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Non-IT Asset Management

Non-IT Asset Management involves tracking the lifecycle of tangible organizational resources that are not part of the IT infrastructure, such as furniture, vehicles, and office equipment, to ensure proper financial oversight and operational control.

While ITAM focuses on technology, many other physical assets are crucial for business operations. ServiceOps allows you to extend asset management principles to these Non-IT assets, providing a single, unified system for managing everything the organization owns.

Benefits of Non-IT Asset Management​

  • Financial Accuracy: Accurately track asset value and depreciation for precise accounting, financial reporting, and tax purposes.
  • Improved Operational Planning: Proactively manage maintenance schedules for critical equipment and vehicles to prevent unexpected failures and downtime.
  • Enhanced Accountability: Assign clear ownership and track the physical location of assets to ensure responsibility and proper handling.
  • Loss Prevention: Reduce the risk of theft or misplacement by maintaining an accurate inventory and conducting regular physical audits.

Common Use Cases​

  • Managing Office Facilities: Tracking the lifecycle of furniture, projectors, security cameras, and other facilities equipment.
  • Fleet Management: Monitoring the assignment, location, and maintenance schedules of company vehicles.
  • Tracking Specialized Equipment: Managing high-value or regulated assets like lab instruments, construction tools, or medical devices.

Examples of Non-IT Assets

  • Office Furniture: Desks, chairs, filing cabinets.
  • Company Vehicles: Cars, vans, and trucks.
  • Facilities Equipment: HVAC units, generators, security cameras.
  • Lab Equipment: Specialized machinery and testing devices.

Non-IT Asset States​

Like their IT counterparts, Non-IT assets have a lifecycle that needs to be managed to maximize their value.

  • In Stock: The asset has been acquired and is ready for use.
  • In Use: The asset is assigned to a specific location, department, or individual.
  • In Repair: The asset is temporarily unavailable while undergoing maintenance.
  • Missing: The asset cannot be located, often discovered during a physical audit.
  • Retired: The asset has reached the end of its life and has been sold, disposed of, or written off.

Key Capabilities​

Inventory & Tracking
  • Manual Registration: Since Non-IT assets are not network-discoverable, they are registered in the system manually or via bulk import from a CSV file.
  • Centralized Inventory: Create a comprehensive inventory of all Non-IT assets, from office furniture and equipment to facilities and vehicles.
  • QR Code & Barcode Scanning: Generate and attach QR codes or barcodes to assets. Use a mobile app to scan these codes for quick identification and physical inventory audits. Example: During a quarterly office audit, scan the QR code on a projector with a mobile app to instantly verify its location and update its status.
  • Location & Movement Tracking: Keep a detailed history of an asset's physical location and movements between sites, floors, or departments.
Financial & Lifecycle Management
  • Cost & Depreciation: Track the complete financial picture, including purchase cost, current book value, and depreciation calculations.
  • Lifecycle Management: Manage the entire lifecycle, from procurement and deployment to maintenance scheduling and eventual retirement.
  • Condition Monitoring: Regularly assess and record the physical condition of assets (e.g., Good, Faulty, Non-Repairable) to inform maintenance and replacement decisions. Example: After an inspection, a vehicle's condition is updated from "Good" to "Requires Maintenance" to automatically trigger a service request.
  • Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Analyze the full cost of an asset over its lifetime, including purchase price, maintenance expenses, and disposal value.
Relationships & Integration
  • User & Department Allocation: Assign assets to the individuals or departments responsible for them to ensure clear ownership.
  • Contract Linkage: Attach maintenance contracts, leases, or other related financial agreements directly to the asset record.
  • Reporting & Analytics: Generate reports on asset distribution by location, status, or department, and analyze financial data for budgeting and forecasting.

Getting Started with Non-IT Asset Management​

  1. Define Scope: Identify which high-value or critical Non-IT assets need to be tracked. Create clear categories and set a value threshold to begin.
  2. Register Assets: Manually register your initial batch of assets or use a CSV template for a bulk import to build your inventory baseline.
  3. Generate and Apply Tags: Create and print QR codes or barcodes from within ServiceOps and attach them to the corresponding physical assets.
  4. Conduct an Initial Audit: Use a mobile device to scan all tagged assets and verify that your digital inventory matches the physical reality.
  5. Establish Workflows: Define clear processes for how users can request, transfer, and retire Non-IT assets.

Best Practices​

General
  1. Define What to Track: Not every chair or low-cost item needs to be managed. Set a value threshold or focus on key categories such as office furniture, vehicles, or machinery that require tracking.
  2. Conduct Regular Physical Audits: Since discovery is not automated, it's crucial to perform regular physical inventories to reconcile your database with reality.
  3. Use Mobile Scanning: Leverage QR codes/barcodes and a mobile app to make physical audits fast and accurate.
  4. Establish Clear Processes: Define and enforce clear workflows for asset requests, approvals, movements, and disposals.
Financial
  1. Track Maintenance Costs: Log all repair and maintenance expenses against the asset to get a true picture of its TCO.
  2. Plan for Replacement: Use asset age and condition data to forecast and budget for future replacements.
  3. Standardize Asset Types: Create clear and consistent categories for your Non-IT assets to make reporting and management easier.