It is essential to keep a record of all IT assets within the organization – this list is called an inventory.
Assets include:
- physical devices and systems
- software platforms and applications.
Think about and use a simple naming convention to easily identify your assets.
It's usually not worth including items of low value in your inventory - e.g. flash drives, mice and keyboards.
A good asset inventory tool should allow you to easily find all the information you need, such as:
- which computers are out of warranty
- which computers can support a migration to Windows 11
- which hardware configuration a given device has
The system will help you list the computers due for replacement, for the next IT budget.
The system must help you not only to find relevant information but also manage your assets efficiently over their life cycle:
- recording the asset
- recording license information (type of licensing, number of licenses, software insurance..)
- configuration changes whether hardware or software (adding RAM, software migration,...)
- who uses the device
- decommissioning
- disposal
Examples of some asset management systems you can try:
- A mobile device management system, e.g. Miradore
- A spreadsheet (Google Sheets, Libre Office, MS Excel)
- Personal database
- SnipeIT
- Lansweeper
- Spiceworks
- Belarc.com
Before disposing of equipment, be sure to securely delete the data so nobody can access it. It's not enough just to delete it using the operating system. Even formatting the drive and reinstalling means the data can still be recovered. You can use various tools to securely delete data, including DBAN (see dban.org). See these videos: Data Destruction, Secure Data Destruction
It may be wise to use stickers or tags to quickly identify your hardware according to your inventory, at least for more valuable items such as computers and monitors.
The life cycle duration must be discussed with and approved by the leadership. For computers used as workstations, a longevity of 4-5 years is advisable. You may want to consider buying an extended warranty to cover the lifetime of the asset. Also consider buying insurance, for example by using cover.sil.org. This will ensure that you can replace the item in case of fire, theft or accidental sudden damage.
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