Chapter 3

Managing Network Assets

IN THIS CHAPTER

check Understanding why you should keep track of your network assets

check Identifying what kind of information you should track

check Using a spreadsheet to track assets

check Using specialized asset-tracking software

In a small network, keeping track of the computers that live on the network is easy. For example, in a small office with four or five employees, you can just walk around the room and make sure that everyone’s computer is still there. If one of the computers is missing, you know you’ve lost one!

But in a larger network, keeping track of the assets on the network can become a major burden. With dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of devices to keep track of, you need some kind of organized system to keep track of everything. Otherwise, you’ll soon find yourself asking questions like these, and struggling to come up with answers:

  • When Bob in Accounting left the company two years ago, did we get his laptop back? If so, where is it?
  • When we hired Paige last summer, did we set her up with a MacBook or a Dell laptop? Or did we give her Bob’s laptop?
  • What kind of printer did we set up in the Redmond office?
  • When Richard became a remote worker, did we give him a mobile hotspot?
  • Analisa’s car was broken into last night and her Surface Pro was stolen. Was it the 4GB i5 model or the 16GB i7 model?
  • Juan Carlos is going to be out of town for a conference next week. Do we have a laptop he can borrow?

This chapter gives you some suggestions on what to do when it becomes impossible to keep all this stuff in your head.

Introducing IT Asset Management

IT asset management (ITAM) is a program that assumes the responsibility for managing the life cycle of all IT assets within an organization. IT assets include hardware assets (such as computers, tablets, and mobile phones) and software assets (such as licenses of Office 365, Adobe Acrobat Standard, and Exchange Server 2016).

Ideally, an ITAM system should track all of an organization’s IT assets through each asset’s entire life cycle, from acquisition to retirement. For a hardware asset such as a computer, the life cycle includes the following:

Software assets have a similar but distinct characteristic life cycle. The main distinction is that software typically falls under one of several licensing models that permit deployment to a varying number of users and have a predictable maintenance cost that is set by the vendor. For example, a software asset such as Office 365 is a subscription that is charged per user, per month. Some software, such as AutoDesk’s AutoCAD, can be obtained with multiuser licenses that are administered by AutoDesk’s cloud-based licensing services and paid annually. Each software vendor provides its own licensing options. The ITAM program should be able to accommodate a variety of licensing models so that you can track your software assets.

Why Bother?

Whew, this sounds like a lot of work. It’s true: Maintaining an accurate and detailed record of all your IT assets is a bit of an undertaking. Before you commit to it, you should understand some of the benefits of doing so. Here are some of the top reasons I suggest you take the time:

One of the most important, and often overlooked, benefits is that your users will take much better care of their equipment if they know that you care about the equipment enough to keep a record of it.

Getting Organized

The first step for creating a system to track the assets on your network is to get organized. Start by making a list of the various types of IT assets that exist within your organization. This list might include

After you’ve compiled this list, you can start to focus on which types of assets will most benefit from tracking in an asset management system. For example, you may decide that parts of the infrastructure (such as servers, switches, and routers) don’t need to be tracked. After all, there are probably a limited number of them, and they don’t move around much. The other types of devices, on the other hand, move around as often as employees are hired or leave, change jobs, or have new requirements.

After you’ve identified what types of assets you need to track, you can home in on the specifics. For example, you can make a list of each of your desktop computers, including the make and model of the computer, basic specifications (such as CPU type, RAM, and disk capacity), when it was acquired, and who is using it.

What to Track

When putting together a database for tracking IT assets, you should carefully consider the type of information you want to track. Strive to find the right balance between tracking so much information that the recordkeeping becomes a burden versus tracking so little information that the database is useless.

At the minimum, I recommend you track the following:

You can easily track this information in a simple spreadsheet; just create a column for each data point and start entering your inventory.

But ideally, you may want to track more than just this basic information for each asset. In particular, you may want to track the entire history of the asset. To do that, you’ll need detailed records to record each event during the asset’s life cycle. These records should include the following:

A spreadsheet won’t do for tracking this type of life-cycle information. Instead, you’ll need a bona-fide database. If you’re smart with Microsoft Access or SQL databases, you can easily design your own database. But you may find it easier in the long run (and ultimately less expensive) to use professionally designed IT asset management software to track this level of detail. For more information, refer to the section “Using Asset-Tracking Software” later in this chapter.

Taking Pictures

Besides all the useful data spelled out in the previous section, consider including a photograph of each asset in your asset database. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Including a picture can be especially useful if the asset is stolen or damaged and an insurance claim is made. A good photograph coupled with an accurate description can go a long ways toward establishing the legitimacy of a loss claim.

Picking a Number

To keep track of your computer inventory, you’ll need to assign each device in your inventory a unique identifier. You can call this identifier an asset identifier, asset number, tracking number, or anything else that makes sense to you. The most important aspect of this identifier is that it is unique. To avoid confusion, every IT asset tracked by your asset management system must have a unique identifier.

If your initial goal is to keep track of Windows computers, you may be tempted to use each computer’s Active Directory computer name to uniquely identify your assets. However, that’s a shortsighted choice, for two reasons:

Instead of using the Active Directory computer name, I suggest you create your own asset ID for every device in your inventory. In keeping with good database normalization rules, this ID should not indicate the type of device. In other words, I recommend against using something like “NB-002” for “Notebook #2” or “18-001 for “the first device purchased in 2018.” Instead, use simple sequential identification numbers that have no meaning or purpose other than to uniquely identify each device.

technicalstuff In case you’re interested, database normalization refers to the design of database structures that meet an idealized concept known as normal form. One of the basic normalization rules is that every column should signify one and only one thing; a single column should not be overloaded with two or more meanings. So, the asset ID should not represent both a sequence number and a type. Instead, the type should be indicated in a separate column. (To be fair, I should point out that many common unique identifiers are overloaded with additional information. For example, an automobile vehicle identification number [VIN] includes many attributes about the vehicle, including the country, manufacturer, plant, and model year in addition to a sequence number. And the venerable MAC address, which uniquely identifies network hardware, indicates the manufacturer as well as a unique serial number.)

Making Labels

One of the basic steps in keeping track of your computer equipment is to physically apply a label on every piece of equipment maintained in your asset inventory. That way, you’ll always be able to correlate a specific piece of equipment with its record in the database.

At the minimum, the label should include the unique asset identifier as well as identifying information for your organization such as the company name and perhaps a phone number, street address, and URL. Any other information is superfluous and will probably make your task more difficult.

Here are a few tips for making labels:

Tracking Software

So far, we’ve only talked about keeping track of hardware assets. Besides hardware, you’ll also need to keep track of the software assets within your organization. Make a thorough list of all the software used by your organization, along with information about the software version, how the software is licensed, how many and what types of seats you own, and who in your organization uses the software. If you don’t do this, you’ll find yourself unnecessarily purchasing software you already own or installing more copies of a program than your license permits.

Many software products offer their own license management portals you can use to manage their licenses. Examples include the following:

Most other software companies that offer subscription-based software licensing offer their own portals.

Using Asset-Tracking Software

A simple spreadsheet may suffice for a very basic asset-tracking system, but eventually you’ll outgrow the spreadsheet. When that happens, you’ll need to move to a bona-fide database system. If you’re a skilled database developer, you can create a system on your own. But why spend so much time inventing something that many software vendors have already developed? A simple web search will reveal that there are plenty of IT asset-tracking systems available. Some are low-cost or even free and provide just the basics. Others are capable of tracking inventory for the largest IT systems. The trick, as with any software, is to find the product that meets your current needs, can grow with you as your organization grows, and fits your budget.

When searching for asset management software, here are a few features I suggest you look for:

Other Sources of Asset-Tracking Information

In addition to dedicated asset-tracking service, there are several other places you can go for information that can be helpful for tracking IT assets. Here are a few:

  • Cellphone vendor portals: All major mobile phone providers have online portals for managing your accounts. These portals typically let you view and edit all the phone lines on your account, with details including who the phone is assigned to, how much usage the phone has incurred, the exact make and model of the phone, and when the phone is eligible for upgrade. If a phone is lost or stolen, you can disable or deactivate the device.

    These vendor portals also track MiFi hotspot devices as well.

  • Copier vendor portals: If your organization leases its copiers and has a support plan, your provider probably has a service and support portal you can use to manage your devices. This portal can give you up-to-date information about the make, model, and location of each of your copiers. And you can keep track of maintenance and supplies needed for the copiers.
  • Switch or router management pages: Modern switches and routers include management pages that can be useful for managing network assets. For example, the management page for a switch can reveal information about the devices that are attached to each of the switch’s ports. Some switches provide basic information such as IP address, but others provide detailed information including the computer name for Windows computers connected to the switch.