What is Asset Management?
Asset management is the systematic process of developing, operating, maintaining, and disposing of assets in a secure manner. Assets include intellectual property, hardware, software, and data. Effective asset management ensures that all assets are properly inventoried, protected, and utilized throughout their lifecycle. It involves identifying and classifying assets, assessing their value, implementing security controls, and ensuring regulatory compliance. Proper asset management enables organizations to optimize resource use, reduce risks, and enhance their overall security posture.
Effective asset management ensures that organizations know what they own, where it resides, who uses it, and how it’s protected.
Why Asset Management Matters
Knowing what assets you have is the first step to securing them.
Without proper asset management, organizations face risks such as:
- Shadow IT: Unapproved tools or services operating outside security policies
- Data loss or leakage: When sensitive files go untracked or unmanaged
- Compliance failures: Inability to demonstrate data control under regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, and more
- Operational inefficiencies: Redundant tools, outdated systems, or unmanaged licenses
- Incomplete audits: Lack of documentation about who accessed what, when, and why
What Does Asset Management Include?
Data and Document Assets
- Files, spreadsheets, emails, reports, design documents, source code
- Includes both structured and unstructured data
- Must be classified by type, sensitivity, ownership, and lifecycle
IT and Hardware Assets
- Laptops, desktops, mobile devices, servers, USB drives, external media
- Location, usage status, and maintenance history must be tracked
Software Assets
- Installed applications, licenses, versions, usage rights
- Includes cloud-based platform and SaaS subscriptions
Digital Identities and Access Rights
- User accounts, service accounts, roles, and access permissions
- Critical for linking people to actions in systems and data
Asset Management vs. Configuration Management
Asset Management | Configuration Management |
|---|---|
Track what you have | Tracks how assets are set up |
Focused on ownership, usage, and classification | Focused on system settings, dependencies, versions |
Broader in scope | More technical and system-specific |
How Fasoo Enhances Asset Management
Fasoo takes asset management to the data level – where risk truly lives. With Fasoo’s data-centric security solutions, organizations gain:
File-Level Visibility
- Track sensitive documents by creator, owner, location, and classification
- See where data travels, even after it leaves your network
Automated Classification
- Use content-aware rules and AI to tag files with the appropriate sensitivity levels
- Organize digital assets by policy, usage, and risk
Persistent Protection
- Apply encryption and access policies directly to documents
- Control access based on user, role, location, device, and time
Complete Audit Trails
- Log every interaction with a protected file – view, edit, print, share, and more
- Support audits, investigators, and regulatory compliance
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