Top 5 Best Asset Management Software: Open Source List

The software also keeps a record of your software programs, hardware items, licenses and many other things. Good asset management software also informs you when software licenses need to be renewed, when leases are up, it provides information about new equipment that should be bought and much more.

The software can also store details of service schedules, maintenance records, replacement information… and it can be setup to trigger warnings and alerts for any of these events.

Of course, you could do all of these tasks manually, but a good software tool allows you to automate all of those time consuming and tedious tasks and of course, it will also make the entire process less error prone.

All in all, an asset management tool provides an effective way for a company to manage goods and assets (such as computer hardware, machines, desks and chairs…), to analyze important statistics, to create detailed reports and to use all this data to streamline growth and to make better business decisions.

Different types of asset management software:

There are basically three different types of AMS:

Inquisitive asset management software: Designed to query existing computer systems and to identify their hardware configurations and software installations.
Repository AMS: Organizes a wealth of data and information and provides a way to easily access, interpret, sort, order and display the data.
Automated data collection AMS: Collects and stores various types of data and information in chronological order.

The big benefits of asset management software:

Save money: For example, AMS can allow you to standardize repairs, maintenance and upgrades of your systems, which can significantly decrease support costs over time.
Peace of mind: An asset management provides a simple way to manage all your assets, to issue warnings and to report anomalies.
The overall business performance can be drastically improved over time.
Furthermore, an asset management software will also allow to improve the operational efficiency of your staff.
Statistics and analytical data provided by your AMS will help me to improve and fine-tune your strategic business decisions regarding your cash flow, utilization of resources, help desk efficiency…
Such a system allows to easily identify unlicensed software installations
Helpdesk quality and productivity can be greatly improved with the provided data and analytics.

The most important features good asset management software should provide:

Possibility to track an unlimited number of assets.
Ability to easily attach other documents, such as images, user manuals, PowerPoint presentations…
Ability to print barcodes for your assets and to use existing barcodes to identify your assets.
Define user rights to allow or deny access for specific items to different users.
Ability to maintain a full history of ownership.
Create, print and save reports in various formats.
Ideally the system should automatically detect all the hardware and software in your company environment.
Automatic scanning and tracking of your SNMP devices with the ability to receive warnings and notifications and to update crucial information.
Ability to monitor which users are logged in to the system and send broadcast messages to them.
Easy integration with external purchasing and order systems.
Tool and device tracking: Allows to find out which employees have what devices assigned to them including date and time of assignment and return information.
Monitor and report maintenance dates.
Ability to generate complete repair histories for tools, devices, machines, vehicles…

Things to consider when choosing asset management software:

If you are thinking about buying an asset management software, the following points are crucial:

Applicability: The software must be compatible with your existing systems and IT environment.

Usability: Certain systems are extremely complex and they will require a qualified engineer for setup, maintenance and effective operation. But there are also asset management tools that are very simple and easy to use. They may be more limited in the functions and features they provide, but for smaller company environments they may be just perfect.

Overall set of features and reporting capabilities: Make sure your asset management software provides the kind of functions that are crucial for your business. The tool should also provide good reporting and data analysis capabilities.