And asset management is a critical part of that effort, says Rick Erickson, the division's director. Since Household already has a substantial investment in Computer Associates' Unicenter TNG, it plans to add the TNG Asset Management Option. Asset management is a critical part of that because we need to know when that person calls in what their real situation is. A user often demands a new PC as the quickest way to solve a problem. Without asset-management tools, he notes, the agent cannot determine if an outdated version of software or a hardware mismatch may be causing the problem.
Asset management means different things to different companies.
The physical location of the unit, its hardware configuration, and details of the installed software. This data is key to establishing and maintaining a standard desktop environment and in planning software deployments, not to mention Y2K remediation. This data allows cost of ownership to be determined and can provide input for quality control in future purchasing. Much of the utility of asset-management tools is the business value they create through being able to juxtapose data in these different categories. For example, knowing the terms of a lease and the modifications made to the leased equipment lets companies comply with the lease terms and return equipment on time in its original condition, rather than having to buy equipment that wasn't returned on time or return it with separately purchased components still installed.