A good asset management system can also help when your organization is planning to migrate to another software environment or hardware platform. By checking what equipment and software is in use and where they are located, you can plan deployment better. For instance, you'll know which machines aren't ready for the new system and what upgrades you need to perform. By having this information ahead of time, you can minimize user downtime and frustration when you cut over to the new system.

PRODUCTS ON THE MARKET
You can divide the asset management market into two rough categories: low-end building blocks and high-end multicomponent packages. However, no offering provides a total solution. Your final system will be a combination of product, policy, and hands-on effort.

In the building-block category, you'll find products such as inventory applications and tracking and metering programs. These tools help you build and populate your asset database. However, for the most part they are limited to querying workstations and servers for information on the equipment they house and software they run. They won't necessarily keep tabs on a switch or a hub. Some of the bigger names in this category are Intel, Hewlett-Packard, and Seagate Software.

The high-end packages typically provide you with a full-blown asset database. Usually, the database lets you track physical inventory, lease and contract information, and financial information on your assets. Many of these packages let you tie the asset system to a help desk component and, in some cases, to your organization's financial system. Some developers in this area are Peregrine Systems, Bendata, Tangram Enterprise Solutions, and Janus Technologies.