When Should I Update My IT Asset Register?

Published on March 24, 2023 • 3 min read

Business owners and managers will tell you that having an IT asset register is essential. A register such as this can help you to track all of your IT assets quickly and easily. In addition to this, some asset registers boost security surrounding the asset register. However, this is only the case if the register is updated regularly. 

So when should you update your IT asset register? We’re going to take a look at this now.

Understand What An IT Asset Is

An IT asset is an asset that you use as part of your daily working life. The asset is owned by the business you work for and is of some value to the business. An IT asset could be:

• A computer or laptop
• A tablet 
• A phone
• A scanner
• A printer
• A modem 
• Some cables
• Or any other IT-related asset that allows you to carry out your work 

All of these assets can be added to your IT asset register. In fact, the more IT assets you add to your register, the more assets you can control.

Update Your IT Asset Register Regularly

When you’re creating an asset register for the first time you need to add some or all of your IT assets. A very good way to do this is by going from room-to-room and adding one asset at a time. 

Some asset register software provides customers/subscribers with QR codes or RFID tags. When a code or tag is affixed to each asset they can be scanned. Upon scanning the tags while logged into the software, you can create a digital profile for the assets. Upon creation, a digital profile can be filled with as much information about each asset as you wish. 

You can also update your asset register when you’ve acquired new IT assets. For example, if your office receives new computers, etc they can be added to the register. As a result, your register will be completely up to date. Adding assets as soon as you acquire them makes sense.

Update The Register Each Time An Asset Is Being Used

Depending on the software you use, an IT asset register can be updated each time a tablet, for example, is being used. Your team members can check the tablet out so you know who is using it. Once they’ve completed the task in hand the tablet can be checked back in again. 

This is very useful in terms of security as it shows who had the tablet at 10am on Tuesday when it was damaged, for example. Additionally, you can also determine whether you have enough tablets in stock or whether you need to buy more.

Update The Register At Other Times

Did you know that you can update your register as frequently as you wish? For example, you could update it when:

• You want to leave notes for other people 
• When you need to contact the maintenance about an issue
• If you wish to undertake bulk actions and assign a lot of assets to a team member
• You wish to create reports that you can export 
• You plan to organise assets into collections
• When you want to upload instruction manuals and photographs 

As you can see, there are many opportunities for you to update your asset register. You can update it whenever you wish and with whatever information you wish. The more you update the register the more accurate it will be. As a result, you can have the latest IT asset information at your fingertips.

Location Tracking And Register Updates

Many asset tracking systems allow you to track the location of your assets. In fact, they do this automatically. 

When you use an asset tracking system such as this, you can potentially see where all of your assets are all of the time. This allows you to understand whether your assets are in the correct location. If they’re not, you can send them to the desired location and even keep an eye on how they’re progressing.

Being able to track the location of your assets means that your asset register is constantly updated. All of this can take place without you having to do anything. Additionally, this feature also helps to improve security as you can see where your assets are both day and night. Should an asset go missing, you can see where it is just by logging into the software.

When you start using an IT asset register regularly you could find that it makes a huge difference to the day-to-day running of your business. If you would like to speak to someone about how an IT asset register can help your business, contact us. You can reach us now at team@itemit.com. Alternatively, you may wish to complete the form below and sign up for our 14-day free trial.