How to Improve Your Business with IT Asset Management
Without a proper asset management system in place, companies experience several issues, including:
- Ghost and Zombie Assets
When a company’s resources are not diligently tracked, ghost and zombie assets begin to surface. Both of these issues need prompt action because they waste time and money. Common problems caused by these assets include higher tax liabilities and higher fees for non-compliance.
- Lowered ROI (Return on Investment)
Hardware and software tools are both staples for any modern business. However, manually maintaining both is too difficult and time-consuming. More often than not, these resources become mismanaged, leading to less-than-desirable ROI.
- Deficient Inventory Management
With more and more businesses making the switch towards a remote workplace setup, smart inventory management has become more critical than ever. Without one, resources can get easily lost, or worse, stolen.
- Subpar Asset Performance
Not tracking the lifecycle of your assets leads to performance loss and higher downtime periods.
Improving Your Business With Asset Management
Proper asset management can lead your business to success. Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Use the Best Tools Available
What does every successful business have in common? They are not afraid to innovate. Every company should embrace modern tools that can improve their processes. The initial costs and hurdles might discourage some, but the results are well worth the effort.
Long gone are the days where businesses resort to tracking everything on spreadsheets. This outdated process is more time consuming, less effective, and has a higher degree of human error. Smart asset management software like Teqtivity come with:
- Streamlined asset tracking systems
- User & location management
- Varying levels of access
- Customizable audits
- Accurate reporting
Look for tools that are easy to use and master. With the right tools, asset tracking becomes easier, and workforce productivity is enhanced.
- Find Reliable Managers
Even the most sophisticated smart asset management system needs a few human hands to guide the wheel and keep everything in check. While these tools do an excellent job of automating and streamlining most management processes, you still need to pick the right people to oversee the system.
- Determine Your Asset Lifecycles
Asset lifecycle management involves keeping track of every resource, from purchase to disposal. This process helps businesses forecast each asset’s expected usage and find the best time to maintain or replace them.
Accurate life cycle estimations also improve your future purchases. For instance, you can opt for upgraded computers with a longer expected usage period than the ones you’re currently using.
- Routinely Track Your Assets
While not impossible, keeping track of every asset without a management tool will be very difficult. Even the simplest asset management software comes with asset tagging, allowing you to track your resources (where they are, who’s using them, when will they be returned, etc.)
Asset tagging can use scanners, GPS systems, and RFIDs/barcodes. GPS systems can track assets in real-time, which is useful for resources that tend to move from location to location. RFIDs/barcodes, on the other hand, help your workforce scan assets and quickly record their location.
Integrating these processes into one system prevents any data from repeating on different platforms. As a result, keep a more accurate record of your assets and save time.
- Create an Asset Database
How do you correctly set up an asset database? Having a universal database is incredibly useful because it improves data availability, backup consistency, and performance. The most straightforward method is to use smart asset management software. If you already have existing data, some tools allow you to import this data to their dashboard.
However, not every software has this function and might require manually setting up your database from the ground up. This process might be time-consuming at first, but it becomes easier later on. In fact, some tools come with automated functions when it comes to storing essential asset data.
- Implement an Automated Asset Management Solution
As we’ve mentioned, manually managing assets takes too much time, effort, and resources while getting your lackluster results. To fully optimize your management process, look for an automated smart asset management system tool.
Automating your asset maintenance, cost analysis, asset value, and depreciation tracking, in-depth report creation, and contract management free up your workforce to perform other tasks.