- Assessing IT needs across all divisions
- Taxation issues
- Decentralized purchasing

Assessing the IT asset inventory and needs of a company is difficult enough when the operations are in a single location. It is only logical to assume that the difficulties will increase as the company expands across regional and international borders. Some locations may have a large quantity of unused assets, while others may have a shortage and need to purchase more. Increased visibility of all assets allows organizations to redistribute asset surpluses more strategically, yielding a better return from their IT investments.

In situations where assets move around, asset logistics become very important. Different jurisdictions have different tax rates. Different taxes apply in different areas. If organizations do not properly track their assets across all locations, they may miss out on tax breaks they are entitled to, or on the flip side, they may expose themselves to unnecessary risks by not paying all the taxes they should be. By having proper visibility and records on current and historical asset movements, organizations will have all the information necessary to reclaim tax credits with confidence.

Typically, the larger an organization, the larger its buying power. With organizations that are stretched geographically, multiple locations that make their own purchasing decisions could dilute that purchasing power by spreading it over more vendors. Decentralizing purchasing might be the easy way to insure each location has what it needs when it is needed, but organizations may end up reducing their bargaining power and increasing purchasing costs by not controlling aggregate purchasing. Proper asset visibility and a good purchasing strategy allow organizations to consolidate vendors and collect accurate data about their IT footprint, increasing bargaining power when it comes time to negotiate with vendors, while still allowing each office to make its own purchases.