Getting a unified IT asset inventory can be a headache. Thus, you might be tempted to postpone it. However, sooner or later, you’ll need to get it done. So, we'd recommend you'd better not procrastinate.
Sounds a bit harsh, we know, and we understand the reason behind it too. This can be a pretty daunting task, especially if you have multiple files and apps, or untracked assets. But don’t panic! What if we told you you can have your inventory done in just a day?
Using InvGate Asset Management as your IT Asset Management (ITAM) software allows you to unify your asset inventory in 24 hours. Don’t believe us? We have a video to prove it — and a 30-day free trial for you to test it!
Keep reading to discover how to accomplish this.
Creating a unified asset inventory with InvGate Asset Management
The secret to getting your inventory done in 24 hours is that there’s not just one way to build it. InvGate Asset Management has several ways to track and upload all the different types of assets, so you can choose the one that’s most accurate to your needs. It all depends on which kind of devices you want to add to your inventory, where you previously had your database, and, of course, your personal preferences.
Let’s take a closer look at each method.
1. Install an agent in your devices
This is the simplest and fastest way to get your computers, servers, and mobile devices reporting. Hence, it’s definitely a must if you want to have your inventory updated.
Installing an agent on your devices will add them to your inventory automatically. And you’ll be able to see not only the device but also all its hardware and software information.
But the greatest part about this is that you will always have this data updated, no matter which network your computer is connected to. InvGate Asset Management's Agent will report the status of your equipment to the instance periodically, allowing you to create alerts based on particular changes, configure the health rules of your devices, and have a quick view on their health status.
2. Find the devices on your network using the Discovery feature
The second method to unify your asset inventory is InvGate Asset Management’s Discovery feature. As its name says, it uses a proxy server to crawl your network and inform you of any device connected to the internet. This way, you’ll be able to quickly map your company assets.
But you don’t need to scan your whole network at once. InvGate Asset Management allows you to configure the IP range, so you can do a gradual rollout and segment it by subnet, location, etc. Plus, you can repeat this process manually whenever you need it, or automate it so that your network gets crawled periodically.
Keep in mind that, once the process is completed, the discovered devices will appear in your instance, and you’ll be able to choose which ones you want to add to your inventory – and they will be kept up to date with each crawl.
3. Get all the assets from your clouds in one place
You can also add to your IT asset inventory the mobile devices on cloud services like Azure, AWS, or JAMF. Just log into your cloud provider from InvGate Asset Management and sync the assets. Now, you’ll be able to see them along with all the other inventory data.
4. Upload a .xls or .csv file
If your goal is to create an inventory of physical assets — such as keyboards, headsets, chairs, or any other office supply — we can make it happen too.
All you need to do is download the .xls template from your InvGate Asset Management instance, populate it, and upload it. This is also useful if you currently have your inventory in an Excel spreadsheet; just adjust the format to our template, and that’s it!
5. Create assets manually
Though this IT asset inventory method might sound inefficient when you have a large amount of assets – and that’s actually the reason why it’s not at the top of our list – it’s the most basic and essential one to add an item to your inventory.
This is because you can customize the input information. If a field, brand, or model wasn’t previously logged to the database, you can create it as you fill in the form. It is also the ideal way to update the assets you already have in your inventory.
6. Import your users and locations
Lastly, you can unify your asset inventory by importing users and locations from a .xls file or cloud storage. These are key assets to any organization, especially if you need to link them to their devices, so you’d better not forget about them!
You unified your IT asset inventory. What’s next?
InvGate Asset Management is an ITAM solution, so by unifying your asset inventory, you’d be just scratching its surface. Once your hardware inventory is up to date, it's time to move forward with your IT Asset Management strategy.
Here are a couple of ideas to keep going and make the most out of our software:
- Assign a QR code to each asset - This is a great feature to quickly get access to your asset information when you have it right at hand. You can create the QR code, assign it and manage it all from InvGate Asset Management.
- Create alerts - You might want to know when a certain issue happens with your assets. For this, you can create alerts that will notify you in your account or by email.
- Configure the health rules of your devices - You can assign some health rules to those devices that have an agent installed, so it will report it to InvGate Asset Management. You can customize when the health state of your device is safe, warning, or critical.
- Create contracts - With this feature, you’ll be able to link asset information with warranties, vendor and financial information, and any other information contained in the contracts.
- Configure your financial tab - By configuring your financial tab, you will be able to follow the depreciation of your asset’s value at each time.
- Create a report to run periodically - There are some specific KPIs that you will want to have an eye on. So you can run and export a report and even program it to be run in a specific period.
- Check your dashboards - Dashboards are a great way to have a quick and visual approach to some metrics of your assets. If something calls your attention, you can always go to see each asset to find out what’s going on.
To sum up
The idea of unifying your IT asset inventory might sound tedious and overwhelming. However, having InvGate Asset Management on your side radically changes the equation. With its multiple methods to populate the hardware inventory, and its automation capabilities, the process is easier and faster than you think.
You just need to decide which assets you want to add to your inventory, and choose the most convenient way to do it. If you’re in a hurry, need a quick overview, or want periodic reporting, then installing an agent is your go-to option.
On the other hand, if you have an inventory already created on a spreadsheet or want to fully control the process, then you can opt to upload a .xls or .csv file, or do it manually. And don’t forget that you can also import assets from your cloud services!
As we mentioned before, this is just the first step. Once everything’s in place, it’s time to expand your IT asset management capabilities and explore all the other InvGate Asset Management features to manage your assets and optimize your processes.
If you want to try these methods by yourself, you can do so with our InvGate Asset Management. And the best part is that, if you are happy with the result, we can make the demo your official instance, so you don’t have to do it all over again.
