What is an Asset Management System and How Does It Help Your Organization?

What is an Enterprise Asset Management System and How Does It Help Organizations?

Who currently has the laptop purchased for the new employee? When does the 2nd-floor printer warranty expire? Where did the meeting room equipment go? If the accounting, IT, and facilities departments have to open separate Excel files to find the answers, it means the organization is managing its assets based on memory.

This article explains what an enterprise asset management system is, what problems it solves, how to choose one, and introduces ORIGAMI Asset.

What is an Enterprise Asset Management System (Asset Management)?

An enterprise asset management system is software that stores a complete asset register in one place, along with information on where each asset is located, who holds it, its condition, and when it needs maintenance, from purchase to disposal.

Types of assets organizations need to manage include:

• IT equipment: computers, laptops, monitors, printers, networks

• Furniture and office equipment

• Machinery and tools

• Vehicles

• Meeting room equipment and common areas

  
  

Challenges of Unsystematic Asset Management

The main issues are not knowing what assets exist, where they are, who is responsible for them, and what condition they are in. This leads to lost items, redundant purchases, delayed maintenance, and lengthy annual audits.

• Inaccurate asset registers: Excel files are not updated when items are moved or reassigned.

• Unknown custodians: Employees resign without returning equipment.

• Unnecessary duplicate purchases: Because it is unknown that available equipment exists elsewhere.

• Unnoticed maintenance and warranty expirations

• Difficult asset auditing: Requiring physical room-by-room counts and manual file comparison.

• Lack of overview: Accounting and operations departments working with mismatched data sets.

  
  

What features should a good asset management system have?

It should feature a central asset register, custodian and location data, usage and maintenance history, due date alerts, auditing capabilities, and overview reporting.

1. Central Asset Register Code, name, category, purchase date, value, vendor

2. Custodian and Location Track who holds the asset and where it is located, complete with transfer history

3. Status and Condition In use, under repair, spare, or disposed

4. Maintenance History and scheduled due date notifications

5. Warranty and Expiration Date Advance notifications before expiration

6. Stock Auditing Helps reconcile system data with physical inventory

7. Attachments Receipts, warranty cards, images

8. Reporting Summary of quantities, values, and status by category or department

9. Access Control: Define who can add, edit, or view data.

   
   

Assets and Depreciation: What Accounting Needs

The accounting department uses asset data to calculate depreciation and verify values, while operations need to know where items are and if they are ready for use. A good system allows both teams to work from the same data set, eliminating the need to reconcile separate files. Each organization should consult its auditor or company accountant regarding specific accounting and tax policies.

What is ORIGAMI Asset?

ORIGAMI Asset is the asset management module within Work & Operations on the ORIGAMI platform, enabling organizations to maintain asset registers and track assets seamlessly alongside other business operations.

The strength of having an asset system on the same platform as other operations is that data is interconnected. For example, employee and department data from People & HR can be used to identify custodians, damaged equipment can be reported via Helpdesk, rooms or shared equipment are linked to bookings in Booking, and receipts and warranties can be stored in ORIGAMI IDOC. 

In line with the ORIGAMI concept where all modules operate from a single data source without duplicate data entry (Read more: Why enterprise data is scattered and how to consolidate it into a single system)

How to choose asset management software?

Choose a program that uses a centralized registry instead of scattered files, clearly identifies custodians and locations, provides maintenance and warranty alerts, assists with auditing, and integrates with employee data.

1. Single registry or multiple locations? If you still need to reconcile multiple files, the problem hasn't been solved.

2. Can it identify custodians and transfers? Along with history.

3. Are there maintenance and warranty alerts?

4. How easy is auditing? For example, can you scan with a mobile phone or cross-check items?

How to implement an asset management system without failure?

1. Start with a single category such as IT equipment with clear custodians.

2. Complete the initial inventory count thoroughly to ensure baseline data reflects reality.

3. Assign data ownership regarding who adds, edits, and approves disposals.

4. Integrate with employee onboarding and offboarding processes: assign equipment to new hires, and require returns upon resignation

5. Conduct periodic audits instead of waiting once a year

6. Review regular reports to identify unused items, items nearing warranty expiration, and total value

   
   

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• What is an enterprise asset management system?

Software that centralizes all asset registries in one place, complete with custodian information, locations, condition, and maintenance history from procurement to disposal.

• Why not use Excel for asset management?

Excel requires manual updates, lacks alerts, provides no reliable transfer history, and leads to data discrepancies when multiple files are used.

• How does the asset system facilitate auditing?

It compares system data with physical inventory, speeding up audits and instantly highlighting discrepancies.

• What types of assets need to be managed?

Examples include IT equipment, furniture, machinery, vehicles, and shared tools, depending on the business.

• Which module group does ORIGAMI Asset belong to?

It belongs to the Work & Operations module group on the ORIGAMI platform, alongside Helpdesk, Booking, IDOC, and ARGUS.

• Do I need to use all ORIGAMI modules simultaneously?

No need. Start with the module that solves your most urgent problem first, then scale up, because every module uses the same dataset.

Assets are corporate investments, yet many organizations still manage them using spreadsheets and memory. An asset management system helps you track what you have, where it is, who holds it, and when maintenance is due. Operating on the same platform as HR, Helpdesk, Booking, and IDOC, asset data seamlessly integrates with daily workflows without the need for redundant data entry.

Want to see ORIGAMI Asset manage your team's assets? Book a DEMO or view ORIGAMI Asset details