EAM

(1) (Enterprise Asset Management) The management and control of the information technology assets within the enterprise. The asset management repository includes a description of the asset as well as contract information pertaining to its acquisition. The purpose of enterprise asset management is to keep track of and lower the cost of ownership of technology resources.

(2) (Electronic Accounting Machine) Another name for punch card tabulating equipment. EAM equipment (tabulating machines) was the mainstay of data processing for more than 70 years following the advent of Hollerith's card system for the 1890 census.

The EAM Room

This was a typical EAM room in a medium-sized business. Huge rooms full of tabulating machines were common in large companies. (Image courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation. Unauthorized use not permitted.)