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.
