Being Prepared for IT Failures: The Importance of Tracking Your Assets
Asset tracking is an essential part of any centralised asset register.Aside from issues of compliance with international accounting practice standards, business cannot afford to rely on piecemeal policies and outmoded practices.Doing so will leave a gaping hole in corporate value and expose the organisation to potentially costly liabilities. Only through the implementation of rigorous asset acquisition and disposal policies and recording detailed information about all the company’s hardware and software assets can an organisation retain full control over those fixed assets and understand its true business value.
That’s especially the case with IT assets, given the fact that computers and telecommunications are now business-critical to almost every organisation, commercial or public sector. The frequency of software audits will increase as more emphasis is placed on managing software licences on the asset inventory software to comply with SIRB and Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) legislation.A central register that records the serial number and asset location as well as the value of each IT item is necessary if you wish to avoid a ten year jail term, that being the maximum penalty for illegal software use.Aside from keeping out of pokey, it’s worthwhile maintaining a central register for reasons of increased business efficiency and overall economy. Competent asset tracking software packages will also provide the ability to present detailed information that can inform management decisions about the disposition of resources.
Asset management in no small way determines corporate value and has direct impact on the bottom line. The process of fixed asset tracking can satisfy the requirements of a finance department and provide detailed information required to track valuable IT assets in particular.This is not a question only for finance teams. Should the company suffer a disaster such as flood or fire, insurance cover will hopefully get the organisation back up and running as soon as possible?However, any inconsistency between the asset register held centrally and other inventory records will raise questions in the insurer’s mind that could prevent payment.
