We’re pretty proud of our Asset Management module. Not only does it make organization-wide asset management easier than ever before, but its blend of functionality and flexibility means that it can be used for a wide variety of creative use cases.
However, you might not be aware of the full range of applications that our Asset Management module can help with. If that’s the case, don’t worry—this post will explore 10 creative applications for our asset management module, demonstrating how you can make the most out of the module within your own organization.
Let’s get started.
1. TOPdesk as a training platform
Knowledge is power. It’s crucial that organizations find simple yet scalable ways to train their employees and promote knowledge-sharing throughout their business. That being said, it can be hard to keep on top of who’s received which training and when.
The first creative application that we’re going to look at is using the TOPdesk Asset Management module as a training platform. This basically works by allowing employees to easily record all training certificates that they’ve received. What’s more, they can register for training courses by simply filling out a form within the self-service portal (this is actually in the form of an asset linked to the specific training request).
But that’s not all. Once the request has been submitted, the Action Sequence will automatically verify whether or not there’s still room in the training. If it’s already at maximum capacity, the employee is automatically linked to the training module’s waiting list (which is another type of asset). If not, they’ll be linked to the training itself. The trainer can instantly see who’s signed up for their course at all times.
Once the training has been completed, the trainer simply has to close the requests from the participants in TOPdesk. Participants are then automatically disconnected from the training but still linked to the training certificate going forward. The Asset Management module is therefore able to provide a complete overview of your employees’ acquired knowledge—making it easier than ever before to manage company-wide learning and development management.
2. Booking workstations
We’ve already spoken about why reserving workspaces is especially important in light of COVID-19. Essentially, TOPdesk uses assets to provide bookable workplaces. Better still, it’s incredibly easy to use—so let’s dig into how it works in more detail.
On your phone, simply open TOPdesk, click on ‘Reserve a workspace’ (or define your own name of this tile) on the right-hand side of the screen, and choose a date and time when you want to work in the office.
Select the office in question, choose a building zone or floor if needed, and confirm your reservation. Double check that everything has gone through correctly by looking at the reservation planner on the left-hand side of the screen—it should appear as an available asset.
And that’s it! Thanks to our Asset Management module, you can make signing up for a workspace as easy as 1, 2, 3. For more information on how to effectively set up reservations of workspaces, check out this recent post.
3. Creating your own library/lending system
We were recently working with a German engineering company that had a large library of literature spread throughout their various offices: magazines, books, journals, and more. They rented this literature out to their employees, but this was a complex process spread across disparate documents and systems.
Unsurprisingly, they wanted a better, more effective system.
They decided to create a detailed library within the TOPdesk Self-Service portal. Employees can now search all available literature, choose from which location they would like to rent something (e.g. the Berlin or Hamburg offices), see who has rented what and when, and instantly mark when they’ve returned a rented item.
You don’t even need to have specialist TOPdesk knowledge to set this up—you just need to know how to develop webpages and how to use APIs. If you have your own web developers, this should be a pretty simple exercise.
4. TOPdesk SaaS environments: Automating relationships and requests
As you might know, the relationship between assets reveals dependencies. Once these dependencies have been revealed, APIs can then use this knowledge to automate simple manual actions.
The entire infrastructure behind TOPdesk SaaS environments is now housed entirely in the Asset Management module: data centers, application servers, database servers, and more. Web content widgets reveal key data with regards to status, monitoring, and uptime.
This means that from now on, actions such as restarting the SaaS environment or copying something from Production to a Test environment can now be fully automated (instead of having to be performed manually).
5. GDPR registration
GDPR means that all companies now have to keep a data processing register. Interestingly, one of our healthcare customers has decided to do this entirely within the TOPdesk Asset Management module itself.
For each of their different systems they record: what kind of data is processed, what personal data is registered, who the owner and supplier of the system are, and what kind of data processing agreement has been made.
The company also uses the Asset Management module to handle all security incidents. When an incident is reported on the relevant system, the company can immediately check whether critical data has been compromised.
Based on the severity of the incident, a workflow can then be started within TOPdesk to report the incident to the authorities.
6. OData retrieval in Excel
Our Asset Management reports are still in development—but that doesn’t mean that you can’t create any reports from your TOPdesk data.
If you have your own business intelligence (BI) tool, for example, then you can export data from TOPdesk into your BI tool via the OData feed. But what if you don’t have access to a separate reporting tool in-house? Don’t worry—simply use Microsoft Excel instead.
Let’s walk you through the process of how this works.
Open the ‘Data’ tab in Excel and press the ‘Get data’ button. Select ‘Other sources’ and you’ll see the OData feed appear. Then, enter the URL that corresponds to your own TOPdesk environment.
In order to create a connection to your OData feed, you will first have to submit a TOPdesk application password. Open TOPdesk, log in with your account details, and make sure you’ve turned on permissions for both the reporting API and for application passwords.
Open settings, scroll down to ‘Application passwords’, enter a name (i.e. OData Excel), submit, and it will display a one-time password that you can then copy and paste. In Excel, enter this username and password information on the tab ‘Basic’ before clicking connect.
Just like that, you will then have a direct link to your OData feed in your TOPdesk environment.
7. Import wizard for bulk edit
We’re sometimes asked why there’s no bulk edit functionality in the new asset management module—but this isn’t strictly true.
As you might know, the bulk edit functionality in Configuration Management allows you to change the cost center, status, or location link for a number of assets at the same time.
In the new module, however, this limited list of fields has been replaced by the more flexible import wizard. Just create your new fields in an Excel sheet, import this file, and all your fields will automatically be adjusted.
8. Action Sequence
Automation is fun—but it must also have a purpose. Take the example of a regional school board.
When we began working with them, we were quickly told that different teams were in charge of handling different regions. We therefore set up the following workflow: call comes in on an asset, an automatic action identifies which location this asset is linked to, before assigning this call to the operator group responsible for that particular location.
Of course, this isn’t the most exciting way you can apply automation within your organization—but it certainly saved the school board’s service desk from manually forwarding call after call.
If you want to find out more about this type of automation then head to My TOPdesk. You can then find the Action Sequence that we just explained in the knowledge item called ‘Action Sequence Library’. Plus, anyone wanting to find out more information can also use My TOPdesk to request a training course on Action Sequences and APIs.
9. Asset audit
Performing periodic audits is an important part of the asset management process—you need to make sure that nothing is lost or damaged.
Some organizations use a barcode scanner to do this, walking around buildings and scanning barcode stickers that they have previously stuck on all assets. But wouldn’t it be great if you could instantly process the results of these rounds directly in TOPdesk?
Fortunately, you now can. We would like to draw your attention to Asset Audit, a solution that can be found on the TOPdesk Marketplace. Asset Audit reads the scan results of the inventory, gives a preview of all assets that will be updated, and outlines those that cannot be updated.
After execution, you can see a final result and print off a report of the inventory if you so wish.
10. Things management
Finally, we’d like to leave you with one last tip: be creative.
With the new module, you have a tool that goes beyond asset management in the classic sense of the word. You can easily register all kinds of things, from large to small—meaning it can help with contract management, project management, art registration, and more.
Think of things you might normally register in other places in TOPdesk, such as contracts. Now, you can simply create the fields yourselves, send reminders when a contract is about to end, and we can even extend the contract automatically.
So why wouldn’t you handle this in the TOPdesk Asset Management module?
Future-proofed asset management
Our module makes asset management easier than ever before. Its flexibility means that it can help your organization achieve a wide range of goals, whether you want to create your very own library or set up GDPR-related workflows.
Are you still doubting to get started with Asset Management? Watch the webinar 'Best Practices for Migrating to Asset Management'. Not convinced yet? Watch the trailer!
Good luck! Play around with the module and dig into how it can transform your organization for the better. If you have any questions or queries, don’t hesitate to get in touch with your Customer Success Manager.
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