4 significant features to look for in IT asset management software

IT asset management software is used by organizations to manage and optimize various processes involved in the procurement, installation, maintenance, and disposal of all assets. These assets can be hardware as well as software assets. Hardware assets include keypads, CPUs, monitors, laptops, servers, and other devices used in the organization. Software assets include the various software applications and tools used within the organization.

An IT asset management software is used for recording and tracking all the assets of the organization. Such a software will provide information regarding the location of an asset, the user of the asset, and the asset’s utility. This helps in efficiently optimizing the allocation of different assets by eliminating any deadlocks in the workflow of the organization, thereby saving time as well as unnecessary overhead costs. To ensure that the IT asset management software used by an organization truly fulfills these functions, it is essential that the software has some significant features with the latest tracking and recording capabilities built into the software. These can include the following features:

• Options for auditing
  Auditing features of IT asset management software let organizations verify what assets are owned and ascertain the location of the assets. Most of the latest asset management software have features to schedule customized timeframes for auditing, receive updates and notifications on various processes (from procurement to disposal) of an asset, and edit information about unrecorded or missing assets.
• Asset tags or barcode labels
  RFID tags and barcodes are the most basic features of an asset management software. It is essential for the software to have a built-in capability to design and create barcodes as and when the organization procures newer assets.
• Cloud services
  With a cloud-based feature, an organization can save a lot in terms of costs for purchasing, managing, and maintaining the company’s servers. They could manage installation, updates, and fix patches of the asset management software without any intervention from the IT team of the organization. Crash and conflicts issues can easily be avoided with the use of cloud-based services.
• Check-in and check-out
  This feature is essential to keep track of every new asset coming in and every old asset being disposed of in an organization. Many new asset management software have check-in and check-out fields with auto-populating capability. A “quick find” feature can be used to simplify database searches by employee name or number, barcode or asset tag, or vendor. In case the asset management software is required for schools or emergency response units where a fixed number of assets are frequently assigned to multiple people, a software that allows a single transaction for multiple assignments can be useful.