Asset Management

This section covers the following topics:

Asset Manager Role

Prerequisites:

• Log in to the application as an Asset Manager.
• You must be aware of the asset lifecycle.

An asset manager performs the following tasks:

• Manage Assets
• Relate Assets to other Assets
• Relate Assets to Tickets
• Relate Assets to CIs
• Perform Global Search on Assets

Asset Administrator Tasks

As an administrator, you are responsible for the following asset administration tasks:

• Install and configure the on-premise asset discovery components
• Discover assets
• Manage information about asset manufacturers
• Manage information about asset models

Search Assets

Use the search tool when you want to locate one or more assets of a certain type. The search tool lets you locate assets in the database that is based on the organization you belong to. Provide the asset name, state, or the serial number as search criteria. This capability lets you limit the scope of your search further by providing more search criteria. Based on the search criteria that you specify, a list of matching assets appear in the search results. Clicking the name of an asset displays information about the asset in the asset details page.

Search Terms

• Search terms are treated as separate words and can be found in different searchable fields within a record. For example, searching for John Smith returns items with John Smith, and a contact named John Smith.
• Search terms are separated by letter, number, and punctuation boundaries. For example, searching for Test123 returns items with Test, 1, and 3.
• You can filter your search with the parameters on the left and with special characters in your search text as shown. 

• The search criteria for an asset is, name, serial number, purchase order number, model name, owner(first and last name).
• The search criteria for a model is, model name.
• The search criteria for a manufacturer is, manufacturer name.

Change the scope of your search

By default, the Search tool searches the entire database for assets. But you can opt  to search for only one type of result, like tickets, model, groups, or manufacturer. You can search results that are based on the last modified date. You can also customize the duration of the search results.

Follow these steps:

1. Log in to the CSM as an Asset Manager or an Administrator.
2. Navigate to WORKSPACES, ASSET MANAGEMENT, Asset Center, and click Search.
3. To refine the search results use Search Within options. For example, if you are looking for an asset then select the asset box.
4. Enter the search term.
   A list of search result is displayed.

You can perform the following tasks with your located assets:

• Edit an Asset
• Filter Assets
• View List of Installed Software
• View Activity History

• Take Bulk Actions on Assets

• Manage Asset Relationships

Edit Assets

As an asset manager you can edit the Asset Information and the Asset Attributes.

Follow these steps:

To edit the asset, click the asset and select Edit Asset in New Tab from the drop-down list. The editor dialog for that asset is displayed and allows you to change the assets properties. 

Note: Alternatively you can also use the Edit Asset in New Workspace Window, to edit the asset in a new window.

Filter Assets

Filters let you manage and display assets that meet the criteria that you specify and hide the other assets.

You can filter the assets that are based on the following criteria:

By Asset Status

Asset status indicates the availability of the asset during the asset lifecycle. Each asset has one status. The administrator configures the asset search to include the Asset Status field. You can filter information that is based on the asset status. An Asset can have the following statuses during the lifecycle of the asset:

• All
• Assigned
• Available
• Back Ordered
• Deployed
• Discovered
• Disposed
• Missing
• Ordered
• Problem/Broken
• Received
• Requested
• Retired
• Returned to Vendor
• Shipped
• Staged
• Unavailable
• Unknown
• Warehoused

By Asset Type

Asset type categorizes assets. An asset can be of the following type:

• Physical
• Virtual
• Cloud

By State

• Inactive
• Active

By BYOD

• No
• Yes

View List of Installed Software

You can view a detailed list of the software that is installed on an asset on the installed software page. You can view the name, the publisher, and version of the installed software.

Follow these steps:

1. Click WORKSPACES, ASSET MANAGEMENT, Asset Center.
2. Select an asset by clicking it.
3. Select Show List of Software Installed from the drop-down list. The list of installed software for that asset is displayed. This list contains the name, the publisher, and version of the installed software.
   Note: Alternatively, you can select an asset and click the drop-down button and click Show List of Software Installed. 

View Activity History

The Activity History displays historical information that is related to an asset.  For example, an asset activity history is updated when the asset is updated or the asset relationships are modified. 

You can view the following information in the Activity History list:

• Activity Type.
• Activity Date.
• Modified By.
• Relationships that are added and modified.
• Asset attributes that are added or modified.

Follow these steps:

1. Log in to CSM as an Asset Manager.
2. Navigate to WORKSPACES, ASSET MANAGEMENT, Asset Center and select the Asset for which you want to view the activity history.
3. Click the drop-down button from the list view and click Edit Asset in a New Tab.
4. Click the Activity History section to view the Activity History list.
   Note: Alternatively, you can also scroll down to the Activity History list.

You can filter the activity history, which is based on the Activity Type, Modified Date and Modified By.

Take Bulk Actions on Assets

Bulk actions are workflow actions, and can be applied to multiple assets selected from the asset list. You can take a bulk action when you want to apply the same action on more than one Asset. For example, an Asset Manager can update the ownership of multiple assets, or can update the state of multiple assets.

Follow these steps:

1. Navigate to WORKSPACES, ASSET MANAGEMENT, Asset Center and select the asset to which you want to apply bulk actions.
2. Click Bulk Actions and click the action that you want to apply from the list of actions.
   Note: You can also apply a bulk action to a single asset.
3. The following Bulk Actions are available:

• • Update State: Updates the State of the assets.
  • Update Model: Updates the Model that is associated with the asset.
  • Update Organization: Updates the Organization/Location of the asset.
  • Update Owner: Updates the Owner of the asset.
  • Update BYOD: Updated the Bring Your Own Device flag for the asset.
  • Create CIs for Assets: Creates CIs from an asset.
  • Make Active: Makes an asset active.
  • Make Inactive: Makes an asset inactive.
  • Delete: Deletes the asset from the application repository. 

Create Assets

CSM lets you create assets that are based on models. This capability lets you describe products that you own or plan to acquire. For example, you define Dell Inspiron 15 as a model and your enterprise purchased ten computers of the same model. You can then define ten asset records that are based on the model to describe each computer. 

Follow these steps:

1. Log in to the application as an Asset Manager.
2. Click WORKSPACES, ASSET MANAGEMENT, Assets Center and click New Asset.
3. Specify the following details under the Asset Information section:
   Name
   Specify the name of the asset. For example, Dell E6470.
   Host Name
   Specify the host name of the asset. For example, Jonsmith123.
   Asset Tag
   Specify the asset tag of the asset.
   Serial Number
   Specify the serial number that the manufacturer of the asset provides. For example, SerialNo432156.
   

   MAC Address
   Specify the MAC address of the asset.
   IPV4 Address
   Specify the IPV4 address for the asset.
   Operating System
   Specify the operating system installed on the asset. 
   Purchase Order Number
   Specify the purchase order number that the inventory manager provides. For example, 332456.
   Warranty Expiry Date 
   Specify the warranty expiry of the date of the asset. 

   Status
   Specify the lifecycle status of an asset and indicates the availability of the asset. For example, Shipped.
4. Specify the BYOD.
5. Select the Asset Type. For example, Cloud, Physical or Virtual.  

6. Search for an appropriate Model from the list of the available models and associate the model with the asset.
   Note: The categorization value is populated automatically when you select the model.

7. Search for an appropriate Organization from the list of the available organizations and associate the organization with the asset.

8. Search for an appropriate Vendor from the list of the available vendors and associate the vendor with the asset.

9. Search for and select an Owner from the list of the available owners and associate the owner with the asset.

10. Click Save.

Note: You can now navigate to the CI item's detail page from the associated asset 's details screen.

Update Asset Attributes

CSM lets you update information for an existing asset. For example, after you create an asset you can update the attributes for the asset and can save the changes.

Follow these steps:

1. Navigate to WORKSPACES, ASSET MANAGEMENT, Assets Center and click the asset that you want to update.
2. Enter the new information for the asset.
3. Click Save.

The asset is updated.

Manage Asset Relationships

CSM lets you create and manage critical relationships between assets, configuration items, and tickets. Maintaining such relationships help to ensure that all open issues are handled appropriately, which minimizes human intervention in these actions.

Relate an Asset to a Ticket

As an analyst you can relate assets to tickets. This capability lets you gather related information about the asset. For example, an asset can be related to an incident ticket or a global ticket. Relating an asset to a ticket is an efficient way of managing and tracking an asset.

Follow these steps:

1. Log in to CSM as an Asset Manager.
2. Navigate to WORKSPACES, SERVICE DESK, TICKET CENTER, Tickets.
3. Select a ticket, click the drop-down list, and select Edit Ticket In New Tab.
4. Scroll down to the Relate Asset/CIs section and click Relate Asset/CIs, on the Ticket Information tab.
5. Click the Relate Asset/CIs button.
6. Select the Asset or CI, to which you want to relate this ticket, on the Search Asset/CIs pop-up.
7. Click Relate and then click Save on the ticket information tab.
8. Click the Asset tab to view the list of assets that are related to a particular ticket.
9. Click the CIs tab to view the list of CIs related to a particular ticket.
   Note: You can also relate an asset to ticket while creating a ticket. 

Relate an Asset to another Asset  

You can specify how assets are related to each other. For example, a VMware ESX server that hosts VMs is the parent asset and the VMs are the child assets. Relating the ESX Server to the VMs creates a parent to child relationship between the server and the VMs. These relationships help in searching and managing assets and asset reuse. As an analyst, you can define the asset relationships while creating an asset or by editing an existing asset.

 Follow these steps:

1. Log in to the application as an Asset Manager.
2. Navigate to WORKSPACES, ASSET MANAGEMENT, Asset Center. 
3. Select any Asset from the list of Assets and click Edit Asset in New Tab. 
4. Scroll down to the Relate Asset section and click the Relate Asset button. 
5. Select the assets from the Search Asset pop-up. 
6. Click Relate to relate the parent asset to the child asset. 

7. Click Save on the Asset details page. 
   Note: You can also relate an asset to another asset, while creating an asset.  

You successfully defined the relationship between the assets.

Relate an Asset to a Configuration Item

Configuration Item(CIs) and Assets are implemented as different objects in the repository. However, there are situations where both objects manage the same entity. For example, a server running exchange. As an administrator, you can manually create a link between assets and CIs, from the Configuration Management workspace.

In the CSM solution, CIs represent the systems and information critical to your business. As an administrator you create CIs, for the resources that you want to control using the change management system. For example, if you want to add memory to an exchange server, use the change management process to schedule change for that server. This action ensures that the effected parties are notified. Asset and CIs can be related as follows:

• Relate a Configuration Item to an Asset.
• Create a Configuration Item from an Asset.

Create a Configuration Item and add an Asset Relationship

Follow these steps:

1. Log in to the application as an Administrator.
2. Navigate to WORKSPACES, SERVICE DESK, Configuration Management, All Configuration Items.
3. Select any configuration item from the list of CIs and click Open CI in New Tab.
   The CI details page appears.
4. Click the Relate Asset lookup to search and associate an appropriate asset to the CI.
5. Click Save, on the CIs detail page.
   Note: You can also relate a CI to an Asset while creating a CI.  

You successfully defined the relationship between the CIs and assets.

Create a Configuration Item from an Asset

Follow these steps:

1. Log in to the application as an Asset Manager.
2. Navigate to WORKSPACES, ASSET MANAGEMENT, Asset Center. 
3. Select any Asset from the list of Assets and click Edit Asset in New Tab.
4. Click the Actions button and select Create a CI.
   Note: To create a CI from an existing asset, the asset must be related to a model which is linked to a CCTI.
5. Click Save.

The newly created configuration item, can be viewed in the configuration management workspace.