The Best IT Asset Management Software in 2025: How to Choose
What differentiates the vendors between each other, when the feature stack is similar?
What is IT asset management?
IT asset management is an umbrella term for the practices and processes within a company that aim to ensure the most efficient operation of its IT assets.
The term IT asset refers to anything of value to the organization that is related to information technology or supports IT service delivery. Typical IT assets include laptops, smartphones, tablets, printers, routers, and switches. A slightly different category of IT assets is software assets, such as software licenses, virtual machines, etc.
The concept of IT asset management (ITAM) is interpreted in a variety of ways across the industry. Opinions also differ on the scope of assets included—some define ITAM as maintaining visibility over all organizational assets, whereas others limit it strictly to IT-related assets. Another area of divergence is whether network inventory should be considered part of ITAM or treated separately. Additionally, some companies market themselves as IT asset management solutions but focus solely on cloud software and license monitoring, without addressing hardware assets at all.
At Alloy Software, our point of view is more formal. We define IT asset management as the discipline responsible for managing a company’s IT assets—resources that hold value for supporting IT processes. IT assets include tangible and intangible assets.
The core of an IT asset management solution is, then, the IT asset management module. Which includes asset tracking, software license management, and configuration management capabilities.
Moreover, we believe that having the following “additional” features helps the IT asset management process, and is therefore tightly related to ITAM:
- Network inventory capabilities. Network inventory is a process of automatic data collection from the networked assets. Without network inventory, you’ll be updating your IT assets’ data manually which beats the purpose of IT asset management as a specific discipline. Not only is manual inventory cumbersome, especially with large asset fleets. But network inventory tools can also collect more data types than a human can collect manually.
- Integrated IT service management module. In real life, IT asset management isn’t that valuable by itself. It gains value when it’s connected with other processes – for example, IT service management.
The systems that have ITSM alongside ITAM are more useful than those that only have ITAM. When ITAM and ITSM are integrated, you can see clearly which assets are or might be affected by incidents and service requests.
All in all, we define an IT asset management tool as a tool that helps you automatically discover and track IT asset throughout their lifecycle and manages these assets in connection with the role they play in the IT service delivery in the organization.
What is the best IT asset management software out there?
Now, let’s study the market and see what solutions are best suited to solve the problems outlined above.
Alloy Software ITAM solutions
Alloy Software, a private company headquartered in New Jersey, USA, was founded in 2002. Initially known for its network inventory product, the company has since evolved into a comprehensive provider of IT Service Management (ITSM) and IT Asset Management (ITAM) solutions.
Our flagship products include Alloy Navigator for ITSM and ITAM (screenshots above), as well as Alloy Discovery and AlloyScan for network inventory (screenshots just below).
A standout feature of our offerings is a highly flexible workflow management engine, which allows seamless connections between various infrastructure components—ranging from incident tickets to physical assets like batteries in a warehouse.
This adaptability ensures the platform grows alongside an organization’s evolving needs.
Alloy Navigator (ITSM and ITAM) is designed to integrate with any network inventory tool, though deeper integration is naturally achieved with our proprietary options AlloyScan or Alloy Discovery. With over two decades of experience, Alloy Software has built a reputation for powerful, scalable, and customizable IT infrastructure solutions tailored to diverse business environments.
Alloy Software offers complete flexibility in terms of hosting. You can deploy our solutions on-premises on your servers, get them delivered as SaaS, or installed on your Azure or AWS cloud. The on-prem version is especially popular among our clients who operate in heavily regulated industries or deal with sensitive asset data.
ServiceNow
ServiceNow, a publicly traded company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a global leader in digital workflow automation.
Its flagship ServiceNow platform is the foundation for all ServiceNow solutions, including IT asset management. ServiceNow IT Asset Management prioritizes asset lifecycle management, and a view on IT asset management from the perspective of their unified Now platform.
ServiceNow is known as a household name in the industry and works with global companies with giant IT budgets.
It’s widely understood that ServiceNow’s solution is positioned at a higher price point, primarily catering to large enterprise clients.
SysAid
Founded in 2002 and based in Israel, SysAid is a privately held company that provides ITSM solutions with a strong emphasis on simplicity and automation.
SysAid prioritizes integration of IT asset management with the help desk capabilities, and the opportunity to use ITAM capabilities for help desk tasks.
Notably, SysAid claims that their solution not only discovers and monitors assets but also handles patch management and remote control. Apparently, SysAid relies on a native integration with Lansweeper to provide network discovery features.
InvGate Assets
InvGate is a privately held ITSM and ITAM company founded in 2009 and headquartered in Argentina. With a strong focus on usability and affordability, InvGate delivers powerful solutions for service management (InvGate Service Desk) and asset management (InvGate Assets).
Its ITAM offering includes a variety of features: asset inventory, network discovery, software metering, and asset-based threat management. The company is constantly evolving and introducing new capabilities and use cases.
BMC Software
BMC Software, founded in 1980 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a global leader in enterprise IT solutions. Once a public company, it is now privately owned. BMC offers a robust suite of tools ranging from mainframe transformation to workflow automation. BMC Helix offers an all-in-one IT service management solution, including integrated IT asset management.
BMC Helix Discovery integrates discovery, compliance, and lifecycle tracking.
ManageEngine
ManageEngine, a division of Zoho Corporation, is an Indian-based company known for offering comprehensive IT management tools. It has a diverse portfolio of software solutions: identity and access management, endpoint management and security, security information and event management, and much more. Asset Explorer is its flagship IT asset management product, available in the cloud and on premises.
Its ITAM functionality includes the standard feature set: asset discovery, software license management, and lifecycle tracking.
Ivanti Neurons for ITAM
Ivanti, headquartered in Utah, USA, was formed in 2017 through the merger of several IT management companies, including LANDESK and HEAT Software. It is privately held and offers a comprehensive portfolio of ITSM, ITAM, UEM (Unified Endpoint Management), and cybersecurity solutions.
Ivanti Neurons for ITAM covers asset discovery, license optimization, and lifecycle management. Moreover, they also offer vendor management features to provide you with insights about your vendor contracts.
Ivanti is known for unifying IT operations and security across devices and environments. Due to the company’s expertise in security, you can expect to get additional features aimed at minimizing risk and threats.
How to choose the right IT asset management software?
Selecting the right solution to integrate with your existing, often complex, technology stack is no simple task. As any organizational change, it requires a strategic approach that aligns with the unique needs and objectives of your business.
Read our blog article on change resistance and the ways to deal with it.
Consider the following key factors when evaluating ITAM solutions:
1. Deployment flexibility
Assess the deployment options that best suit your organizational requirements. Modern ITAM solutions typically offer:
- On-premises installation
- Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) models
- Cloud deployments (Azure, AWS)
Your choice should depend on factors like data sensitivity, regulatory compliance, and internal IT infrastructure.
Organizations in heavily regulated industries might prefer on-premises solutions, while more agile companies might opt for cloud-based platforms.
Whether you prefer a cloud-based or on-premises deployment, each option offers its own benefits.
With Alloy Software, you can choose any deployment model that best fits your organization’s needs: our software can be deployed on-premises on your servers, delivered as SaaS by Alloy Software, or installed on your Azure or AWS cloud. Regardless of the deployment method, you’ll have access to the full range of ITSM features, including Incident Management, Email Ticketing, Service Catalog, Self-Service Portal, Mobile App, Change Management, and more.
Read our article on the differences between cloud and on-premises deployment models.
2. Integration capabilities
An effective ITAM solution should seamlessly integrate with your existing IT ecosystem. Key integration points include:
- IT service management (ITSM) platforms
- Network inventory tools
- Security and compliance frameworks
The more native and deep the integrations, the more value you’ll extract from your ITAM investment.
In Alloy Navigator, the following native integrations allow users to connect and use the external services directly within our software product, with minimal setup required:
- Zapier
- Microsoft Teams, Word, Intune, SCCM/MECM, Azure AD
- TeamViewer
- NinjaOne
- Google Analytics.
Custom integration opportunities include database-level integrations, integrations through PowerShell scripts, and the Alloy Rest API.
3. Scalability and customization
Your chosen ITAM software should not just accommodate your current asset fleet but also scale effortlessly as your organization grows. A truly robust ITAM solution adapts to your organization’s evolving needs without requiring complete system replacement.
With our infinitely flexible workflow automation engine, we can confidently say that Alloy Navigator is a solution that accommodates both your current and potential future business needs. As our CTO Ivan Samoylov puts it,
“…one thing that is very hard to explain to customers is that our solution sets them up for future. Simple things are simple to implement, complex things are more complex, but still possible.”
4. Budget and TCO (total cost of ownership)
Consider not just the upfront licensing costs, but the total cost of ownership. With the growing reliance on cloud resources, vendors’ pricing structures get more and more sophisticated. Apart from the more traditional regular yearly “subscription” fees and training fess, consider the following check list to make an informed buying decision:
- Additional fees charged by the vendor:
- Consultation / training fees
- Fees for additional seats or, in the case of asset management, for additional nodes or assets monitored
- Cancellation fees
- Minimum subscription period, during which no cancellation is possible
- The fees for additional integrations
- Internal implementation expenses:
- Time and effort needed for the research prior to the purchase
- Employee training
- Additional overhead of tech specialists to make the new solution “talk” to the rest of the ecosystem
- Potential changes to business processes due to a tool update
5. Vendor reputation and support
Evaluate the vendor’s:
- Industry experience
- Track record of innovation and the frequency of updates: check out the company’s release notes.
- Customer support quality: read reviews on software evaluation platforms such as Gartner, G2, and similar. Make sure that various support channels are available: support portal, online chat, and through social media platforms.
A vendor with a proven history and commitment to continuous improvement will be a more reliable long-term partner.
At Alloy Software, we take pride in our support quality, praised equally by our customers and by industry reports.
“Alloy’s team has been incredibly quick to respond to our needs,” shares Audrey Bonnotte, IT project manager at Dietsmann. “They go beyond just providing answers—they actively help us implement solutions, which has been crucial to our success.”
Our article on the choice between buying and building software will provide additional insights on how to purchase IT solutions.
Conclusion
IT asset management is a critical discipline that ensures your technology investments are tracked, optimized, and aligned with your organization’s broader goals. The key benefits of a healthy IT asset management process are reduced license costs, fewer lost or stolen devices, and a longer and more productive IT asset lifecycle.
This article provides an overview of the best IT asset management solutions available. When choosing your IT asset management platform, pay more attention to things like integration with an IT service management module, and an easy plug-in with a network inventory tool for automated asset discovery. Among the vendors who have this “default” stack implemented, further differentiating factors include focus on security, friendlier user interface, enterprise- or SMB-targeted feature stack.
The best ITAM solution for your organization is one that fits your specific needs, so choosing the right vendor requires a thoughtful strategic approach.
Frequently asked questions
What is software asset management (SAM)?
Software asset management (SAM) is a sub-division of IT asset management, responsible for managing intangible IT resources, mostly licenses. SAM tracks license compliance, i. e. expiration dates, renewal conditions, appropriate usage, and similar. In large companies which use hundreds of different vendor solutions, SAM is automated: renewal reminders, shadow usage blockers, etc. A huge part of SAM is about preparing for and going through vendor audits.
What is hardware asset management?
Hardware asset management, as the name implies, helps businesses keep track of their tangible assets, such as computers, smartphones, tablets, printers, routers, switches, etc.
What is IT asset tracking?
IT asset tracking is a process within ITAM. In the IT asset tracking process, we create and maintain a database of IT assets. The “Assets” section in the Navigator database is essentially the IT asset database.
What is CMDB?
CMDB is a different database—specifically, a database of configuration items (CIs),
where information about hardware, software, services, and their relationships is stored. In the Navigator, CMDB includes Configurations, Computers, Hardware, Networks, etc.
CMDB is a key component of ITSM (IT service management), where IT services are managed.
What is a configuration item (CI)?
CI (Configuration Item) is a complex concept, but it refers to a component necessary for service delivery (and one that should not be overlooked).
For example, a laptop is both an IT asset and a CI, while a software license is only an IT asset but not a CI.
What is network inventory?
Network Inventory is a tool that enables automatic population of the CMDB. Discovery and Audit are parts of the CMDB population process. Discovery is the detection of potential CIs (on the network). Audit is collection of more detailed information about them and their relationships.
