Asset Management: Basic Concept

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Part 1: The Core Building Blocks (Business Entities)

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1. Asset

• Attributes:
• Asset ID / Tag: A unique identifier (e.g., barcode, QR code, serial number).
• Name: A user-friendly name (e.g., “John Doe’s Laptop”).
• Status: The current state of the asset (e.g., In Stock, Deployed, In Repair, Missing, Retired).
• Purchase Date: When it was bought.
• Purchase Cost: The original price.
• Warranty Expiry Date: End of warranty period.
• Expected Lifespan: How long the asset is expected to be in service.
• Notes: Any other relevant information.

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2. Asset Model / Category

• Attributes:
• Model Name: (e.g., “Dell Latitude 5420”).
• Manufacturer: (e.g., “Dell Inc.”).
• Category: A broader grouping (e.g., Laptop, Monitor, Vehicle, Software).
• Model Number: The specific model identifier (e.g., “LAT5420-123”).
• Image: A picture of the asset model.

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3. User / Employee

• Attributes:
• User ID / Employee ID: Unique identifier for the person.
• Full Name: (e.g., “John Doe”).
• Email: [email protected].
• Department: The department the user belongs to (e.g., “Marketing”, “IT”).

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4. Location

• Attributes:
• Location Name: (e.g., “Room 301”, “Main Office”, “Warehouse B”).
• Address: Physical address.
• Parent Location: To create a tree-like structure (e.g., Room 301 is a child of “Floor 3”, which is a child of “Main Office Building”).

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5. Status Label

• Examples: Deployed, Ready to Deploy, In Storage, In Repair, Missing, Disposed/Retired.

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6. Maintenance / Work Order

• Attributes:
• Work Order ID: Unique identifier.
• Title: (e.g., “Screen Replacement”).
• Type: (e.g., Repair, Scheduled Maintenance, Upgrade).
• Start Date / Completion Date.
• Cost: Cost of parts and labor.
• Notes: Details of the work performed.

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7. Vendor / Supplier

• Attributes:
• Vendor Name: (e.g., “Dell Inc.”, “Office Depot”).
• Contact Info: Phone, email, support website.

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8. License (Primarily for IT Asset Management)

• Attributes:
• License Name: (e.g., “Microsoft Office 365 E3”).
• Product Key.
• Total Seats: The number of installations allowed.
• Available Seats: The number of seats not yet assigned.
• Purchase Date / Expiry Date.

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Part 2: Interaction Between Entities (The Relationships)

+----------------+      +----------------+      +---------------+
|   Asset Model  |----< |      Asset     | >----|  Maintenance  |
| (Dell Laptop)  | 1..* | (#12345)       | 1..* | (Repair Log)  |
+----------------+      +-------+--------+      +---------------+
                            |
                            | 1..1
             +--------------+--------------+
             |              |              |
             v              v              v
      +------------+   +-----------+   +----------+
      |    User    |   | Location  |   |  Status  |
      | (John Doe) |   | (Room 301)|   | (Deployed) |
      +------------+   +-----------+   +----------+

1. Asset is an instance of an Asset Model:

• Many Assets can be based on one Asset Model. (You own 50 “Dell Latitude 5420” laptops). This is a One-to-Many relationship.

2. Asset is assigned to a User (Check-out):

• At any given time, an Asset is typically assigned to one User. A User can have multiple Assets. (John Doe has a laptop and a monitor). This is a One-to-Many relationship. This is the core of accountability.

3. Asset is located at a Location:

• An Asset has one current Location. A Location can contain many Assets. (Room 301 has 10 computers and 2 printers). This is a One-to-Many relationship.

4. Asset has a Status:

• An Asset has exactly one Status at any point in time (e.g., it is either “Deployed” or “In Repair”, not both). This is a Many-to-One relationship from Asset to Status Label.

5. Asset undergoes Maintenance:

• One Asset can have a history of many Maintenance events over its lifetime. Each Maintenance record is for a single Asset. This is a One-to-Many relationship.

6. Asset was purchased from a Vendor:

• Many Assets can be purchased from a single Vendor. This is a Many-to-One relationship.

7. License is assigned to an Asset or User:

• This is a more complex interaction.
• Per-Device License: A License seat is assigned directly to an Asset (e.g., Windows OS on a specific laptop).
• Per-User License: A License seat is assigned to a User, who can then use the software on multiple devices (e.g., Adobe Creative Cloud).
• This creates a Many-to-Many relationship between Licenses and Assets/Users, often managed through a linking table (e.g., License_Assignments).

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Example Lifecycle in Action:

1. Procurement:

• A Vendor (“Dell”) is created.
• An Asset Model (“Latitude 5420”) is created.
• A new Asset (#55567) is created. It’s linked to the “Latitude 5420” Asset Model and the “Dell” Vendor. Its initial Status is “In Stock” and its Location is “IT Storage Room”.

2. Deployment (Check-out):

• User “Jane Smith” needs a new laptop.
• The Asset #55567 is assigned to “Jane Smith”.
• Its Status is changed to “Deployed”.
• Its Location might be updated to “Jane’s Desk” or simply track with the user.

3. Maintenance:

• Jane’s screen breaks.
• A Maintenance record is created for Asset #55567, with a type of “Repair”.
• The Asset’s Status is changed to “In Repair”.
• Once fixed, the Maintenance record is closed, and the Status is changed back to “Deployed”.

4. Retirement:

• After 4 years, the laptop is obsolete.
• The Asset is unassigned from “Jane Smith”.
• Its Status is changed to “Retired” or “Disposed”.
• It’s moved to a final Location like “e-Waste Storage”. The asset’s history is preserved for auditing and financial records.