ALTIRIS Implementing an Asset and Contract Management System Document Version: 1.0 The information contained in the Altiris Knowledgebase is subject to the Terms of Use as outlined at http://www.altiris.com/legal/termsofuse.asp.
History Additions / Edits Date 1st Draft 10/15/2006 Final Draft 10/31/2006 Technical Edit 11/14/2006 Copy Edit 12/4/2006 Setting up an Asset and Contract Management System 2
Asset and Contract Management Overview The proper management of assets and contracts (resources) is crucial to the efficient functioning of a business and often required by regulatory standards. Proper management of resources lets you know: What assets you own Where assets are What assets a person or group is using How much assets and asset support are costing you When leases and agreements are about to expire What the relationships between resources are What assets are missing You can manage the assets and contracts within your organization by implementing an asset and contract management system using Altiris solutions: Altiris Asset Control and Contract Management Solution Altiris Barcode Solution Altiris Connector Solution Connectors (work with Connector Solution) Altiris Helpdesk Solution Altiris Inventory Solution These solutions work together to collect and store the data you need into a single data repository. Having a single repository facilitates groups within a company working together to provide and maintain data. Asset Control Solution lets you track an asset from the initial request for purchase to the retirement or disposal of the asset. With Contract Management Solution, You can track the phases of a contract, from creation to expiration. These solutions also let you see relationships between resources (example: you can associate a computer to a user, a lease to a copier, and a projector to a location). Most importantly, the solutions include numerous types of reports on your resources that provide the different groups within your company with the necessary information to more effectively make decisions and do their jobs. Barcode Solution provides powerful features to save you time auditing your assets. Using a barcode device, you can download asset data to the device, scan your assets, and upload the audit data back into the Notification Database. Inventory Solution lets you retrieve hardware and software information about your managed computers. Connector Solution and the connectors let you transfer data between applications and data formats. All of these solutions are integrated with help desk functionality. This lets you integrate help desk tracking features into asset and contract management processes. (Example: When a lease is about to expire, a help desk incident is automatically generated and assigned to the appropriate IT worker. This worker uses the information to determine what actions need to be taken. If the lease is renewed, the worker updates the lease information. If the lease is not renewed, the computer is returned.) Setting up an Asset and Contract Management System 3
Implementation Process As you implement an asset and contract management system, you will do the following phases: Phase 1: Plan the Asset and Contract Management System (page 4) Decide what you want to manage and track and prepare for the implementation of the asset and contract management system. Phase 2: Prepare Resource Types (page 6) Resource types are templates for entering resource information. Predefined resource types let you manage many types of resources, but you might need to edit the definitions to include additional fields or create new resource types. Phase 3: Work with Resources (page 7) Add resource data by importing or manually entering the data. Many features help ensure the accuracy of what is entered, make data entry easier, and maintain the data. Phase 4: Set Security (page 15) Properly configured security does not hinder users from performing their jobs but also protects the integrity of the data. Phase 5: Automate the Process (page 15) One of the keys to effective and efficient resource management is automation. Automate as much of your resource management as you can. Phase 1: Plan the Asset and Contract Management System As you begin implementing an asset and contract management system, you need to plan your system. Consider the following: What are my objectives with asset and contract management? The first step is to decide what you want to accomplish with the asset and contract management system. What reports do you want to run? What do you want to know? Knowing what you want to accomplish determines the kind of data you need to collect. Until you decide what you want, making decisions on what you need to do are much more difficult. The following are examples of some common objectives: Reduce costs through having more accurate and detailed information available when making decisions. Gain a better understanding of company costs through detailed information about how assets are allocated throughout the company. Meet compliance requirements in accounting for assets, including a physical audit. More effectively manage leases, service agreements, and other contracts, including the automation of alerts when contracts and leases are about to expire. Know exactly what hardware and software computers have, so computers can be more effectively managed, upgraded, and retired. Reduce the costs associated with lost or stolen assets through more careful tracking. Know the physical location of assets within the company. Setting up an Asset and Contract Management System 4
Consolidate asset and contract data into a single location, where the data can be leveraged by different internal groups. Improve workflow through the integration of asset and contract management with help desk service management. Reduce the number of applications that must be purchased and maintained. In most cases, you have many objectives you want to achieve with the asset and contract management system. To simplify the implementation and address your most urgent management needs more quickly, use a phased approach. Address your most urgent needs first, move to the next most urgent needs, and continue this pattern until you are done. A phased approach is also easier to adjust to for users in the company. How do I get support within the company? If you represent one group within your company and do not have the support of other groups, implementing a successful asset and contract management system will be difficult. You might accomplish some of your goals, but if other groups are not cooperating, the necessary infrastructure for a successful implementation will not be in place. (Example: If you want to inventory company computers, but certain groups do to want their computers inventoried, you will only have partial data. If the Human Resources group uses their own personnel management system and does not let you have access to some of their data, you might not get the data you need. If the Purchasing group does not provide information on what is purchased, your accounting related information will not be useful.) Before the implementation starts, you need to get support from the different groups within your company or get the support of people in upper-level management that will help you get the support you need. Implementing an asset and contract management system is a company-wide initiative. As you work to get the support of different groups within your company, explain the benefits of what you are doing for them (example: tell the purchasing department that IT will enter additional data about a computer when it arrives instead of them). Also, do not forget to communicate, especially with those whose ongoing support you need. Keep people informed about what you have done, what you are doing, and what you will be doing. Communication will also help alleviate concerns and help make the transition smoother. What resources do I want to track? Some companies track the different pieces of a computer (keyboard, mouse, and monitor). Other companies track just the computer. The more you want to track, the more data you need to enter into the system and maintain and the more time and resources required, but you also know more detail about what you have. What you track depends on your needs. Do you want to keep track of every computer mouse, chair, or file cabinet? In general, consider the value of the assets you want to track. The more valuable an asset, the more likely you will want to track it. This value can be the purchase cost of an asset or the risk cost (the cost associated with the risks of having the asset lost or stolen). (Example: A backup power generator has a high purchase cost. A PDA has a high risk cost if there is confidential information on the device.) With contracts, adding them to the system lets you store contract information in a central location and manage them more effectively. You can create alerts that let you know when a contract is about to expire. You can also associate the contracts Setting up an Asset and Contract Management System 5
with any related assets, so if you are viewing information for a leased computer, you can also access the lease associated with it. Make a list of the types of assets and contracts you want to track. As a start, you definitely should track computers and users; their information is used by many of the other features in other solutions. This list does not need to be comprehensive, and you can add to it as needed. What are my processes for working with resources? For the asset and contract management system to be the most useful, the system must contain accurate data. To ensure the accuracy of the data, you need to define processes for working with resources. For each resource you are adding to the system, define the needed processes for managing that resource. Example of a new monitor: 1. When a new monitor is purchased, the purchaser creates a new entry in the system for the monitor and enters any available information about the monitor, including purchase details, model, and description. 2. When the monitor arrives, the IT department verifies the purchase, adds an asset tag to the monitor, and records additional information about the monitor, such as serial number, asset tag number, and computer with which the monitor will be used. 3. The monitor is delivered to the intended user. The monitor is automatically associated with the user because the user is associated with a computer and the computer is associated with the monitor. 4. When the monitor is ready to be disposed, the IT department records the disposal date, changes the status of the monitor to disposed, and disposes of the monitor. As you define processes, also decide how staff will be trained to use the new system. Will you use online training, external classroom training, or internal training from an employee that has received training? Have I accounted for growth? Do not design an asset and contract management system that you will outgrow in a few months. If you currently have 2,000 computers to manage, but within two years you will be up to 5,000, take this into account as you design your implementation and purchase hardware. More users means more data that needs to travel over the network, more data for the Notification Server to process, and more data to store. Be sure you account for this. What are my backup and rollback plans? Before implementing a new system into your organization, you should backup your data. Make plans for how and when backups will occur. Also, have a rollback plan in case you need to get back to a previous state. Planning for problems beforehand is better than trying to figure out how to recover afterwards. Phase 2: Prepare Resource Types After deciding what resources you want to track and before adding resources to your system, you need to make sure you have the resource types you need. A resource type specifies what pieces of data are stored about a resource (example: serial number, model, manufacturer, and so on). Do the following: 1. Use the list of the types of resources you want to track and review the predefined resource types and find the ones you need. Setting up an Asset and Contract Management System 6
Resource types have been predefined for most common needs. If you do not find the resource type you need, try to find it under a different name. (Example: In your organization you have a Mail Stop. There is no predefined Mail Stop resource type; however, the predefined Location resource type is the Mail Stop equivalent. This resource type provides the needed functionality and should be used instead of creating a new resource type.) 2. Check the resource types you want to use and make sure they include fields for the information you want to track. If there are extra fields, this is not a problem; you can hide them from the user. If fields you need are missing from the resource type, you can add the needed fields to the resource type. (Example: You want to track style information for your desk phones, so the phones match the locations where they are used. The predefined desk phone resource type does not include a field for style. You need to add a field to the resource type for recording this information.) 3. If you cannot find a resource type for a type of resource you want to track, you can create a new resource type. When creating resource types, there is a huge advantage to basing the new resource type on an existing resource type. Doing so lets you leverage the numerous reports and associations of the resource type on which you are basing the new resource type. (Example: You need a resource type for power generators. You create a new resource type based on the Asset resource type. By so doing, you can use all of the predefined reports for assets to view generator data. Also, associations to a user, cost center, and location are included because the Asset resource type includes them.) Note Whenever possible, we strongly recommend that you use predefined resource types instead of creating your own, even if you need to modify them. Predefined resource types include features, fields, and associated reports not available in user-defined resource types. (Example: Hierarchal resource types let you create a hierarchal relationship between resources.) 4. Set default values for resource type fields. To make data entry quicker, you can set default values for the fields of a resource type. This is very useful if the value for a field does not change frequently. (Example: The majority of your company is located in a single location, so the value entered in the location field is the main location in most cases. If you set the default value of a field for the resource type to the most commonly used value, you will save time entering data.) Phase 3: Work with Resources After you set up resource types, you are ready to add resources. As you import or enter data for resources, we recommend that you use unique names for resources. This is not required but will make day-to-day working with resources easier. (Example: If you are tracking monitors, you can use the asset tag number prefixed by MON for the resource name. This creates a unique name that you can quickly recognize as a monitor, opposed to just seeing an asset number for the name. Also, a unique name makes it easier to recognize duplicate entries in the database. Do the following to work with resources: Step 1: Collecting Inventory Data (page 8) Step 2: Importing Resource Data (page 8) Step 3: Setting Up Organizational Resources (page 9) Setting up an Asset and Contract Management System 7
Step 4: Setting Up Financial Resources (page 11) Step 5: Adding Other Resources (page 11) Step 6: Using Reports to Help Manage Resources (page 13) Step 7: Tracking the Total Cost of Ownership (page 13) Step 8: Auditing Assets (page 14) Step 1: Collecting Inventory Data Start by collecting computer inventory data (if you have already done this, move on to the next step). This provides information on computer hardware and software resources. These resources are usually added first because computer data is fundamental to the use of many solution features, even those not related to the asset and contract management system. Collecting this data first also provides a quick return on your efforts. You can quickly get useful data that you can use to start managing your computer assets and generating reports. Inventorying is usually done in phases. You need to identify groups of computers and setup a schedule for inventorying them. Because some computers might temporarily be disconnected from the network (notebook computers out of the office) or otherwise unavailable, a complete inventory process can take several days or longer. For details on inventorying computers, see the Inventory Solution documentation. Step 2: Importing Resource Data If data for a type of resource is already available in a file or from an application, you can import the data (example: user data from Microsoft Active Directory or location, cost center, and department data from a spreadsheet). Wherever possible, import data to save time and reduce data entry errors. Importing data is even more important if the data you import is frequently changing and will be maintained outside of the asset and contract management system. You can schedule the regular importing of data from the data source into the Notification Database, so the data in the database remains current and accurate. If you plan on importing data, we recommend that you get started as soon as possible preparing for the data import. In some cases, the data is readily available. (Example: You work in the IT department and you want to import data from Microsoft Active Directory. Because your department maintains this data, you already have the access and approval you need.) In many cases, getting the data you need in the format you want takes longer than expected. You need to contact the appropriate people and get them to approve what you need and determine the best way to get the data. In some cases, the data is within an application, and you need to work out how to obtain the data you need. In other cases, such as personnel records, there might be some confidential data to which you cannot have access and a way needs to be worked out for the information you need to be provided for you. In cases where data will continue to be maintained outside of the asset and contract management system, you need to work out a process for getting regular updates. When importing data, the key, known as the resource lookup key, you use to identify a resource must be unique. If the key is not unique, you can end up with duplicate entries or other data import problems. You should also not change this key as you import the same data, otherwise you can also end up with duplicate entries. Setting up an Asset and Contract Management System 8
You can import different types of data: Common file format data You can import data from many common file formats or through various data transfer standards, such as OLE, ODBC,.CSV files,.xml files, and LDAP. This is done using Connector Solution. You can also manipulate the data as you import it. (Example: If you are importing e-mail addresses from an ODBC source that includes the name of the user and the e-mail address in a field, you can remove the name and store just the e-mail address in the Notification Database.) Enterprise management application data If you are using an enterprise management application, such as HP OpenView, Remedy Action Request System, IBM Director, or Microsoft SMS, you can import data using a special connector that works in conjunction with Connector Solution. For a complete list of available connectors, see the product information on the Altiris Web site or the Solution Center. Special data For special data, such as Microsoft Active Directory, you can import data using an Altiris integrated component. Integrated components work directly with Notification Server to import data and do not require Connector Solution. For details, see the product information on the Altiris Web site or the Solution Center. Before importing any data, read the remaining steps in this section. They provide information on the order in which different types of resources should be added to the asset and contract management system. Also, before importing data, be sure the data is as clean as possible. Update data, delete obsolete data, deal with duplicate entries, and perform any other data cleanup. The cleaner the data is when it is imported, the less work you will need to do to cleanup the data after it is imported. Step 3: Setting Up Organizational Resources Organizational resource types are predefined resource types for managing resources that define the organization of your company. The organizational resource types are: Location Cost Center Department Organizational resource data is often available in another format or from an application used in your company. In these cases, importing the data is much quicker and lets you leverage the work you have already done. See Step 2: Importing Resource Data (page 8). If data is not available elsewhere, you manually enter it. As you create an asset and contract management system, certain resource data should be added before other data. (Example: Enter locations before adding phones or copiers because phones and copiers require the specification of a location.) We recommend adding organization data first, with the exception of inventory and possibly user data, because so many other resources are associated to them. Hierarchy Organizational resource types are unique because they support a hierarchy for organizing resources. Organizational resources have a parent or child relationship to other resources of the same type. Organizing information in a hierarchy simplifies management and access to data. By grouping resources into very specific groups, which are grouped into broader groups, which are further grouped into even broader groups, Setting up an Asset and Contract Management System 9
you can view information at different levels of detail. (Example: You can look at reports for all computers at a building, site, state, geographical region, or company level.) You need to define these groups to meet the needs of your company. You need to find a balance between being too broad, where the lack of groupings makes it harder to find data, and too granular, where you have so many groups that there is a lot more work to create your system and maintain it. (Example: You can create a single location for the United States or you can create a location for the United States and create sub-locations for California, New York, and Texas.) Often, you can use the groups your company already has for departments and cost centers, unless these groupings are too broad or granular. For each organizational resource type, decide what groups you want to use and enter the data for them into the system. As you enter data for each type of resource, you will also specify the hierarchy for the resource type. If you are using Active Directory or some other system that stores organizational information, you might be able to import the organizational information into the system (see Step 2: Importing Resource Data). Resource Associations Resource associations are relationships between two resources. As you add resources to the system, you also define the associations between the resources. (Example: When you add a monitor resource, there is a field where you can specify the computer to which the monitor is associated.) Creating these associations is critical to the efficient management of resources. They let you see, quickly access, and more efficiently work with information about related resources. (Example: A user is assigned a computer. A pair of monitors is associated with that computer. When the person changes positions and someone else takes over, you can associate that computer with the new person and the monitors are automatically associated to the new user through the computer. Without associations, you would need to assign each piece of equipment to the person.) The resource association diagram (RAD) lets you see a graphical representation of the associations between resources. From this diagram, not only can you see associations, but you can also do the following: View the properties of an asset Assign assets to an owner, cost center, and location Change the status of an asset Navigate to associated resources and view their associations With computers, a feature automatically creates associations between the computer and the primary user of the computer. This saves you the work of manually specifying the owner of your computers. You can also automatically set the location of a computer based on the subnet associated with the computer. This saves you the work of manually specifying the location of your computers. This feature uses the subnet assigned to a location through the Location resource type. Then, based on the subnet of a computer, which is based on inventory data, the location of the computer is assigned. Associations and Organizational Resources Just as other resource types have associations to organizational resource types, organizational resource types have associations to other organizational resource types too. Setting up an Asset and Contract Management System 10
Ideally, you would enter all of the data for a resource at one time, including associated resources, then move on to the next resource. This is often not possible, especially with organizational resources. These resources often have associations with each other, so you need to enter the data for a certain resource except the association data, enter data for the associated resource, and then go back to the original resource and enter the association data. (Example: The Manager field of a department resource. If you have not already entered user data, you cannot specify a manager. You must first create a user to specify as a manager. Also, if you are entering user data, and have not created a department, you cannot specify a department for a user.) All of the organizational resource types have predefined associations with each other, and all assets have associations with a location, user, and cost center organizational resource types. With all of these interconnecting associations, regardless of the organizational resource type you choose to enter data for first, you will still need to go back and enter associations for it later because data of that type has not been added. Common Resource Associations Location Department Asset User Cost Center Company Step 4: Setting Up Financial Resources After the organizational resources are set up, enter financial data. Financial data is required for the finance related reports. Enter the following data: Accounting periods There are three types of accounting periods: Book, Tax, and Custom. They all perform the same function, which is to define accounting periods, where the names provide reference points for common accounting uses. Accounting codes These codes are used to associate resources with specific accounting groups. Depreciation schedule Straight-line depreciation of assets is supported. Step 5: Adding Other Resources Resource data can and should be added in phases. You might start with computers, later add monitors and phones, and later add furniture. You can add contracts as you get new ones and then catch-up on existing contracts. As you enter data, make sure you have a system in place to prevent you from adding a resource to the system more than once. (Example: If you are using new asset tags, add a new tag to every added asset. If you Setting up an Asset and Contract Management System 11
are using existing asset tags, place a special sticker on each asset you have added to the system.) As you add assets, use a systematic plan to cover all resources of the type you are adding. (Example: If you are adding phones, go floor by floor or area by area. If you have more than one person involved, they can work in different areas. One might work on adding all computers and getting asset tags added to them while another person works on adding contracts to the system. Look at your needs and do what makes sense for your company.) If you have the data available in another format or from an application, import the data. This will save you time and data entry errors. See Step 2: Importing Resource Data (page 8). Data Entry Features As you enter data, if you have the same data that needs to be added for multiple resources, you can use the bulk editor to quickly enter data for multiple resources at the same time. (Example: You have a large group of assets that are in the same location, associated with the same cost center, and in the same department. You can enter this information for all of these resources at one time using the bulk editor.) Another way to save time entering data for a resource is to use item tasks. This feature lets you rightclick a resource already added to the system and add or change a value for a particular field without needing to open the data entry page for that resource. This feature is only available for certain resource types and fields. Audit Trail After a resource is added to the system, each time changes are made, the changes are recorded. This provides an audit trail for the resource. You always know who changed data and when. Synchronizing Computer Inventory Data The inventorying features (of Inventory Solution) provide comprehensive computer and device inventory data. If you are using these features as part of your asset and contract management system, which we recommend, you should also use the Inventory to Asset Data Synchronization feature. This feature copies the following data collected by the inventorying process to a different area in the Notification Database: Serial number System number Manufacturer Model Copying this data lets you enter values for or modify the copied data without losing it each time inventory data is re-collected. If you modified the data collected by the inventorying process, the changes you make are overwritten the next time the inventorying process collects data. (Example: You collect inventory data about your computers, but the system number is not available. You enter the system number data for each computer on the copied data.) The Inventory to Asset Data Synchronization feature updates the computer data based on the inventory data except in the cases where you have entered system numbers. Setting up an Asset and Contract Management System 12
Merging Duplicate Data Entries As you work with resource data, there will be occasions where you have duplicate entries. Asset Control and Contract Management Solution include features to help you deal with this. For computers and users, duplicate entries can be automatically merged. For resources other than computers and users, you can merge duplicate data by creating a merge rule, which defines the rules for merging the data. Step 6: Using Reports to Help Manage Resources Reports are the result for all of the information you add to the asset and contract management system. Much of the work you do in building the system is so you can run a report. The system solutions include numerous predefined reports that provide information on many aspects of the resources, including: Assets grouped by department Any individual resource list Computers by operating system type Departments grouped by cost center and location Users by department As you add resource data to the Notification Database, these reports are available for use. If you cannot find a report that meets your needs, you can create your own report. Step 7: Tracking the Total Cost of Ownership The cost of buying computers is a small part of the total cost of computer ownership. There are repair costs, support costs, and more. With the system, you can track the total cost of ownership (TCO) of your computers. With this information, you can make informed decisions related to the costs associated with your computers. Asset Control Solution and Contract Management Solution include reports with data on the costs of owning assets. Data can be grouped by cost center, location, domain, or in other ways. The following type of reports are provided: Enterprise analysis Hardware analysis Microsoft audit Software migration analysis Support analysis Cost structures let you store a set of costs and time requirements associated with IT related events, such as the time required to migrate a computer from one operating system to another or the cost of one hour of a level 1 help desk technician s time. The information from a cost structure is used in the reports to let you quickly associate the appropriate set of costs to a report that you want to run. To run a report, you choose the applicable cost structure, and the appropriate costs and time requirements are used by the report, which saves you the need to re-enter the information each time. Setting up an Asset and Contract Management System 13
Step 8: Auditing Assets As part of managing assets, you might need to perform a physical audit of your assets, where you need to physically account for each asset. Barcode Solution greatly speedsup and simplifies this process. The following is an example of one technique for using the solution to perform a physical audit: 1. Install the barcoding software (Barcoder, which is part of Barcode Solution) on a supported barcode device (see the Barcode Solution documentation for a list of supported devices). 2. For each barcode device, select the asset data in the Notification Database you want installed on the device, and then download the data to the device. The data you want on each device is the information for the assets you will be auditing during an auditing session. If you had enough storage, you could just add all of your asset data, but this greatly slows-down the barcode device. You want to limit your data to the assets being audited. 3. Scan the asset tag of the assets you are auditing with the barcode device. The auditing software on the barcode device looks-up the asset and records that it has been audited. If the asset is not found, you can add the data for the asset using the barcode device. In situations where you are adding an asset to the system using the barcode device, add just enough information to identify the asset and that is only available from physically seeing the asset, such as serial number, color, model number, and so forth. Other data, such as location, cost center, and department, you can add more easily after the data is added to the Notification Database. 4. When you are through with an auditing session, upload the collected data back into the Notification Database. Auditing reports included with Barcode Solution help you analyze the results of your audit. You can easily identify which assets have and have not been scanned. Note If you are already using asset tags, do the tags have barcodes on them. If not and you want to take full advantage of the auditing features, you will need to switch to tags with supported barcodes. See the Barcode Solution documentation (www.altiris.com/ support/documentation) for information on supported barcodes. Setting up an Asset and Contract Management System 14
Auditing Process Host accesses asset data Asset data downloaded Barcode Device Create Reports Notification Server and Database Add data to NS database Host Computer Asset data upload Audit Assets Phase 4: Set Security An asset and contract management system is used by many users within a company, including those that: Enter contract data Enter purchase information Process new purchases Physically audit assets Maintain user, department, and location information View accounting and TCO reports Evaluate department resources Track the physical location of assets Properly configured security is critical to effective use and integrity of the data in the system. The security must be configured so each user has the access he or she needs to accomplish his or her job and no more. This is especially important as you decide who can change content. For more in security, see the Notification Server documentation. Phase 5: Automate the Process After establishing the asset and contract management system, you want to automate as many of the tasks related to it as possible. Automating tasks saves time and helps ensure that processes take place. One area where automation is critical is the establishment of processes for handling incidents, purchases, service, and so forth. As you define these processes, you can use the features within the system solutions to help automate the workflow. A central part of the workflow is the use of the help desk capabilities within Helpdesk Solution. These features let you alert the appropriate people, track incidents, and ensure that the steps in the process take place in a timely and orderly manner. Another way to automate processes is to setup notification policies. These policies can be defined to regularly evaluate certain pieces of data. If the data values are not what Setting up an Asset and Contract Management System 15
they should be, a user specific action takes place. (Example: A policy can be created to monitor the addition of new users to the system. If the user does not have a department or location assigned, an e-mail can be sent to the appropriate person to take care of this.) Setting up notification policies can save you a lot of time reviewing reports for problems. Instead of regularly studying reports for problems, problems can automatically be identified and reported to you. With lease agreements and service agreements, notifications can be set to automatically remind you when a lease is about to expire or an asset is due for maintenance. Some of the features mentioned previously help you automatically maintain your data, such as the automatic re-importing of data from an external data source and the automatic elimination of duplicate user or computer entries in the system. Other features mentioned earlier help you maintain associations between assets, as automatically assigning computers to the right location based on subnet and associating a computer with the primary user of a computer. Setting up an Asset and Contract Management System 16