IT sprawl—the complex, disorganized and decentralized IT environment resulting from the accumulation of tools, applications and technologies—doesn’t happen because someone made bad decisions. It’s the natural result of how we work: installing quick-fix solutions to urgent problems without considering the long-term effects.

You’re likely familiar with how it accumulates. An IT admin installs a new tool to automate Windows updates. Another adds a solution for onboarding remote workers. A third tests a management system for securing personal devices accessing company resources. Individually, these seem like reasonable choices. Collectively, they create a snowball effect, making it progressively more difficult to manage the tangled IT environment that exposes the organization to significant risk.

With IT sprawl, every new application or service requires additional time, money and expertise to manage and secure properly. The organization’s tech stack becomes increasingly bloated and complex, burdening IT teams with growing time and budget demands, all while IT spend is wasted. In fact, recent research into IT asset management (ITAM) reveals that approximately one-third of spend on IT (e.g., for desktop software, SaaS and data center software) is wasted. Meanwhile, abandoned solutions, without proper ITAM, linger as vulnerabilities. Employees, frustrated with unnecessary steps and friction in the user experience, turn to unauthorized shadow IT to bypass restrictions.

Fortunately, IT simplification is possible—and important.

Efficient IT asset management (ITAM) is important for any organization that wants to thrive in today’s ever-evolving tech landscape. In this regard, asset management software is being seen as a revolutionary solution that is helping to streamline the monitoring, management, and optimization of IT equipment usage.

This type of software not only enhances operational efficiencies, but also reduces unnecessary expenditures by providing real-time data on asset utilization and maintenance schedules. With the capacity to automate complex workflows and alert managers about upcoming needs or issues, asset management tools prevent potential disruptions before they affect productivity.

Moreover, by keeping a comprehensive inventory of all IT assets, businesses of all sizes can ensure compliance with both internal policies and external regulations.

Ultimately, this technology empowers companies to make informed decisions about resource allocation, future investments, and strategic planning, leading to improved bottom lines and heightened competitive advantage.

In the digital age, IT asset management is more than just a logistical task; it’s a critical component of an organization’s security and compliance. With the increasing prevalence of cyber threats and stringent regulatory demands, managing IT assets securely is essential. Secure ITAM ensures that all IT assets, including hardware, software, and data, are accurately tracked, optimally utilized, and protected from security breaches. This approach not only safeguards the organization’s digital infrastructure but also supports compliance with various regulatory standards, therefore minimizing risk and enhancing operational integrity.

JumpCloud Inc.‘s (SME) IT Trends Report, ‘Flexibility and Ingenuity: What’s Powering Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise IT Management in 2023‘, shows that just after SMEs successfully established the new workplace normal following the pandemic, significant turbulence in the greater macroeconomic environment has threatened to upend the system again.

Instead of lockdowns and supply chain shortages, businesses now deal with layoffs and recession fears on top of external threats growing in sophistication, regulatory and compliance pressures heating up, and increasingly complex IT tool sprawl.

JumpCloud commissioned this biannual survey of SME IT admins to gain unique insights into the day-to-day experiences of IT professionals who power and secure operations without enterprise-level budgets and staff. The most recent survey results, polled from admins in the US, UK, and France, highlight that while IT teams are successfully managing the workplace, they need an IT environment built around an open directory platform. While 77% of SME IT admins want a single tool to do their job, organizations continue to force them to use many more. Consolidating tools shifts an enormous tech burden off of IT admins who are already overworked and overwhelmed with job responsibilities. Admins can leverage technology to manage a complicated, frustrating, and time-intensive process. With both security and employee experience top of mind for admins, heeding IT’s call for centralized operations can result in a better UX for users, increased convenience and effectiveness for admins, and enhanced security for all.

“Modern IT management is a balance of responding to current needs while remaining nimble enough to adapt to the unknown. Flexibility, ingenuity, and innovation have never been more critical for those in the IT trenches,” said Rajat Bhargava, CEO, JumpCloud. “Admins want convenience and centralized management, as shown by the 77% that agree or strongly agree that they would prefer a single solution/tool to do their jobs. Admins are hungry for an open IT approach that delivers on this promise, an approach that unifies and centralizes identity and allows organizations to scale while solving efficiency, complexity, and cost challenges.”

The results of the JumpCloud Q2 2023 SME IT Trends Report are available in JumpCloud’s e-book, “Flexibility and Ingenuity: What’s Powering Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise IT Management in 2023,” which can be downloaded for free here.