Throughout 2025, enterprise IT environments have undergone a dramatic transformation.
With remote and hybrid work becoming permanent, SaaS adoption exploding, and endpoints diversifying across macOS, Windows, mobile devices, tablets, and VDI—combined with rapid AI tool adoption and tightened security regulations—
traditional PC management tools and SAM (Software Asset Management) alone are no longer sufficient to control IT assets, optimize costs, or reduce security risks.

Furthermore, as AI technologies enter the workplace—
from AI models to AI development environments—
new challenges such as shadow IT, unauthorized accounts, unmanaged GPU-heavy workloads, and hardware manipulation are emerging rapidly.

Since 2025, both global and Korean enterprises have been shifting aggressively toward ITAM (IT Asset Management)–centric operations, and
2026 is poised to become the year ITAM becomes the industry standard.

1. Why ITAM Will Become the Core of Enterprise Operations in 2026

A major global consulting firm’s late-2025 report on the Korean IT Asset Management Market highlighted the following insights:

✅ 1) “Korean enterprises suffer from severe asset aging and redundant purchases.”

The report identified core structural issues:

• Long-term use of aging devices
• Idle or unused SaaS subscriptions
• Orphaned accounts from former employees
• Department-level duplicate software purchases
• Mixed usage of PC, mobile, and tablet devices

These issues have collectively driven TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) upward each year.

✅ 2) “Traditional PC management tools can no longer support modern IT environments.”

Commonly used PC management tools in Korea remain focused on:

• Remote support
• Patch deployment
• Hardware troubleshooting

However, they cannot support modern IT estates that include:

• SaaS
• Account-based software
• VDI and virtual workspaces
• Mobile and tablet fleets
• GPU-heavy AI development machines
• Physical assets and peripherals

➡ Traditional PC tools simply cannot manage the IT landscape of 2026.

✅ 3) “SAM is fundamentally incompatible with a SaaS-first world.”

The report states:

“SAM tools focus on installation-based compliance.
They cannot manage SaaS, AI tools, account-based software, or cloud charges.
SAM will be rapidly replaced by ITAM beyond 2026.”

✅ 4) "ITAM is evolving from asset management into an enterprise operations data platform.”

In 2026, ITAM connects deeply into:

• Cost governance
• Security risk monitoring
• Accounting & depreciation
• Operational automation
• ESG (disposal, recycling, resource usage)

ITAM is no longer just an “IT tool.”
It is becoming a CFO–CIO–Security–Operations shared platform central to enterprise decision-making.

2. The Global Shift Toward ITAM

From 2025 to 2026, adoption of ITAM platforms such as NinjaOne, ManageEngine, and Hudu has accelerated worldwide.

Reviews and market analyses show global enterprises transitioning to ITAM, including:

• NVIDIA
• Nissan
• Staples
• Konica Minolta

Their primary reasons mirror Korean market conditions:

✔ Need full endpoint visibility across global teams

✔ SaaS overspending and license expansion

✔ Consolidation of AI tools, SaaS, and installed software into one platform

✔ Data-driven PC/server refresh cycles

✔ Usage-based decisions reducing TCO significantly

This is the same structural shift we now see emerging in Korea—
and Korean enterprises will fully experience this transition in 2026.

3. Why Korean Enterprises Must Adopt ITAM in 2026 — Industry-Specific Analysis

Unlike global markets, Korea’s IT asset landscape is heavily industry-dependent.
Below is a breakdown of ITAM adoption drivers by sector.

① Financial Services — AI Contact Centers & Branchless Banking Accelerate

Key 2025 transformations:

• Physical branch closures → expanded digital banking
• Rapid adoption of AI contact centers, AI advisors, and AI underwriting
• Surge of macOS, high-performance PCs, VM/VDI usage
• FSIS (Korean Financial Security Institute) regulations tightening
• Shadow accounts and duplicate SaaS becoming widespread

👉 Why Financial Institutions Need ITAM

• Manage AI-workload devices and high-performance endpoints
• Provide compliance logs (asset location, software usage, access history)
• Remove orphaned accounts and redundant SaaS
• Unify PC, VDI, server, certificate, and domain management
• Automate depreciation and residual value tracking

➡ AI expansion + strict regulation = ITAM becomes mandatory for financial services.

② Gaming & Content — Cost Reduction + High-End AI Workstations

The gaming/content sector faced a downturn in 2025, driving budget reduction while simultaneously requiring:

• AI content-generation tools
• High-performance GPU workstations
• Expensive software (Adobe, JetBrains, Unity, Unreal)
• Increased macOS adoption
• Soaring duplicate & idle licenses

👉 Why Gaming/Content Companies Need ITAM

• Optimize usage of costly GPU workstations
• Reduce Adobe/JetBrains/AI tool spending
• Purchase software based on real usage patterns
• Assign licenses per developer/designer based on needs
• Detect unapproved installations (Shadow IT)

➡ 2026 priorities: severe cost optimization + high-end device utilization.

③ Education — Student Device Management & Learning Focus Analytics

Korea’s 2024–2025 nationwide smart-device distribution created huge operational gaps:

• Device loss and damage
• Rising non-educational usage (games, harmful sites)
• Increased teacher burden
• Lack of analytics for digital learning effectiveness

👉 Why Schools & Education Offices Need ITAM

• Real-time student device usage monitoring (apps/web)
• Detect games, harmful sites, or non-class software
• Optimize software licensing across schools/classes
• Track physical asset loss/damage
• Analyze learning patterns to inform curriculum

➡ Education requires both security and learning-effectiveness analytics — ITAM solves both.

④ Manufacturing — Semiconductor Supercycle + Industrial Security

With Korea’s semiconductor rebound in 2025, manufacturing operations face:

• Increased risk of production IP leaks
• Rising reliance on external contractors
• Mixed ecosystems of Windows, macOS, industrial devices
• Convergence of OT + IT systems
• AI-driven CAD/EDA/simulation workloads

👉 Why Manufacturing Needs ITAM

• Track location and users of PC/laptops/industrial devices
• Control contractor/partner device access
• Optimize expensive CAD/EDA software licenses
• Make software purchases based on engineer usage
• Meet industrial security compliance (Korean Industrial Technology Protection Act)

➡ Productivity surge + sensitive IP = ITAM becomes essential security infrastructure.

**4. The Future of ITAM in 2026 —

An All-Device Agent–Powered Operations Data Platform**

ITAM is no longer a “device & software management tool.”
In 2026, ITAM evolves into a real-time enterprise data platform that analyzes usage across every device to drive cost, security, and operational decisions.

SELLEASE leads this shift with an All-Device Agent that installs across:

Windows · macOS · iOS · Android · Linux

And unifies the entire digital asset landscape into a single data map.

① Cost-Risk Detection — Eliminating SaaS, Software, and Hardware Waste

Because SELLEASE collects real usage data, cost decisions become data-driven.

Expected Impact

• Reduce spending on costly tools (Adobe, JetBrains, AI tools, etc.)
• Reallocate idle devices → reduce new hardware purchases
• Eliminate SaaS shadow IT
• Provide CFOs with financial-grade IT cost reports

② Security-Risk Detection — Monitoring Shadow Tools, Cloud Transfers, and AI Data Flows

AI tools and cloud storage apps are becoming the top security risks.
SELLEASE detects real usage-level threats.

Expected Impact

• Prevent AI-driven data leakage
• Detect unauthorized cloud uploads
• Identify hardware tampering (GPU/RAM/SSD changes)
• Strengthen security for finance, manufacturing, and R&D environments

③ Executive Insights — Turning Asset Data Into Business Decisions

The primary value of ITAM in 2026 is executive intelligence.
With SELLEASE, companies can measure:

• Asset utilization
• Workforce productivity
• Digital transformation maturity

Expected Impact

• Provide C-level teams with strategic ROI insights
• Eliminate unnecessary systems → reinvest in high-value tools
• Improve productivity through software usage analytics
• Support objective budget planning based on data

**Conclusion —

In 2026, ITAM Is Not Optional. It Becomes Core Enterprise Infrastructure.**

• PC management: break-fix and remote support
• SAM: installation-based compliance
• ITAM: cost + security + operations + ESG + accounting — all connected

In 2026, enterprise competitiveness will be defined not by
how many assets you own, but
how efficiently and safely those assets are being used.

SELLEASE’s All-Device Agent gives organizations the quantitative truth needed to manage IT in the AI-driven era.

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