This shift is mainly due to rapid advancements in AI technology which makes is more accessible and affordable to smaller size companies. Companies like OpenAI release new models with improved performance while significantly reducing costs.
Similarly, cloud providers such as Azure offer AI-powered services - like pre-trained models for data extraction from invoices - eliminating the need for SMBs to develop and train their own models, which is often the most expensive and time-consuming part of AI adoption.
With such services, SMBs can simply integrate AI into their workflows, experience it with minimum investment, and discontinue it if it doesn’t meet their needs—without major financial risk.
AI can truly turn the ship around for an SMB with tools to improve day-to-day operations, optimize resources, and maximize growth.
One transformative area where AI is making a difference is IT asset management (ITAM) - with automating routine processes, providing predictive insights, and better-strategizing resource allocation.
What does AI mean in ITAM?
AI in IT asset management means machine learning, predictive analytics, and automation - all of which aim to enhance the tracking, maintenance, and lifecycle management of assets. 
For SMBs, this includes IT hardware, software licenses, and digital tools critical to daily operations. In the past, managing these assets relied on manual methods that often resulted in inefficiencies and errors. Think about tracking IT software licenses in spreadsheets, or printed documents. Now, AI has introduced real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance and decision-making, and it offers SMBs a smarter way to manage limited resources.
Unlike large enterprises, SMBs often lack the budget or manpower for dedicated asset management teams. Here, AI levels the playing field, and provides tools that handle routine tasks, generate actionable insights, and trully empower SMBs to focus on growth.
Why AI is Important for IT Asset Management in SMBs
For many reasons that SMBs may not be aware of, as they might be under the assumption that AI is either too costly or too complex to utilize in their business operations.
It is true that implementing AI requires investment, however, the key here is to consider whether the value it brings outweighs the costs. The goal is not to use AI everywhere just because you can. Instead, identify areas where it truly makes a difference and delivers a strong return on investment.
Let’s discover what benefits AI can bring to ITAM processes in SMBs:
1. Risk Predictions: AI enables a shift from reactive to proactive maintenance by predicting failures before they occur. It excels at spotting patterns that humans can’t see. We’re already using this capability in Service Desk AI Assistant.
In the context of ITAM ITAM, it can be used to identify potential performance issues based on data from other servers and to schedule maintenance at optimal times, so there are no unexpected server outages while keeping everything fully under control.
This approach reduces downtime and extends the lifespan of IT assets—two crucial advantages for low-resourced SMBs. AI also identifies underutilized assets, such as rarely used software licenses or idle hardware, and alerts SMBs to eliminate wasteful spending.
2. Data-Driven Decision Making: AI is fed with raw data from IoT devices, usage logs, and reports, and is capable of transforming these into actionable insights.
SMBs without dedicated analytics teams can rely on AI as a digital advisor and better guide decisions in areas like identifying the best time to replace aging equipment, allocating limited budgets more effectively, or even monitoring high-risk assets to prevent costly failures.
Moreover, AI can significantly improve data readability which is very useful when you have huge amounts of data. The benefit of that is that users can query results using natural language and AI interprets the data back in a way that is easy to understand.
For example, understanding the data can guide decisions whether it’s worth purchasing a particular server or not. This functionality, like in tools such as Power BI, enables users to gain data insights through intuitive queries and receive answers in understandable language.
3. Enhanced Compliance and Audit Readiness: Staying compliant with industry regulations, such as ISO 27001 or GDPR, is often challenging for SMBs with limited staff and knowledge into compliance regulations that apply to them.
AI simplifies this process by automatically tracking asset changes (logging every action related to an asset!, software licenses, and certifications, maintaining detailed audit trails that reduce preparation time and error risks and flagging compliance gaps and suggesting corrective actions proactively.
For SMBs, such automations are life-saving, as they eliminate manual, error-prone processes and ensure readiness for audits.
4. IT Asset Data Consistency: AI doesn’t only help with big decisions; it takes care of the small things that might slip through the cracks as well. AI assistant can detect inconsistencies in asset data that would be hard to catch manually.
Example A: Mark is assigned a laptop in your system, but data keeps coming from Paul. Your AI assistant flags this mismatch - the laptop might be assigned to the wrong person!
Example B: A device marked as decommissioned suddenly starts sending data. Your AI catches it before it becomes a potential security risk.
Don’t forget that while AI can automate routine tasks and enhance decision-making, it will not replace human roles entirely. AI is an enabling, growth-boosting element to the operations of SMBs with predictive maintenance, automated licence management, generative and real-time compliance audits, and asset lifecycle management. It serves as a vital tool to augment human capabilities and free up valuable time for strategic tasks.
AI can definitely be helpful in automating repetitive ITAM processes like software renewals and maintenance scheduling, but your SMB teams are still going to handle nuanced situations requiring creativity, strategic-thinking and adaptability.
The arrival of AI in ITAM is definitely slower than in ITSM, and that's mainly because the user scenarios are not as obvious. However, it's mainly ITSMs that are gradually getting AI into ITAM thanks to reported incidents to devices.
Imagine this: if a certain type of server keeps showing up in incident reports, AI can pick up on that trend and recommends not to buy that model again.
Looking into the Future: How SMBs Can Adopt AI in IT Asset Management
Being an early adopter of AI is a great initiative for SMBs to ensure future-readiness and competitiveness. AI in ITAM has many use cases that SMBs can leverage - whether it’s minimizing downtime, optimizing resource use, or simplifying compliance.
If your SMB is ready to explore the power of AI in ITAM operations, here are some of the ways that you can start integrating AI into your asset management upon identifying what ITAM processes you would like to further automate with the help of AI:
- Train Teams - Invest in basic AI training for staff ensures that employees are equipped to use AI tools effectively. ITAM vendors also often provide onboarding resources to help teams adapt quickly.
- Support your team in trying new things - Getting started is always the hardest part, and when it comes to AI, that’s even more true. Trying out new technologies you know nothing about requires a lot of trust from management and a great deal of courage to step out of your comfort zone. Encourage your team to use AI to do its job and be understanding when it doesn’t work out. They might stumble upon something that completely changes the way they work.
- Invest in Scalable Solutions- SMBs should prioritize AI tools that can grow with their business. Selecting ITAM platforms with modular, scalable features ensures that additional capabilities can be integrated as needs evolve.
- Leverage Existing Tools or Collaborate with Vendors - Many SMBs already use IT management solutions that offer AI features. Exploring and activating these built-in capabilities can provide an easy entry point into AI adoption. If that is not the case for your organization, partnering with technology vendors specializing in AI for SMBs can be a great idea to reduce the complexity of deployment.
These are only a few ways to get started with using AI in your IT asset management processes.
Further in the future, we will be witnessing even more advancements in AI in the field with fully-automated audits without manual intervention, self-healing IT management systems that resolve issues automatically, and more.
Take control of your IT assets with ALVAO. Book a free 30-minute session with our consultants today!