Creating an Asset

IT Asset Management (Cloud)

Different kinds of asset can have different properties; so we identify the type of asset to create before launching into its properties.

Tip: There are differences between a device asset, device, asset, and an inventory device. For more information, see the corresponding glossary entries in Glossary.

To create an asset:

1. Go to any of the Hardware menu pages, such as Hardware > Hardware Assets > All Assets, and click the Create an Asset button.
   The Create an Asset page appears.
2. Choose a value from the Asset type list.
   The first four of these types are "device assets" in IT Asset Management, since they may be linked to inventory devices; and the remainder are "non-device assets", which cannot have inventory gathered:

   • Laptop
   • Mobile Device
   • Server
   • Workstation
   • Cell phone
   • Chair
   • Data Storage
   • Desk
   • Mainframe
   • Monitor
   • Network Appliance
   • Printer
   • Router
   • Switch
   • Telephone.

   Tip: After creation of the asset, you can update the asset type from one inventory device type to another, or from one non-device type to another; but you can no longer switch from device types to non-device types, or vice versa.
3. Click Continue.
   Tip:

   • Where possible, include the hardware serial number when you manually create an asset record. Later, when inventory is imported (by default, nightly) and it includes a device with the matching serial number, that inventory device is automatically linked to the asset record during the reconciliation processing. Without the serial number in the asset record, or if the matching serial number cannot be found in imported inventory, the asset cannot be linked automatically. If this is the case, you may link the asset manually to the inventory device (open the asset properties, and in the General tab, use the Linked inventory search control).
   • Any custom properties that you have added for this object are also available through the column chooser. Like other properties, you can also use these properties for filtering and grouping records on this page.

   • The Save view as feature of IT Asset Management enables you to create customized management views of a page by saving the applied user interface settings. For more information, see Creating Saved Views.

   The asset properties page displays. For more information on completing the properties, see Asset Properties and subtopics with details about individual properties tabs.

Tip: There are other ways to start this process: for example, you can click Create an asset from any of these pages:

• Inventory Issues
• Out-Of-Date Inventory
• Inventory without Assets
• Active Inventory
• Ignored Inventory
• All Inventory
• Device Assets Without Inventory
• Device Assets
• Non-Device Assets
• All Assets
• Any of the inventory device lists available through the Discovery & Inventory menu.

From any of these pages, you choose the asset type in a fly-down list that appears (instead of coming through the Create an Asset page). In these fly-down lists, you may see a smaller set of asset types appropriate to the different contexts.