An inventory management system (IMS) is described herein that captures historical data for network elements of a computer network. The IMS maintains the historical data to provide a life cycle view of the elements as utilized within the computer network. For example, the IMS may include a network scan module that receives current inventory information from at least one of the network devices, wherein the current inventory information lists elements currently deployed within network device. An event generator compares the current inventory information with the stored inventory information. A database manager updates the database to store historical data for the network devices based on the comparison.