The use of technology in both the business and education environment has become commonplace. With this rise in use, it has become necessary to be able to manage all of the devices that are being used by the company or school system the employs these devices. Why is it important to have an Asset Management system for these devices?
The most important reason for having an Asset Management system is to keep track of everything that you own. There is a lot of potentially useful information that you need to know, and having a system to keep track of this will save you not only a headache but time. A good Asset Management system does a lot more than just help you keep track of your laptops, desktop, Chromebooks, and any other electronic device you have, but let's talk about them first. When managing your assets some of the most important information for you to know is how much it cost you, what order you purchased it in, where the devices are located, the warranty of the devices, and how you identify the device.
One of the most important pieces of information to keep track of is the identifier that is used for the devices. There are two different ways that people keep track of this. They are by using the serial number, or an Asset ID assigned by the owner. These are very important when you are checking devices in and out to users inside of your organization. You should be able to use these identifiers to check out the devices to users in your organization through either searching for the device specifically, by the identifier and checking it in/out using a designated button or entering the identifier once you have looked up the user to check the device in/out.
In addition to being able to locate, identify and see who devices are checked in/out too, there are also many additional pieces of information that you important to keep track of. These fields include tracking the Purchase order number, funding type that was used, the supplier used, and cost the cost of the device. These fields become especially important when dealing with areas such as Special Education and grant funding. For these areas, you need to be able to audit the devices to prove that they are only being used for the specific purpose the funding stipulates. Special Education is the biggest of these to keep track of, as outside funding supplied for this area requires anything to be used solely for that department and for a fixed number of years. These reports are usually required on a yearly basis to keep the funding active.
When using an asset management system, it is important for that system to have a workflow and layout that is easy to use, yet robust enough to handle all the information required.