Best Ways to Track IT Inventory

Why do I need an inventory?

Whether your operation is big or small, it’s likely that you own a significant amount of IT related kit, but when it comes to considering what assets you actually own, it can be easy to overlook just how many items form your IT inventory. It’s not just about PC’s, Laptops and printers – think peripherals, software, storage devices, speakers, screens and headphones and it soon become apparent that your inventory requires proper organisation in order to keep track of your assets.

 

There are a number of reasons as to why you should keep an accurate record of your IT assets, but here are the top three most important:

 

1. To alert you to any theft or abuse of assets by employees or third parties so that you can take recovery action quickly in the event of an incident.

 

2. For insurance purposes, so that in the event of loss or damage you can immediately give your insurance provider accurate details of your assets. Not being able to do so may cause unforeseen problems in the event of a claim.

 

3. To track the age of items so that you are aware of their depreciation and are alerted to when assets need replacing.

What makes a good inventory?

Ideally, an inventory should be easily understandable by almost anyone. With this in mind, it’s best to apply the ‘hit by a bus’ approach when designing and evaluating your inventory – if you were wiped off the face of the earth tomorrow, could those who need to understand you inventory do so? If not, it’s time for a rethink.

 

So what makes a good inventory? Let’s work through an example. You’re trying to label all your portable hard drives. You have a number of hard drives with differing storage capacities which you need to differentiate. For arguments’ sake, let’s say you have 3 hard drives with storage of 5TB (2 black and one red), one of 2TB (one black) and four of 1TB (3 black, one red). Here’s the steps you would follow to categorise your hard drives

1. First, create a short unambiguous identifier

Complicated numbering and labelling systems are anathema to anyone trying to audit or find your assets who is not familiar with the system, so keep it simple. Using part of the name of the asset you are labelling, and then adding in more detail such as capacity and colour should make it easy to identify what is what. So, labelling your hard drives could look something like this:

 

Hdrive/5TB/blk

 

Hdrive/5TB/red

 

Hdrive/2TB/blk

 

Hdrive/1TB/blk

 

Hdrive/1TB/red

2. Next, remember location, location, location

Next, list EXACTLY where your hard drives are being stored, if necessary using several elements to the location naming. Just listing ‘in the office’ simply won’t cut it. So for example, a location label such as: The Company Building/Office2/Filing Cabinet 1/Draw 6 should make it easy for someone else to find what they’re looking for in your absence.

3. Don’t forget to list how many of each item you own

Along with your location and name identifying label, it is essential to list the quantity accurately for audit purposes.

4. List the value per item

List item value as the purchase price – this way it is easier to understand depreciation and the cost of replacement for insurance purposes.

5. Lastly, list the acquisition date

Though not essential, it is a good idea to include this for insurance and depreciation purposes.

 

Therefore, following all four steps, an entry in your inventory for your hard drives might look like this:

Item – Hard drives	Location	Quantity	Value	Date acquired
Hdrive/5TB/blk	The Company Building/Office2/Filing Cabinet 1/Draw 6	2	£500	01.01.2000
Hdrive/5TB/red	The Company Building/Office2/Filing Cabinet 1/Draw 6	1	£500	26.03.2015
Hdrive/2TB/blk	The Company Building/Office2/Filing Cabinet 1/Draw 4	2	£300	14.08.2003
Hdrive/1TB/blk	The Company Building/Office2/Filing Cabinet 1/Draw 2	3	£100	27.11.2010
Hdrive/1TB/red	The Company Building/Office2/Filing Cabinet 1/Draw 2	2	£100	15.04.2013

Other things to consider

When you’re drawing up your inventory, as well as an accurate labelling system, you’ll also need to consider the following:

1. Ensure you have counted your items accurately at the start

Double and triple check, and also get someone else in your organisation to count after you have done.

2. Ensure you have a good inventory policy in place

Getting your inventory in place is far from the end. You’ll need a robust policy which states how regularly the inventory should be updated, and by whom. For retail businesses, this will be a regular task, but for other organisations a rule of thumb is once a year as standard, plus when any new assets are acquired or disposed of.

What tools do I need to accurately track my inventory?

Depending on the size and complexity of your operation, there are three options available to you:

1. Manual tracking

This could be in the form of an old fashioned log book hard backed log book, or you could take advantage of one of the many free templates available online for small businesses. Manual tracking is really only suitable if you have a small operation with very limited assets.

2. Simple computerised tracking

Using an Excel spreadsheet or similar can greatly simplify the tracking of your assets. Again, there are numerous templates available online.

3. Asset management software and apps

If you have a lot of assets, or your operations are complex it may be well worth investing in asset management software. There are a range of digital solutions available no matter what your requirements are.

 

Also consider inventory software applications that can also automatically scan devices on your network to gather and store additional inventory information.