Allocating work devices to 10 new hires in a month is manageable, but it’s a different story once you scale—say, 50 people across several countries. We’re not saying it’s impossible, but doing it smoothly requires better IT asset management (ITAM).
One reason it’s difficult for some companies to distribute IT devices to an international team is the need to purchase devices in different configurations from different sources for different employees.
And it’s incredibly costly.
On top of that, there could be sourcing delays, inconsistent builds, or device standards, and the list goes on.
How a Decentralized Approach to Procurement Breaks Your IT Operations (and Your Company, Eventually)
It starts with a simple urgent laptop order here and another there, and as time goes by, companies that use scattered purchasing may start to notice some operational drags:
- Too many approval requests: For many teams, especially security, IT, finance, and HR, every nonstandard device triggers a full review and approval process.
- Higher support costs: No matter how top-notch your helpdesk is, supporting multiple devices with different OS versions can be stressful.
- Little to no visibility over device lifecycles: Implementing consistent SKUs and configurations across 20 devices from different suppliers can quickly get complicated. Without a solid ITAM approach, tracking warranty dates, depreciation, and inventory can be a challenge.
- Problems with security: Devices built outside standard baselines may miss encryption policies or other security must-haves, exposing your company to all sorts of data risks.
- Inefficient procurement strategy: If you’re buying from different suppliers, you could miss out on volume leverage for both hardware and software.
Again, having multiple suppliers and centralizing configurations is doable, and an IT team can get decent results with basic inventory management software or a few spreadsheets. But over time, inconsistencies upstream might continue to undermine downstream visibility. So, what can you do?
Standardized IT kits could be the answer.
Standardized IT Kits: Top Reasons to Have Them
Standardizing IT kits is an IT asset management strategy where you have predefined and consistent packages of hardware and software across your company. And it comes with several benefits.
Faster onboarding
While you can automate employee onboarding on your own, standardized kits make it faster and easier to repeat. Since your devices are configured uniformly, you can provide faster shipping and identity access while improving provisioning.
Lower support and maintenance costs
It’s easier for help desks to diagnose problems when they know the environments well. Even from an IT hardware asset management perspective, a standardized system could mean simpler warranty management and replacement plans.
Stronger security posture
With uniform baselines, your IT teams can easily implement patches, encryption, and compliance tasks, all while monitoring from a single central point. You’ll be especially grateful when audits roll around.
Better financial forecasting and vendor leverage
For procurement teams, standardized IT kits mean better pricing, warranties, and logistics terms. For finance teams, they’ll see more accurate depreciation schedules, which helps them forecast budgets more accurately.
But, Who Should Own Standardized IT Kits?
In a standardized approach to IT devices, ownership dictates whether it will succeed. HR teams know the hiring workflows, while finance teams control the budget, but it’s IT that sits right at the intersection of all teams. That’s why accountability for IT kits belongs with them, as they’re in the best position to manage them.
You wouldn’t want HR making hardware decisions or finance managing devices in ways that compromise operational visibility. Instead, a strong ITAM approach backed by top-notch software that integrates directly with HRIS and finance systems is the way to go.
And what if we told you you can standardize IT kit procurement, use a dedicated system to manage it, and enjoy other benefits such as global logistics, asset management, and warehousing?
Our platform at Dots approaches IT logistics from an operations-first perspective. Rather than treating procurement, onboarding, offboarding, and warehousing as separate workflows, Dots unifies them into a single centralized platform.
Ready to Standardize IT Kits Without the Operational Overhead?
If you’re looking to modernize IT assets management while improving employee experience, book a demo with Dots to see how standardized kits fit into a fully automated IT logistics workflow.
Better onboarding starts with better standards. The right platform makes both easier.
