In the second blog post of this series you will learn how to track the complete life cycle of assets. The goal is to know the current state of each asset in your environment.
Organizations have their unique asset procurement, maintenance, and disposal policies. You need to frame an asset life cycle to cover all stages of an asset in your organization. Each asset stage can have one or more states associated to it.
A typical asset life cycle configuration along with the associated asset states
- Request for asset (requested)
- Approval (waiting for approval, approved)
- Procurement (purchased, leased)
- Deployment (in installation, installed)
- Usage (in use)
- Storage (in store, in repair)
- Expiration (expired/depreciated)
- Disposal (disposed)
In the above diagram, an asset is initially requested by a department or a user. A purchase request is then raised and sent for approval. Upon approval, the asset is procured and installed in the IT environment. The asset is then put to use by mapping it to a user. If the asset needs to be repaired or is not currently in use, it is placed in storage. Finally, if the asset has expired or depreciated, a decision must be made to either dispose or reuse the asset.
Another important task is to track asset states meticulously because they are dynamic. For example, a workstation can be used for a couple of days and then kept in storage until the next need arises. Therefore, it is important that you periodically refresh your asset states and stay current.
Advancements in technology have benefited us with asset tagging concepts like barcodes, RFID, and GPS, which simplify tracking assets. These asset tagging concepts help reconcile ownership, location, and configuration of hardware assets continuously.
Let’s take a look at the benefits of tracking assets
1. Asset Data Becomes More Reliable
Having updated and accurate information about your assets, at any given point in time, helps you make the right decisions.
2. It Offers Scalability
As your organization grows in size, the number of IT assets required to support your business operations increases. A proper IT asset tracking process helps you track and maintain assets with minimal effort, regardless of the numbers . This allows your help desk staff to concentrate on resolving issues than tracking the assets.
3. You Can Plan Ahead for any Surge in IT Asset Requirement
Let’s use the example of Walmart. During its peak season, the company hires temporary staff to meet the extra demand. This, in turn, causes a spike in gadget requirement. The company needs to have an optimal buffer stock of gadgets to run its business without interruption. This estimate of the buffer stock can only be easily identified if the existing assets are tracked properly.
If you have any questions, please feel free to post them in the comments section below. In the next blog post, we will see how to manage software and licenses in one place. In the meanwhile, if you are looking for an out of the box IT service desk solution with built-in ITAM capabilities, we encourage you to check out ServiceDesk Plus.
