Enterprise computing asset management:a case studyJason Chou-Hong ChenAssociate Professor of MIS, School of Business Administratio n, GonzagaUniversity, Spokane, Washington, USAIntroductionIn the early 198 0s, Drucker (1980) predictedtha t ``the factory of tomorrow will beorganized around information rather thanautomation’’. His insight has become areality today. An organization’s prosperitydepends increasingly on how it usestechnology to expand and exploit itsemployees’ knowledge in order to adapt to adynamic business enviro nment. Computersystems at any level of organization canenhance the workers’ ability to solveproblems by providing them with qualityinformation.While information technology (IT) is anessential supportive tool as well as acompetitive weapon, it is quite expensive.Companies have long complained that IT didnot improve the productivity of the company(Strassman, 1997). Over the years the costs ofmanaging information, including the costs ofcomputer hardware, software, networks andstaff have risen, not declined, in relation toother production costs. However, realizinghow information systems may help thecompany reduce transaction cost and time-to-market, information systems expenditureonce again is on the rise. Given the amount ofannual expenditure in IT, even a smallpercentage of improvement from better ass etmanagement can be significant.To reduce cost and increase flexibility,business computing has moved to client/server architecture, using local areanetworks (LANs) to connect desktop personalcomputers (PCs) and mainframes. The resultis an increased complexity in the systemtopology. With enormous financial andoperational resources vested in suchsystems, the desktop asset managementemerges to be a new and crucial area oftechnology management.Computing asset management seeks toreduce IT expenses, increase effectiveness,and increase the company’s return oninvestment (ROI). It can help companies findcost-effective ways to manage IT forgenerating and using knowledge faster andmore effectively. This paper studies issues ofcomputing asset, using the Boeing Companyas an illustration . Based on the author’sexperience with the Boeing Company, thispaper studies issues of computing assetmanagement. In addition to presenting therecommendations the author gives to th eBoeing Company, this paper also proposes aconceptual framework for describingessential components and their interactionsin computing asset management.IT str ucture and computing supportin BoeingAfter merging with McDonn ell Douglas in1997, Boeing has been reorganized. Inaddition to the company offices, there arenow four groups: Boeing CommercialAirplanes Group (BCAG); Military Aircraftand Missiles (MAMG), Space andCommunications (SCG); and Shared ServicesGroup (SSG). For example, AuburnFabrication Division is one major fabricationplant for the BCAG. B oeing is renowned forits IT implementation, and in AuburnFabrication Division desktop PCs, NumericalControl machines and CATIA (a 3-D CADprogram) workstations are connected to theirsub-LANs that are linked to the mainnetwork in Auburn. This main network isthen connected to the Boeing’s maincomputing services with other Boeingdivision networks (Figure 1).Boards and committees are responsible fordetermining standards in hardware,software, and networks. These boards andcommittees are formed according to theneeds or the function of the division orenterprise. For example, the BCAGInformation Systems Standards OrganizationT he cu rre n t issu e an d full t ext a rch iv e o f this jou rnal is availa bleathttp://www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm[ 80 ]Industrial Management &Data Systems102/2 [2002] 80±88# MCB UP Limited[ISSN 0263-5577][DOI 10.1108/0263557021041962 7]KeywordsInformation technology ,Assets managementAbstractInformatio n technology (IT) is anessentia l supportive tool as well asa competitiv e weapon.Unfortunately, the cost ofdeploying , using and maintainin gcomputers has also increaseddramatically . Over time, thecomputing architecture has movedfrom being mainframe-centere dtowards client/server computinginterconnecte d with mainframes.Consequently , desktop assetmanagement becomes the toppriority to such an evolving systemof managerial goals, strategies,and implementatio n tactics. Basedon a study of Boeing Company’sinfrastructure , this paper firstdiscusse s issues of computingasset management as well as thetechnologies used to managethese assets. In additio n topresentin g the recommendation sgiven to Boeing, an enterprisecomputing asset managementframework is propose d toencompass important factors inthis paper.This project was fullysupported by a BoeingSummer Business FacultyFellowship. The author isgrateful to the supportteam, especially, M r JeffreyWilson, the division ISmanager.provides th e structured process managementonline, and employees may not only reviewthose standards, but may also submitrequests for new standards via a systemcalled Architecture Seview Request (ARR).The standards organization supports themission of the architecture review boards(ARB) to manage the approval of BCAG ITarchitecture directions (Boeing, 1998a).There is a class of standards calledcompany-wide information system (IS)standards. These standards are those Boeingstandards that have been ap proved by allgroups within Boeing. For example, thecompany-wide IS standards board approvesthe adoption of software (termed ``standardsoftware’’), and it is SSG’s responsibility tonegotiate licensing fees with softwarevendors. On the other hand, SSG alsodetermines the software purchasing strategy(e.g. the number of PCs, the number ofworkers or concurrent users) based onenterprise-wide concerns. However, divisionand/or organization-specific variations areallowed to exist where necessary.Auburn Computing Support (ACS) helpsits customers in the acquisition, upgrading,moving, adding and disposing of computerhardware and software. Its customers arelocated all over the Washington State. Forexample, ACS manages customer computerinventories in Auburn, Frederickson,Portland, Spokane, and some offices inSeattle. ACS also manages processes ofplanning, budgeting, and requesting for PCequipment in Auburn, Portland and thefabrication divisions in Seattle and Spokane.There are some exceptions, however. Forexample, SSG manages the ticketing systemtha t handles most of the technical support.In general, ACS starts its annual budgetingprocess, called computing capital