In simplest terms, asset management is keeping track of things. Just as you expect your children to keep track of their jackets, backpacks, and other items when you send them off to school, businesses rely on keeping track of their resources to minimize waste and duplicated effort.
Most businesses that employ more than one or two people need to manage their assets, even if they’re not extensive. The most common assets businesses must keep track of are computers, mobile devices, and software, but there are many other types of assets that organizations need to track in order to avoid losing them and wasting money. It’s not that hard to develop an asset management program if you have the right workflow software. Make asset management workflows mobile-friendly and you take asset management to a whole new level of efficiency and effectiveness.
The IT Department and Management of IT Assets
In businesses big enough to have IT departments, asset management may be one of their chief responsibilities. Keeping track of hardware and software can make a tremendous difference in whether time and money are wasted. For example, if a new intern is being brought on and needs a company laptop, an asset management workflow can quickly tell the IT worker that there is a laptop in the storage room that was turned in by a departing employee and that has been reformatted and is ready to use again. This prevents the company for spending money on a new laptop when one is not needed.
Schools: Asset Management Is Money Management
Schools and school systems manage innumerable assets, from audio-visual equipment to computers to desks and chairs. When schools manage their assets competently, they use their funds competently, and schools that use funds wisely are often likelier to have requests for supplemental funding approved by local governments and voters. Schools that know where each and every desk, chair, bookshelf, and cubby system is located can allocate these assets where they’re needed most, keeping new purchases to a minimum and allowing use of funds for other important educational initiatives.
Any Business Using Tools or Equipment Can Benefit
Any business with employees who use tools and equipment benefit from a strong asset management program. Automated workflows for tasks like checking equipment in or out help companies know where assets are at all times and who to contact if the assets need to be retrieved. Employees who can use simple online forms to request travel laptops, a set of socket wrenches, or a laminator save time and hassle associated with physically tracking these items down. And when those forms are part of automated workflows, companies can be confident that all their assets can be accounted for at all times.
Mobility Is the Secret Ingredient
Well-design online forms and workflows are at the heart of asset management, but it is mobility that takes asset management to a higher level. An employee who can check out a tool by simply scanning a barcode with their phone is an employee who can get to work more quickly. An employee fetching audio-visual equipment for a classroom can use their phone to indicate that the equipment has been retrieved and is on its way to its destination without a flurry of phone calls or emails. In short, mobility takes great asset management and makes it better. With the right workflow software, your company’s asset management program can be just as efficient.
PerfectApps is online form and workflow software that makes it easy to create fully-customized online forms and automated workflows through a drag-and-drop interface. Asset management is only one of countless tasks for which PerfectApps is suited. And since PerfectApps has mobile-friendliness built right in, you can make your forms and workflows mobile, allowing employees to maximize their efficiency while minimizing hassle. Did you know you can try PerfectApps for free? See for yourself how the power and flexibility of custom forms and workflows can transform your business.
