To choose the best asset management software for your organization, you need to consider your specific business needs and requirements. When exploring asset management software options, you should ask these key questions:
- What types of assets does the software support, such as fixed assets, digital assets, and information technology (IT)?
- How user-friendly is the software?
- What is the total cost I need to pay to use this software?
- Can I increase or decrease asset management capacity as demand changes?
- How difficult is it to implement this software?
- What level of support does the supplier provide?
- Is this software compatible with other software and systems I am using?
- Can I customize the software to meet my organization’s unique needs?
- Can I access the software from a mobile device?
- What kind of reporting and analysis can I get from this software?
- How secure is this software?
We also recommend researching the supplier’s reputation and track record to ensure it consistently delivers the superior quality you expect. The five asset management software options listed in the Forbes review—Asset Panda, ManageEngine AssetExplorer, MMSOFT Pulseway, GoCodes, and Ivanti—are all top-tier solutions that offer a complete set of essential features, making these providers worth a closer look.
Types of Asset Management Software
There are several different categories of asset management software available, each targeting specific needs. Choosing the solution that best fits your organization’s business needs is critical. Here are five popular asset management software options:
- Fixed Asset Management (FAM) Software: FAM software is designed for managing physical assets such as vehicles, machinery, tools, furniture and equipment.
- Digital Asset Management (DAM) Software: DAM software manages digital assets, including images, audio files, video and multimedia content. Use DAM software for asset storage and organization, metadata management, asset sharing and distribution, asset tracking and usage analysis.
- IT Asset Management (ITAM) Software: ITAM software is designed to manage IT assets, including software licenses, computers, servers, printers, monitors, etc.
- Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Software: EAM software integrates with enterprise systems to provide a centralized view of all organizational assets, including physical assets, digital assets, technology assets, and financial assets.
- Real Estate Asset Management (REAM) Software: REAM software is designed for tracking real estate assets and can be used to manage leases, track occupancy, schedule property maintenance, and monitor real estate upgrades and repairs.
Important functions
The specific features you need from your asset management software will depend on the types of assets you plan to manage. Here is a list of key features found in many different types of asset management solutions:
- Maintenance management: This feature helps you track when assets require maintenance and record all maintenance activities in a centralized log.
- Barcode and RFID Tracking: Tracking assets using barcode or RFID technology makes it easier to manage and locate assets, and is especially useful when managing large numbers of assets.
- User permissions and controls: If you need to create different access levels for different types and levels of users, you’ll need software with powerful permissions and controls.
- Asset Utilization Tracking: Understanding which assets are overutilized or underutilized can help you make more informed asset acquisition decisions.
- Automatic alerts and notifications: The best asset management software will alert you to problems and notify you of upcoming events, such as maintenance requirements or software license renewal dates.
- Multi-language support: This feature is critical if your users and software administrators speak and read multiple languages.
- Mobile access: If it’s important to access and deploy your software anytime, anywhere, then you’ll want software with simple, reliable mobile access.
- Budget tracking and forecasting: There is software that can help you track not only purchasing costs, but also predictable future costs.
- Real-time asset monitoring: This feature allows you to check if an asset is currently in use and can also help you determine if an asset is missing.
- Geolocation tracking: For frequently moved assets, such as vehicles and expensive equipment, real-time GPS asset monitoring can help you prevent theft or asset loss.
- Asset disposal management: Your asset management software should be able to track the date and method of asset disposal.
System compatibility and integration
You want to be confident that the asset management software you choose is compatible with your company’s technology and software, including your current operating system. The software provider should provide you with a detailed list of the system requirements required to run the software.
Be clear about what your team expects from you and what you can count on the software provider to do for you. For example, consider whether your IT team is responsible for software installation and updates, or whether it is handled through a vendor. Also, make sure you understand where the software will be hosted (on a web server or cloud-based) and who will host the software (your company or the software provider).
Finally, asset management software should provide extensive security features to protect your assets and sensitive data from unauthorized access, loss, or damage. Top security features include secure data encryption, two-factor authentication, firewall and intrusion detection, secure data backup, and regular security updates and patches.
Analysis and reporting
Robust analytics and reporting are critical to making informed asset purchasing and allocation decisions. Your asset management software should provide comprehensive analytics and reporting capabilities to help you gain insights into asset usage, performance, costs, and other trends relevant to your business.
You may want to track and analyze:
- usage pattern
- Maintenance history
- Maintenance history
- total asset life cycle cost
- Total asset inventory value
- Asset Compliance Requirements
- Performance patterns such as downtime and overall utilization
- Specific modes for individual users, including asset check-ins and check-outs
You also want to ensure that your software provides reliable reporting that allows you to better understand the total value of deployed assets and helps you make more informed asset decisions. Before purchasing asset management software, check the types of reports available and whether custom reports are available.
