# What is IT asset optimization?

> IT asset optimization is the practice of finding the technology an organization pays for and does not use, putting a price and an owner on each item, and carrying out the changes that remove it. It covers software, hardware, AI spend and contracts, and it is the part of IT asset management that acts on what the records show.

Canonical page: https://www.asato.ai/it-asset-optimization

Headline on the page: What is IT asset optimization?

Line under the headline: Finding the technology you pay for and do not use, and removing it.

## The definition

- **In one sentence.** IT asset optimization is the practice of finding the technology an organization pays for and does not use, putting a price and an owner on each item, and carrying out the changes that remove it.
- **What it covers.** Software, hardware, AI spend and contracts.
- **Where it sits.** It is the part of IT asset management that acts on what the records show.

## Why it matters

Page line: A record does not cut a bill.

- **0 of 9** large US agencies had fully determined whether their five most widely used software licenses were over-purchased or under-purchased. Source: [US Government Accountability Office, Federal Software Licenses (GAO-24-105717)](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-105717).
- **8,544 of 10,000** iPhones bought with prepaid data plans were still in storage a year later, an inspector general found: an estimated $1.8M of wasted plan costs. Source: [US Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, report 21-02125-132](https://www.oversight.gov/reports/purchases-smartphones-and-tablets-veterans-use-during-covid-19-pandemic).

## Records, then action

Asset management keeps the record. Optimization acts on it.

ISO/IEC 19770-1, the international standard for IT asset management, suggests three tiers, in this order. Source: [ISO/IEC 19770-1:2017, IT asset management systems](https://committee.iso.org/sites/jtc1sc7/home/projects/flagship-standards/isoiec-19770-12017.html).

1. **Trustworthy data.** Know what you have.
2. **Lifecycle integration.** Manage each asset from purchase to disposal.
3. **Optimization.** Make each asset earn what it costs. This is the tier IT asset optimization names.

## What it covers

Every kind of technology an organization pays for.

- **Software.** Licenses and seats nobody uses, and applications that overlap. See: Right-size software, Rationalize your portfolio.
- **Hardware.** Support and maintenance on hardware that is not running. See: Stop paying for idle hardware.
- **AI spend.** Seats, keys and agents with no owner, and budgets nobody enforces. See: Control AI spend, What is AI tokenomics?
- **Contracts.** Renewals signed before anyone checked what was still used. See: Stay ahead of contracts.

## How it differs from the disciplines beside it

| Discipline | What it is | How IT asset optimization relates | Definition from |
|---|---|---|---|
| IT asset management (ITAM) | Managing, controlling and protecting IT assets through every stage of their life. | The parent discipline. Optimization is the part that acts on its records. | [ISO/IEC 19770-1:2017, IT asset management systems](https://committee.iso.org/sites/jtc1sc7/home/projects/flagship-standards/isoiec-19770-12017.html) |
| Software asset management (SAM) | Keeping software inside each publisher's license terms. | One kind of asset, led by compliance. | [Gartner, market definition of software asset management tools](https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/software-asset-management-tools) |
| Hardware asset management (HAM) | Tracking each device through its life. | One kind of asset, led by custody. | [Gartner, market definition of hardware asset management tools](https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/hardware-asset-management-tools) |
| SaaS management | Discovering and running SaaS applications from one console. | One way of buying software. | [Gartner, market definition of SaaS management platforms](https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/saas-management-platforms) |
| FinOps | A practice for getting the most business value from technology spend, begun in cloud. | A way of working across teams. Optimization works asset by asset. | [FinOps Foundation, What is FinOps?](https://www.finops.org/introduction/what-is-finops/) |
| Technology Business Management (TBM) | A taxonomy for classifying technology cost. | Reports where the money goes. Optimization changes it. | [TBM Council, TBM Taxonomy](https://www.tbmcouncil.org/taxonomy/) |

Detailed comparisons: [Asato vs SaaS management platforms](https://www.asato.ai/asato-vs-saas-management-platforms.md), [Asato vs SAM tools](https://www.asato.ai/asato-vs-sam-tools.md), [Asato vs HAM tools](https://www.asato.ai/asato-vs-ham-tools.md), [Asato vs AI cost tools](https://www.asato.ai/asato-vs-ai-cost-tools.md).

## How it works

Page heading: Link. Think. Execute. How Asato does it.

1. **Link: Asset Knowledge Graph.** Connect to the systems you already run, read-only by default. The graph contextualizes and connects their records into one.
2. **Think: Data Intelligence Engine.** Data products use rules, machine learning and language models to find what you pay for and do not use, with a yearly price and an owner on each item.
3. **Execute: Agentic AI.** AI agents carry out each fix with a human in the loop: a person you name approves it. Then they keep watching for new waste.

## Found, Approved, Saved

The three states of a saving. They are separate figures and are never added together.

- **Found.** Asato found it and priced it.
- **Approved.** A named owner at the customer approved the fix.
- **Saved.** The saving has been made. Saved figures are agreed jointly by the customer and Asato at the close of the engagement.

## Results

Each figure is from one customer. Health systems are described, not named.

- **Found: About 15%** of productivity-suite spend at CDW sat with inactive or invalid accounts. Case study: https://www.asato.ai/case-study-cdw-saas-visibility.md
- **Measured: $100M+ a year** of software spend at CDW attributed to a consuming unit, each dollar with a named owner. This figure is not a saving. Case study: https://www.asato.ai/case-study-cdw-technology-economics.md
- **Saved: $1.9M** of software waste at a multi-site health system: found in three weeks, and since saved.

## How a customer starts

Page heading: No savings, no fee. Your Asset Clarity Report: a priced list of savings, in one week. The action is "Get your Asset Clarity Report".
The offer: one area, one week, read-only access, and the Asset Clarity Report. Asato's fee is a share of the savings. If it finds no savings, the customer pays nothing.

To start, request a demo at https://www.asato.ai/talk-to-sales.

## Questions

The page shows at most five questions, the ones that belong to it. Any others are kept here for agents.

### What is IT asset optimization?

Removing what nobody uses. IT asset optimization is the practice of finding the technology an organization pays for and does not use, putting a price and an owner on each item, and carrying out the changes that remove it. It covers software, hardware, AI spend and contracts.

### How is it different from IT asset management?

It acts on the record. IT asset management keeps the record of what an organization owns, through every stage of an asset's life. IT asset optimization acts on that record: it finds what is paid for and not used, and removes it.

### Is it the same as SAM, or FinOps?

No. Software asset management covers one kind of asset and is led by compliance. FinOps is a way for engineering, finance and business teams to manage technology spend together. IT asset optimization works asset by asset, across software, hardware, AI spend and contracts.

### Is "IT asset optimization" a standard term?

Not formally. No standards body defines the phrase. The nearest anchor is ISO/IEC 19770-1, the international standard for IT asset management, which names Optimization as its third tier, after trustworthy data and lifecycle integration.

### How is a saving measured?

In three states. Found: Asato found it and priced it. Approved: a named owner approved the fix. Saved: the saving has been made. The three are separate figures and are never added together.

### How does an organization start?

With one area. Start with one area, such as Microsoft licenses or network hardware. In one week you hold your Asset Clarity Report: a priced list of what to stop paying for, with the owner of each item.

### Who approves a change?

A person you name. Nothing changes until a named person approves it. A person you name approves each fix, or sets a policy that governs fixes of that kind. Each step is logged: who approved it, what changed, where and when.

## Sources

- [ISO/IEC 19770-1:2017, IT asset management systems](https://committee.iso.org/sites/jtc1sc7/home/projects/flagship-standards/isoiec-19770-12017.html)
- [Gartner, market definition of software asset management tools](https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/software-asset-management-tools)
- [Gartner, market definition of hardware asset management tools](https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/hardware-asset-management-tools)
- [Gartner, market definition of SaaS management platforms](https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/saas-management-platforms)
- [FinOps Foundation, What is FinOps?](https://www.finops.org/introduction/what-is-finops/)
- [TBM Council, TBM Taxonomy](https://www.tbmcouncil.org/taxonomy/)
- [US Government Accountability Office, Federal Software Licenses (GAO-24-105717)](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-105717)
- [US Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, report 21-02125-132](https://www.oversight.gov/reports/purchases-smartphones-and-tablets-veterans-use-during-covid-19-pandemic)

## Related pages

- [How Asato compares](https://www.asato.ai/compare.md)
- [Asato vs SaaS management platforms](https://www.asato.ai/asato-vs-saas-management-platforms.md)
- [Asato vs SAM tools](https://www.asato.ai/asato-vs-sam-tools.md)
- [Asato vs HAM tools](https://www.asato.ai/asato-vs-ham-tools.md)
- [Asato vs AI cost tools](https://www.asato.ai/asato-vs-ai-cost-tools.md)
- [Platform](https://www.asato.ai/platform.md)
- [Asato home](https://www.asato.ai/index.md)
- [Site index for agents](https://www.asato.ai/llms.txt)

Last updated: 2026-10-12