmented with market information ensures IT managers take ITSM actions based on complete information, including market information such as end-of-life dates and hardware lifecycle information.

Organizations have to comply with an expanding range of reporting regulations, particularly on core IT productions systems. A common language provides standardized ways to refer to and attest to key assets and establishes a closed loop between IT processes.

A common language of IT can prevent wasted time that IT departments previously spent running IT asset management (ITAM) systems to compare products purchased to products installed. It also reduces wasted payments for duplicate software and hardware or soon-to-expire versions.