IT asset tracking: standard software or custom?

The laptop came back. What does the team see next?

Say an employee hands in a laptop on their last day. HR has recorded the departure, the person taking the equipment logs the return in a spreadsheet, and the device record stays in the ITSM, the IT service management system. The computer is already in the IT department, waiting to be prepared for its next hand-out.

In a useful view, the person planning equipment for a new employee would see at once that this specific laptop has come back and still needs preparation. A technician could open the work linked to it and, once it is done, mark the device as ready. The computer would then appear on the list of equipment available to hand out. The history would show who used it before and when it was returned.

The improvement would be that the return is recorded once, and the next person uses that record. Today you may need to copy the laptop's number from the spreadsheet into the ITSM and reply separately to HR. Once these places are connected, IT could confirm the return against the right device, and HR could see that information next to the employee's departure. Preparation would stay a separate piece of IT work, with a visible result.

The device number matters here. Two laptops of the same model can be in different hands and need different work. The team has to recognise the specific unit in the spreadsheet and in the system before a connection starts carrying information about returns. Check that the same number points to the same laptop in each of these places.

A ready asset tracking register can handle return and preparation

You do not need to order your own program just to record hand-outs. The Snipe-IT documentation describes unique asset tags and checking equipment out to users and back in. Handing a device to the next person requires the return to be recorded first (asset tracking basics in Snipe-IT).

This product also tells equipment ready to hand out apart from equipment waiting for preparation. The example in the documentation concerns a computer waiting to have its system re-prepared. After the work is done, IT can change its state to ready to deploy. That matches the basic need in our example, so look at such a flow in the existing tool before you commission a register.

If the employee is to confirm receipt, Snipe-IT also provides acceptance of equipment and an optional on-screen signature. That needs the right settings, including turning on acceptance for the device category (settings for confirming receipt).

What are you actually paying for in the ITSM?

If a broad ITSM suite mainly holds your laptop records, compare the features you use with a smaller asset tracking program. Also check the modules available and the terms of your current contract. Narrowing the scope or improving the configuration may be enough. When the team uses ticket handling and other parts of the suite, moving the register alone has to take those links into account.

Only a need that remains after such a comparison justifies your own app. In the case described, it may be retyping information about the departure and the return between HR, the spreadsheet and the device record. If a ready register keeps the equipment well, an integration could connect it to the employee departure process and to the task of preparing the laptop. Before choosing this path, confirm what data the systems in use let you read and write.

A narrower app makes sense when several people take part in the hand-over, and the current tools keep making them repeat entries or explain who has the device. It could offer a simple view of the return and the preparation of equipment, leaving tickets in the ITSM. Base the first scope on one laptop's path from return to the next hand-out. That lets you judge whether the new tool removes copying or only adds another screen to fill in.

If the equipment then goes to an outside partner and a repair has to be handed over, a separate question of access to the matter arises. We cover that scope in the article on a request system for a service network.

What to move from the old records

When changing tools, both the laptop's current user and earlier hand-overs matter. The team should know which history it will move and which it will go back to in the archive. Devices already returned but still waiting for preparation need particular care. A missing assigned employee alone should not make them appear ready to hand out.

Test the import on your own records. Snipe-IT has a basic history importer, but it needs the devices and users to exist in the system already, and it skips extra fields. That does not mean moving the whole spreadsheet with all its notes (importing history in Snipe-IT). So before migrating, settle where the information needed to keep handling the laptop will stay.

With an integration, settle who deals with a case where IT records a return and HR still does not see it. The team needs a way to report and clear up such a discrepancy, and the supplier an agreed scope of upkeep for the connection. Also discuss ownership of the code and data, and exporting the equipment history. If another supplier is to take over support of the app, they should get access, on agreed terms, to the code and the information needed to run the connections.

Syntalith builds custom apps. A possible project links the information about an employee's departure to the return of the laptop and its preparation, using the existing register where it already does its job. Start the conversation with the last return that had to be entered in several places. Tell us who took the device and how the next person knew it could be handed out. That is enough to start comparing a configuration change with the integration you need. A custom app or automation at Syntalith costs from €3,000 net (pricing).

What an equipment register costs and when it pays back

Where to start

In the free process review we choose one process and count the team's volume and working time, and within 2 working days you get a written summary with a price. We build as part of AI apps, and we price maintenance separately.