**IT asset management** (**ITAM**) is the set of [[Business process|business practices]] that governs the acquisition, deployment, operation, maintenance, and disposal of an organization's [[IT asset|information technology assets]] throughout their lifecycle. IT assets encompass hardware such as [[Server (computing)|servers]], [[Personal computer|workstations]], [[Mobile device|mobile devices]], and [[Network device|network equipment]], as well as software [[Software license|licenses]], [[Cloud computing|cloud]] subscriptions, and associated [[Contract|contracts]] and financial data. ITAM provides organizations with accurate, comprehensive visibility into their IT asset inventory, enabling informed decision-making about procurement, cost optimization, [[Risk management|risk management]], and regulatory [[Compliance (regulation)|compliance]]. ITAM is closely related to, and often overlaps with, [[IT service management|IT service management]] (ITSM) and [[Configuration management|configuration management]]. Within the [[ITIL|ITIL]] framework, IT assets are a superset of [[Configuration item|configuration items]] (CIs) managed within the [[Configuration management database|configuration management database]] (CMDB), with ITAM focusing primarily on financial and contractual dimensions while configuration management emphasizes operational and relationship data. Effective ITAM programs typically maintain a centralized [[Asset register|asset register]] or [[IT asset management#Software asset management|asset repository]] that tracks each asset's owner, location, status, cost, warranty, and contractual terms, often integrated with [[Discovery (computing)|discovery]] tools that automatically detect and update hardware and software inventory across the environment. ITAM is commonly divided into two primary disciplines. **Hardware asset management** (HAM) covers the physical lifecycle of computing devices, from procurement and receiving through deployment, maintenance, and [[Electronic waste|end-of-life disposal]], with attention to [[Depreciation|depreciation]], warranty tracking, and responsible [[IT asset disposition|disposition]]. **Software asset management** (SAM) focuses on the procurement, deployment, utilization, and compliance of software licenses, helping organizations avoid both [[Software audit|audit]] exposure from underlicensing and unnecessary expenditure from overlicensing. The increasing adoption of [[Software as a service|SaaS]] applications and [[Cloud computing|cloud]]-based infrastructure has introduced new complexity to ITAM, requiring organizations to extend traditional asset management practices to cover subscription entitlements, usage-based billing, and dynamically provisioned resources. Industry standards and guidance for ITAM practice are provided by organizations including the [[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]] through [[ISO/IEC 19770|ISO/IEC 19770]] and the [[IT asset management|International Association of IT Asset Managers]] (IAITAM).