Patent ID: 8527628

Claim:
A method for determining derelict assets comprising: analyzing a set of asset signatures, each associated with an asset, to discover derelict assets based on the asset signatures, wherein the asset represents a fundamental structural unit of an information technology (IT) environment; performing a multi-stage screening process to discover derelict assets, where in a first stage, assets having a normal state are able to be changed to a suspect state based on results of analyzing the corresponding asset signature, wherein in a second stage assets having a suspect state are able to be selectively changed in state to a normal state or a derelict state; and maintaining an asset management system record for each of the set of assets, where each record of the asset management system is a configuration item (CI), which indicates whether each of the set of assets is in a normal state, a suspect state, or a derelict state, wherein the asset management system periodically reclaims resources consumed by derelict assets, wherein each asset signature comprises a signature evaluation formula and a signature status formula, wherein the signature evaluation formula performs a point in time evaluation of the corresponding asset, wherein the signature status formula performs an evaluation of the corresponding asset over a time range, wherein asset state is determined when analyzing the set of asset signatures by combining results of both the signature evaluation formula and the signature status formula.