Asset Data: The More Detail, the Better

By Staff Contributor on July 12, 2017


asset data, web help desk

Your IT department manages the inventory tracking details of all of your company’s IT assets, including hardware and software. Although most organizations are aware of the need for IT assets management (ITAM), many continue to put off investing in and adopting ITAM tools.

Using ITAM tools, especially in conjunction with help desk ticketing software, allows IT managers to reduce risks, as well as save time and costs. The areas that benefit from adopting ITAM software include:

  • Troubleshooting
  • Decision-making
  • Tracking and asset warranty data management
  • Efficiency

As described by The Institute of Asset Management (IAM), “Asset Management involves the balancing of costs, opportunities, and risks against the desired performance of assets, to achieve the organizational objectives.” Let’s take a look at the ways an ITAM tool makes it possible for your IT professionals to affect this balance and meet the company’s goals.

Enable Effective Troubleshooting

By planning for a worst-case scenario with your business’ assets, you can help ensure that your response will minimize both loss of customer trust and financial loss. Your ITAM software can expedite your organization’s troubleshooting by providing:

  • Fast access to information about and the location of individual hardware units
  • Detailed views of individual and total company-owned assets that are easy to find
  • Searches by asset number to find relevant customer service histories quickly

The following is an example of troubleshooting using asset management:

An employee creates a trouble ticket stating that part on her computer has stopped working. Your ITAM software not only keeps track of the device itself, but also monitors its components, such as RAM, hard drive, etc. Every issue with the computer is logged in a repository in the ITAM tool. The technician assigned to the trouble ticket can access this repository to review not just the details of the computer, but also the history of problems and repairs. Therefore, the technician doesn’t have to start from scratch every time an issue comes up, speeding the diagnosis and identification of fixes.

Accelerate Decision-making

Your ITAM solution can speed up the decision-making processes. ITAM software allows your IT team to provide company leaders with the data they need to make efficient and accurate decisions. Because asset management tools enable IT staff to gather information and generate reports quickly and easily, they can support the enterprise’s decision-making process about budgets, growth strategies, and investments.

By automating data collection, and centralizing data storage, asset management facilitates faster decision-making. Using ITAM tools to track asset data reduces the risks of losing information or providing the wrong data. Additionally, the use of ITAM tools reduces the chances of purchasing additional or replacement assets when they are not yet needed, which impacts the bottom line.

Track Locations, Warranties, Versions, Configurations, and Histories

A help desk tool with integrated ITAM capabilities lets you track the serial number and physical location of each asset, quickly and easily. The software allows you to find this information whenever and wherever necessary.

In addition to tracking hardware assets, you can also attach warranty information in the ITAM software using custom fields. If, for example, a computer fails, you can use the asset management tool to quickly determine if it is covered under warranty and follow the warranty claims process. Using the ITAM tool is faster and easier than looking through spreadsheets of information, physical warranty cards and manuals, and at stickers affixed to the individual asset.

Asset management tools can be used to track not only initial hardware configurations, but also any changes made over time, or when the asset is reassigned to a new user. Monitoring and storing this information in a central repository helps your team make sure their service calls are efficient, and that they are resolving problems accurately. By doing so, your IT department can better manage costs and budgets.

Save Time, Improve Efficiency, Save Money

All organizations have expenses and are expected to operate within budgetary guidelines. Small and medium-sized businesses, in particular, while limited by these financial restrictions often decide that investing in IT asset management is too costly. Or, senior management does not understand or support the importance of using ITAM processes and tools. As a result, some firms either ignore asset management or make do with a system of manually updated files, which may be kept apart from the central location in separate places.

Any costs associated with adopting ITAM software can easily be offset by the expense of slow decision making, wasted time locating information, unnecessary expenditures to purchase equipment that is redundant or otherwise not necessary, lost productivity from slow response to trouble tickets, or incurring repair costs that could have been covered under warranty.

A comprehensive ITAM tool will allow you to monitor, locate, manage, and report on all your hardware and software assets. If you are looking for ways to help your company meet goals, reduce risks, save time, and manage costs, then start here and start today. Download Easy-to-use Ticketing and IT Asset Management Software from SolarWinds for a free trial.

 

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