School Asset Manager

[WithoutMotive]

Anybody else use this?

It's a web-based/QR code based inventory service.

I have training on it tomorrow. Looks pretty good.

 

http://www.schoolassetmanager.co.uk

[Zourous]

Yes we have it. Pros: Each asset has a sticker and you can scan it with your mobile and change the some of the data whilst your on the go and then sync it. The search facility on the data is quite good but it doesn't search on all the fields. Cons: stickers come off too easily, your data is accessed from their website which isn't nice to use, it has a cumbersome way of working and reports are confusing to use. I prefer my old excel spreadsheet.

[dobsonl]

We have this, and I agree with @Zourous although we complained about the stickers falling off and they sent us some larger clear stickers to stick over which seem to work and are more sticky

[DSapseid]

I have them coming out to see me on wednesday this week, please that people seem happy with it!

[rich_tech]

We had the rep call here and show us it as he doorstepped our bursar, she was interested in it for non-IT, I looked at the product with him, before killing it dead, by saying that we use spiceworks for our IT asset management which is free.

 

Its not bad for a free product Spiceworks and I would recommend it, if you have an old machine to run it on as it can be a bit of a resource hog, it scans the network and automatically adds in the devices you have and all data is kept in house of your inventory, which is a plus, no need to access external websites and it does offer lots of additional features for free.

Edited May 20, 2013 by rich_tech

[tmcd35]

I currently have Spiceworks and must admit to not liking it for asset management. Too slow, clunky, and doesn't forget old assets easily. We're currently going through a procurement exercise to replace my old SQL database. We looked at Asset Manager but found Parago to be nigh on identical and looks like a slightly better product IMHO. We're currently evaluating Parago, CSE Asset Manager, and QFM Serviceworks.

[vikingwookiee]

we've got SAM in on a trial and it does the job it's meant to. The reports as has been mentioned could use a little work do not be so clunky but it does the job you'd expect for a price that's not heart rending. Like all Assets it's a bind to put in and needs keeping up to date but with that in mind is fine

[Valyyn]

Another one for SAM here. We started using it last summer and it's quite good. It's really handy being able to use the app on your phone/ipod touch to scan things wherever you are too (although I'm waiting for a Windows Mobile app, since I've changed phones!)

[Zourous]

I have them coming out to see me on wednesday this week, please that people seem happy with it!

 

It is ok, but I wouldn't shout from the roof tops about it. They make out you save lots of money with it, by allocating resources better, but I would say this is worst because the reporting can't match the simplicity of an excel spreadsheet with filters on it. It is only as good as the data you put in and maintain. The best part is the scanning from a mobile.

[rich_tech]

I should iterate, that Spiceworks can be very "love it or hate it", but I would say try it first and see (make sure you disable a lot of the default scans and lower their interval as well), I myself didnt even like it at first, but I have persevered with it and for the way I manage the school I work ins IT inventory, it ticks all the boxes and works well here for free.

 

I just didn't see the benefits for our school over it for SAM when the rep was here, because we had an existing solution in place for free with no costs, we are primarily a fixed desktops environment, where machines generally do not move unless I remove them for repair, so for our school, it just was not worth the money to install over our existing spiceworks installation, the ipod is a nice idea, but a bit of a gimmick I felt for the scanning and I did not fancy our inventory data being kept on a third party website either.

[CamelMan]

They came out to see us about a year ago - OK system but seemed very expensive, however it might have changed in the last year! Once you look past the novelty / fad (cant think of the correct word!!) of using an Itouch to scan QR Codes it is actually just a basic database back end.

 

The QR codes dont hold any information about the device - it is effectively just a barcode. Trialed it for a month and just knocked up an Access DB to do it instead - I found the QR scanning slower than just typing in a asset code. Plus adding information to an Itouch was annoying - the only effective way was to use an Ipad (additional costs).

 

Hope your demo goes well and the have tweaked it a bit - but for us it was a flashy sales pitch, used buzz technology and seemed over expensive for what it really was.

 

I'd rather use the money to pay someone to come in and do an asset management sweep and enter it into a database!!

[WithoutMotive]

The training went well and I'm keen to see the benefits as we start working with it.

We have Spiceworks which is great but only good for IT related stuff for us, as it the helpdesk.

SAM will be used for a whole school asset management database. The QR tagging is easy and quick and the reporting is quite detailed.

We're also thinking of tweaking their helpdesk option to facilitate a lending database which can then be attached to an asset.

 

We'll see how it goes.

[atechguy]

Been asked to do this myself for a primary school. Found an IOS app called "Inventory Scanner" which looks good. Then buy blank asset tags. Will take a bit of time to input the data on large network i suppose. But the only cost is buying the asset tags.

 

For smaller schools with less hardware i think its a good solution

[rich_tech]

That's why spiceworks was excellent I though, network scanning made it so much better, easier to have the machines work for us, it is a pain doing the tagging and marrying them up to the scan, but its a one time job when you do initial setup, you can expand it for other items and non-it stuff too, just takes time to setup

[samba_man]

The after sales support is second to none, immediate response on the phone and the few additions I've requested have been implemented within a matter of days. I do get the idea they haven't really thought the whole thing through though, certainly a lack of research of what schools (or maybe IT departments, one of the biggest users in our case) actually need from an asset manager.

Firstly, we have thousands of devices just in the IT dept. If SAM really think we've got time to spend sticking stickers on all the devices without making mistakes they're mistaken. The stickers are pointless in my opinion for most of our assets anyway. They all have unique numbers and bar codes so there is little point in adding another layer. They are no good as a theft deterrent as they can be easily peeled off and we use Selectamark anyway which melts our name and postcode on to the device (much more useful if the device gets nicked and found).

Thats when we requested that there be a serial number search, and now there is which makes our lives much easier.

A few months after that we disposed of a few hundred assets, as they went out to the lorry we had our bar code scanner out slamming all the serial numbers in to a spreadsheet. Even if we did have stickers on all of them it would have taken far too long to use the Ipod to change them to disposed. When I had my big list of serials, could I find anywhere to do a bulk status change? Unbelieveable! You could only do a bulk status change on SAM asset IDs! Their response to start off with was a method in which I could do three at once with lots of clicks...after a bit of a 'see it from my point of view' from me, the guy on the helpdesk offered to rattle through and do them for me. Next day I had a phone call from higher up the food chain saying that they were going to implement a bulk status change for serial numbers and within a day or two there it was! Like I say, very understanding after sales support.

 

My only other gripe is lack of any sort of software inventory, our in house system had hardware and software linked so we could assign licenses to hardware.

 

I do like the location bit, one of those Windows Explorer type lists with the plus and minus signs where you can quickly look to see which assets are in which room. The amount of detail you can store for each asset is large right down to photographs.

[WithoutMotive]

Well, after an entire summer of tagging like maniacs, we're now starting to use SAM to it's full potential.

It's going to greatly improve our system of writing equipment off. Just print a report of all items marked as Disposed and give it to the governors. Quick and easy.

It's also working well in terms of loaning equipment. I can easily find out when and who a piece of equipment has gone to and when to expect it back.

I've created a few extra fields such as lamp replacement dates and filter cleaning dates for projectors. This then emails me after a certain time to remind me when they're next due.

 

All in all, we're really happy with the system. One gripe is that their app could do with a bit of updating.

[tobiasclarity]

Anybody else use this?

It's a web-based/QR code based inventory service.

I have training on it tomorrow. Looks pretty good.

 

www.schoolassetmanager.co.uk

 

yeah we use it too, i dont mind it everything seems to be great, have had to tell the company to stop calling however they are a little too keen on consistently calling asking 'how are things going' which are always at the most inopportune moments. There is one major issue i do have is that they are able to view any users passwords on the site, i was a little horrified to say the least when they ran a 'security check' when ic alled and asked me to tell them certain characters of my password

[samba_man]

Well, after an entire summer of tagging like maniacs, we're now starting to use SAM to it's full potential.

 

We started to do this but we soon realised that tagging the 2000 plus devices would be both soul destroying and there would have inevitably been a lot of room for error. In the end we asked SAM for a serial number seach, they stuck one on and we're using the serial number stickers that come with all the devices anyway!

[ardouisur]

We are trying it at the minute.

 

Personally I'm not a fan. The stickers they provide are next to useless, they come off way too easily, much of the time the QR code scanner is slower then simply typing in the number manually.

[RichCowell]

We've been using it since November last year, and trying to get everything added to it... but we've found the scanner & system to work really well overall... Could your firewall be filtering the traffic? May be worth adding a rule to allow it to go out directly... The stickers have been pretty reliable so far too - maybe it's a dodgy batch or the surfaces are unsuitable/dusty... Their support seems pretty good so they should be able to help if you're having problems...

[SchoolAssetManager]

Hi Ardouisur,

 

Sorry to hear that you are not enjoying your trial with our product. We do have additional covers available for you if you are having issues with our tags and will be only too happy to replace the provided iTouch if it is this device that you feel is slow to scan?

 

Thankyou,

[Alkaline]

We use this system and had have no issues. The only slight problem was the app. Since the introduction of iOS 7, it tends to crash after scanning every five or so assets. But I think this is more likely something to do with iOS7 rather than the app.

 

Its a very good asset system and does what it says on the tin. Once you have added everything onto the system it does save time and makes moving equipment etc quite easy.