Turning on IT asset management

Switching asset management on, and the decision to make before you import a single device: what actually counts as an asset for you.

Switching asset management on, and the decision to make before you import a single device: what actually counts as an asset for you.

Turn it on

1. Open Admin Center.
2. Find the IT asset management settings and activate them.
3. Save.

An empty asset register appears, and the asset fields become available on tickets.

Decide what counts as an asset first

The decision that determines whether this works. Every organisation starts by wanting to track everything and ends up with a register nobody trusts.

The useful test: would you raise a ticket about this thing? Laptops yes, phones yes, monitors probably, cables no. If it never generates a support question, tracking it in a support tool adds work and no answers.

Then decide who keeps it current

Named person or named process. Assets go stale faster than anything else in a service desk because devices move without anyone raising a ticket.

The two moments that matter are issue and return. If both produce a ticket, your register stays true. If either happens by someone handing over a laptop in a corridor, it does not.

Check your allowance

Assets are counted against a limit that depends on your plan, and more can be bought. Look at the number before you import, so the size of your estate is a decision rather than a surprise.

See also

• Setting up asset types, fields, locations and statuses
• Bulk importing asset data
• What IT asset management in Zendesk does