Asset Tag Management Software

[mdench]

We started trying to properly asset tag our equipment last year but it comes to a halt because we currently use the Equipment Register in FMS and well.... yeah... I'm looking for an alternative.

 

Preferably I would like something that is Open Source to keep the cost low but if we need to pay for it then I will have to try and get it into the Budget Request. So far I have found Snipe IT - Free Open Source Asset & License Management which I really like the look of but is lacking on key feature that I would like and that is bulk actions. As we tend to replace in the region of 200 pcs each of year I would like to be able to create a category e.g PCs 2015 so that when we come to replace these in x years time you can select this one item and then bulk update the vast majority to say they have been disposed off or relocated to a new room.

 

I'm sure there are many other features I would like but that is the main one so I'm interested to see what you guys and gals are using

 

Cheers

[mrbios]

I can't be much help in terms of "free" but if you do end up looking to buy a fully fledged asset management piece of software then i can highly recommend parago If you need to convince people (including yourself) that it's worth the cost i'd recommend getting them in to present it to you (And i'd recommend getting the site manager, science techs, finance dept involved in that as it brings whole school benefits with it)

 

Sorry if that's of no help though.

[mdench]

I can't be much help in terms of "free" but if you do end up looking to buy a fully fledged asset management piece of software then i can highly recommend parago If you need to convince people (including yourself) that it's worth the cost i'd recommend getting them in to present it to you (And i'd recommend getting the site manager, science techs, finance dept involved in that as it brings whole school benefits with it)

 

Sorry if that's of no help though.

 

Now I already like the look of that! I can't see any pricing on their website though.. If you don't me asking what do you pay for it? Is it a one of cost or based on x number of users or assets?

[mdench]

Bump

[Tesla]

We use School asset manager, but again, it's not free.

[CyberDrac]

Have you considered whether your helpdesk solution includes any level of asset tracking?

[synaesthesia]

We're also using school asset manager, ticks a lot of boxes for us. As said, it's not free but sometimes you get what you pay for.

[mrbios]

Now I already like the look of that! I can't see any pricing on their website though.. If you don't me asking what do you pay for it? Is it a one of cost or based on x number of users or assets?

 

I can't remember now how the cost was worked out or if it was a flat cost, but (hold on to your seat) it was roughly £4k for us. They did offer us a service where they populate the database, blitz the wholes chool assets in a summer and basically do the whole thing for you, but that was too expensive for us.

 

It seems like a large cost but it comes with:

A helpdesk that you can directly attach assets to tickets if they exist in your database

There's a small msi you can deploy to automatically populate the database with all the PCs on your network

It works out depreciation costs on pretty much everything, and you can add pictures to each asset or to a room.

Science techs can put all their chemicals and storage stuff in there and the user permissions can be quite fine tuned so people can only do what they should be able to do.

The site manager can put everything from tables, chairs, carpet and even the paint on the walls along with costs to replace/refurbish

 

We looked at school asset manager as well, and while it was tons better than what we had (wasp eurgh!) we didn't feel it quite lived up to how good parago was. I'd recommend having both presented to you though, as you may find benefits in one you don't see in the other.

 

Our asset software has gone from a spreadsheet > wasp asset manager > parago. It's quite a big school with quite a lot of assets so we found the cheaper ones weren't easy enough to manage everything and keep up to date. We also use it as our PAT testing database, so it has many uses, and while seemingly expensive, its one of those areas where it feels like "you get what you pay for" in many areas.

[Tesla]

i think School asset manager for us was 1600, i couldn't confirm that though, you can also set up a helpdesk with that aswell.

 

they also offer a 30 day no obligation trial including training.,

[mrbios]

they also offer a 30 day no obligation trial including training.,

 

Which is well worth taking them up on, even if you don't intend to end up using it Anyone who has done that may know why I'm saying that lol

[Tezza88]

Have a look at GLPI we have been using it for a good few years now. Its open source and you can also add tickets to your assets.

 

GLPI - Gestionnaire libre de parc informatique

Edited January 15, 2015 by Tezza88

[Sephiroth]

GLPI is the only Helpdesk/Asset Management system that I would recommend. Open-Source and free, feature rich and has easy acces to plenty of add-ons.

 

It's what I use here, and I wouldn't be without it.

 

Edit - @Tezza88 Beat me to it!

Edited January 15, 2015 by Sephiroth

[BJG]

We're also using school asset manager, ticks a lot of boxes for us. As said, it's not free but sometimes you get what you pay for.

 

Another user here. Easy to work with...expensive though.

[RichCowell]

+1 for School Asset Manager - found their service and support to be fantastic, I'd happily recommend them to anyone.

 

There are free options out there, and we'd looked at some, but this is web-based, so no need to worry about backing anything up or accessing it in the event of a fire etc. You can have as many users as you want, accessing it via the app on as many devices as you want... it even includes a basic helpdesk...

To have the stickers with the service makes it far easier to manage... We'd tried them with stickers we were printing ourselves in the past, but they fade and came off easily... The ones from SAM have been great.

Edited January 15, 2015 by RichCowell

[nathan]

What sort of prices are people paying for the school asset manager? I can see one example abovve of £1600, is that per year?

[victor1]

We were using school asset manager as well, nice tool, great feature you can scan a code using a phone. Pretty expensive though, were paying around £120 a month

[truebluesteve]

I know others on here don't like it but we use Wasp Mobile Asset and its worked for us. They have just released an Edu version although I'm not sure what actually means in terms of features but you can download a free trial I believe. I'm not exactly sure of the cost but its a few hundred pounds and that's it - there are no ongoing costs after that except for major version upgrades.

 

We did trial School Asset Manager and whilst good it lacked a couple of features that we use a lot. It was also expensive for us and the costs were ongoing.

[CSE_Tony]

Of course I would point you towards our Asset Management solution, which has an added advantage of also providing a help desk system. It isn’t free, but we think that it is competitively priced against the competition.

The biggest issue, really, is knowing why you need a computerised asset management system. Is it just to track and maintain ICT assets, or is the scope much wider? Does the school have an asset management policy? Because without a policy how do you know what contributes as an asset that needs to be registered. Most schools tend to specify a value, above which, all assets have to be accounted for. I’ve seen values from £100 to £1000 specified.

 

The policy should also define a goods in process. As goods are received in school, its value will need to be accessed and if it falls above then a process for tagging and inputting into the system needs to be followed. Just because it’s being done using a computer system, the task of managing the asset database isn’t really the responsibility of the schools ICT Team.

 

Believe me, this is only just scratching the surface, there is a lot more to consider. The one reason why you should consider a paid for version is the experience and help that you can expect to get from a company who knows about asset management is schools.

 

I know that school budgets are under pressure and it is nice to be able to save money for the school you work for. If you go for an open source solution, you really are going it alone and you therefore need to accept that because you recommended it – you will end up managing and doing it.

If you have got time take a look as CSE Asset Manager and Service Manager - Software for Schools.

Edited January 29, 2015 by CSE_Tony
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