"Asset Management" – Do these words trigger a sense of an important aspect for your organization?
If your answer is ‘YES’, then Congratulations that you understand the potential of asset management for yourself and the organization.
If your answer is ‘NO’, it is not a surprise because many organizations are yet to realize the huge importance, value and ROI of asset management.
More than a decade back, when I was asked to step into setting up Asset Management practices globally from scratch for one of the largest MNC – a technology pioneer with diversified portfolio; I too didn’t realize how important it could become in due course. But I am sure the leaders had the idea which is why they were leaders. Seeing their confidence, I went ahead and took up the challenge.
I got some of the best team members to join me in driving this, got deep into everything related to hardware and software assets, took control of the Capex and Opex spends of all Business Units, customized an existing Asset Management Solution to an extent of about massive 80% and implemented within a short span of 9 months including RFID based movement tracking at 42 entry / exit locations of various buildings. The overall initiative resulted in cost savings / optimization of ~ 2.4 Million Dollars in just 3 years. I was recognized with President’s award for my contribution to the business.
The point I am trying to make is that there are such huge opportunities in asset management area that always exist. It is just that the organizations need to understand the same and take a decision to go after addressing them seriously. Only then you can see the potential which was lying underneath.
Based on my experience, I would like to leave you with the following 10 most critical and practical aspects of asset management to be taken care of, in case you are planning to implement or improve your asset management practices.
Baseline the definition of ‘Asset’ for your organization based on legal, regulatory, customer, vendor, management and other internal stakeholder requirements. Remember that Fixed Assets from your Finance books are mandatory to be part of this initiative.
Any ‘ASSET MANAGEMENT SOLUTION’ is not the solution to your problems. The solution lies in how WELL you have implemented the ‘SOLUTION’ in alignment with your business requirements.
Reengineer the processes as required based on organizational needs.
Design the processes and solution to enable easy visibility, sharing, reuse, AOP planning, optimization, and cost savings.
Don’t leave your Software Assets from the focus. They could lead to very serious consequences as they are the Intellectual Properties of the OEMs.
A robust discovery tool is key to your inventory scanning. In my experience, even the most sophisticated tool has 10+ gaps related to asset management.
Customize your asset management application to align to your processes, and not the vice-versa.
Setup and streamline the processes for new assets entering the organization before you take care of legacy assets.
Avoid giving and accepting any justification for exceptions to follow your asset management processes.
Last but not the least – if you have accepted the challenge to streamline asset management, don’t hesitate to take decisions which may be painful for the end users initially but will ease out organization’s pain very soon.
Believe me, I have seen that many stringent controls are questioned by users and business leaders but the moment you are able to make them understand the reason behind you decisions, they will support you even stronger going forward.
So, just go for it wholeheartedly. All the best!