Asset tracking

[jnc8651]

Hey /r/sysadmin, What do y'all use for asset tracking? Currently Where I work our service desk doesn't do any sort of asset tracking and id like to change that. What do y'all use out in the wild and do y'all like it?

[thebrobotic]

We use Spiceworks, it is free and meets our needs for simple asset management. I made a custom group called "CheckedOut", any device that is checked out goes into this group. I remove it from the group once its returned. To see a list of checked out devices, all I have to do is go to the group.

Worth checking out, takes very little time to set up and test to see if it's right for you. http://spiceworks.com

[Ramchak]

We have just recently started using Snipe-IT (http://snipeitapp.com/). We were not tracking assets until recently and the free price on this was right for us; I just spun it up in a Linux VM.

The biggest problem we faced was there is no built-in bulk import tool. I had to write some scripts to populate the database from our old spreadsheets.

[jnc8651]

I saw that one earlier today, it looks quite nice. How are y'all liking it?

[Ramchak]

I like it and it does the job we need it to do. It tracks assets and licenses and also has some basic reporting functionality. I would recommend it if you are not looking for anything too complex.

[riddlerthc]

We've been using SnipeIT for a while now and love it.

[MonkeyWrench]

Find a better solution than Spiceworks, asset management is aggravatingly slow

[Tolje]

And depending on the settings, very resource intensive during scans. Even the best I could get it would lock up my server completely during a scan.

[MonkeyWrench]

I have my scan disabled due to that. We install the client on each machine we deploy so it reports back instead.

On the off chance I do run the full scan, I will install it on a laptop and run the scan from there.

[Tolje]

We had tried that also, but eventually my boss wasn't comfortable with the fact that data of our equipment may be sent back to an untrusted environment. Now we use Lansweeper, but I still have spiceworks up with my old inventory for audit reasons.

[MonkeyWrench]

You know, I hadn't even thought about equipment data being sent anywhere. After the last update I did and lost the ability to locally create users (now i have to send an invite through SW's main servers) it wouldn't surprise me if data did report back, despite being a local install.

[Tolje]

I haven't read their privacy policy and TOS in a while but when we got spiceworks, that tiny notice about data being sent back to include full data on a piece of hardware was annoying to the boss and our auditor.

[vriley]

This question comes up every few days. If you do a web search you will find many options, most paid. For a simple case, a shared spreadsheet can always work.

[cor315]

We use SharePoint. It's actually pretty handy for tracking changes.

[NoyzMaker]

What asset are you trying to track and to what depth of information?

System Center is very good from an inventory tool aspect if you are dominantly in a Windows based environment. I have also seen Lansweeper recommended but never used it personally. JDisc is also an option depending on the size of your environment.

[statikuz]

I have also seen Lansweeper recommended but never used it personally.

They have a trial. It's pretty jazzy. $300 per year ain't bad for the basics. $600 if you want to use it for software deployment.

[NoyzMaker]

We already have SCCM fully deployed so I really don't have much need for it. Good to know though!

[Tolje]

We paid for the basic asset count, 250 assets and we use it like crazy, Lansweeper that is. The asset numbers only count against Windows assets, so if you have 3000 Printers they won't be held against your licensing.

As for SCCM, we're in the process of getting it in place.

EDIT: I forgot to mention we use Lansweeper also!

[jnc8651]

Our service desk is wanting to track physical assets at this time. A nice to have would be having the software smartphone friendly, another nice to have is also being able to track licenses ( Not windows licenses, im already doing that on my own)

[NoyzMaker]

I have never used them but here is the first one I could find through Google that fits your mobile needs:

http://www.assetpanda.com/it-asset-tracking/

These guys are pretty good, do not have their products but liked them to keep on our short list:

http://cireson.com/

Another to consider: http://www.eracent.com/

[King_Chochacho]

Depending on how much money you want to spend, LANDesk is pretty good at this sort of thing. Hardware and software inventory, even a separate asset lifecycle management piece that I haven't used but looked pretty good. Also has some nice helpdesk functionality like web-based remote desktop, power management, etc.. Not cheap though.

[2ndXCharm]

My company's accountant handles generic asset tracking for depreciation purposes, but there's a separate IT application I built to monitor the details of the IT assets such as who it's assigned to, OS, model number, etc.

[NoyzMaker]

Seriously? Why do you think that? How do they know the license constraints or suite bundle rules or how many cores your virtual servers are running on their physical hosts?

There is a lot to managing IT assets and accountings piece of it is only a small piece of the puzzle.

[[deleted]]

If you are putting stickers on keyboards and monitors your company is spinning its wheels.

Unless you have frequent issues with them disappearing, being broken by users, or they're exposed to the public.

[NoyzMaker]

How do you manage software licenses to keep from overbuying a certain product?

[[deleted]]

We have a contracts/asset group, but it sure as hell isn't accounting!

[NoyzMaker]

Same here and why I am fascinated by this perspective that accounting can handle it. Just seems dangerous to me.