The best asset management software should work with how you manage your business because no one knows your business better than you do. Asset tracking software should be customizable enough to fit to your needs and be easy enough to use so that your team will want to use it every day without making any mistakes. You should have an understanding of what platforms are out there and what they offer. By doing some simple prep work, you can be sure you’re getting exactly what you need without wasting time.
Step 1: Knowing when to switch from spreadsheets to a dedicated asset management platform:
Like most people, you may already have an Excel or Google spreadsheet holding asset data. If your organization doesn’t have many fixed assets, this might be fine. Spreadsheets can work when you don’t need to make constant adjustments to assets or you’re not tracking historical changes, purchases or loans.
However, if you’re experiencing growth in your company and you’re brining in a lot more fixed assets and maybe looking to start tracking asset maintenance, spreadsheets become error-prone very quickly.
This could result in a cost to your business. There’s no excuse to waste anymore time or money on lost or broken equipment. Asset management and tracking software is specifically designed to keep you and your team organized so that enough equipment is always available and kept in working condition.
When you start working with a larger volume of assets, you will need to start tracking your available quantity of items, (items that are in use vs sitting in a stock room), you’ll need to reliably know where assets are and who has custody over them. You’ll also need to start understanding equipment utilization. You may even need to start calculating asset depreciation.
Ultimately, the goal of asset tracking is to reduce confusion, prevent loss of equipment and eliminate wasted time and expense. A spreadsheet simply cannot deliver on these key value metrics as your organization grows.
Step 2: Gather Requirements
When choosing an asset management system, it is best to first gather the requirements that you need. Think about what business goals are most important and start from there.
Start with broad requirements, good asset management software should:
- Allow you to track assets to people and locations.
- Allow you to group assets into custom categories.
- Allow you to create users with role based access controls.
- Separate digital assets from fixed assets and inventory.
- Alert you when you’re running low on equipment.
- Alert you when an asset will expire (safety certifications, warranties etc.)
- Track asset depreciation.
- Include a dedicated mobile app.
- Include a feature for preventive maintenance.
Next, determine if you’ll be using barcodes to track assets. Barcodes allow you to scan assets with a barcode scanner which makes certain actions much faster such as performing an inventory audit or assigning items to users very quickly and other bulk actions.
It is strongly encouraged to attach asset tags with barcodes and contact information to your assets. If equipment gets lost, the person who finds it will know who to contact. It’s an easy way for physical assets to be returned. Plus, with the ubiquity of mobile phones these days, it is highly suggested to find asset tracking software that comes with a dedicated mobile app to scan barcodes.
Some mobile app requirements should be:
- Built-in barcode scanner
- Edit and loan assets from anywhere.
- Take pictures of assets.
- Log maintenance work
Additional Requirements Worth Mentioning:
Automation can be extremely beneficial and save a ton of time and reduce headache. In the world of asset tracking, you’ll want to seriously consider a platform with automation features such as:
- Running automated reports.
- Send customized alerts.
- Send emails to people who don’t return equipment.
- Automate user provisioning (single sign-on)
- Automatically put assets in a state of maintenance.
Obviously these automated features are highly customized to their needs for specific use cases. But it is certainly worth thinking about.
For example, would you want to log into a platform every day to run a report on missing equipment from the past week and track down users manually? Or run a report on depreciation and have to manually download the results and send Excel files to the finance team? Or even have to remember to look at your software licenses every so often to hope that you’ve not unwittingly had a lapse in a renewal?
A good asset tracking solution will give you abilities to automate all of that. It is very worth it especially as you grow and have to deal with a more complex asset lifecycle.
Another honorable mention is self service. Tracking assets can be done by having a person or a small team manage equipment. However, think about a system where you allow your end users to browse an equipment catalog showing them what’s in stock and can submit reservations for themselves. This could save a tremendous amount of time in reducing back and forth emails about whats available and when. An organization’s assets could potentially be best utilized in this way because nothing goes unused and no purchases are wasted. This can result in much better asset utilization.
Finally, another honorable mention here would be integrations. In today’s world it is not uncommon for an organization to use literally hundreds, if not thousands of different pieces of software. and it’s important for systems to talk to each other. A common integration for asset tracking software is with help desk software. Another thing to think about is compliance with security policies. Software that can integrate with single sign-on is major advantage in the world of data security.
Step 3:Establishing a Budget
As is the case with most software, pricing can be dependent upon things like features, users, support etc. However, we suggest to first get an idea of how much your current asset inventory is worth.
Let’s say you have about 300 assets in total. If on average each piece is worth $500, then your total inventory value is $150,000. Make sure that the asset management tool you choose meets your needs and is built and maintained well. Your asset data is important and remember, the main goal is to keep your equipment organized so that you have more time and energy to spend on running your business. If you spend the money for a good platform, you know your $150,000 worth of equipment is being protected and you can focus on more important tasks.
Step 4: Trial Platforms
You’ve now mapped out your requirements, you’ve established a budget and have come up with an idea of the customizations that are needed. Now is the time to sign up and trial an asset management platform. Remember, effective asset management occurs when people are on the same page as to what’s expected, so bring in different people to get their opinions and to trial software on their mobile device as well.
We urge you to try, Reftab. We offer users free accounts to manage up to 50 assets. It’s a great way to explore our platform and get a feel for how asset tracking works. You can start by signing up for a free account here: Reftab.com
We always suggest a demo so you can have questions answered. Demos help save time to really understand if a platform will work for your specific needs.
If you would like a demo of Reftab, schedule a time on our calendar here: Reftab Calendar
