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Taking control of ICT assets

Control over your company’s movable and non-movable assets.

Is your organisation battling to effectively keep account of its ICT assets? Then perhaps it is time to consider a real-time asset management solution, one that provides up-to-the-minute information relating to an asset’s location within a building, as well as an inventory of its hardware and software.

Melissa Jacobs, product manager at Powell Tronics describes the company’s latest asset management product. “The solution gives you real control over your company’s movable and non-movable assets. There is a Web interface which your cost centre controller can use to access the software management tool. Individual readers with antennas are connected via the network (cable or Wi-Fi). Each movable and non-movable asset is then assigned an RFID tag that communicates with these network readers for the purpose of signing assets in and out of your building. Should an asset not be signed out before the user exits the premises, an SMS and/or e-mail alert will be raised.”

Melissa Jacobs.

Additional features include an inventory control application. Installed on all of your computers, this application will effectively manage each device’s software and hardware inventory. Jacobs explains: “While the software inventory is managing the number of software licences, prohibited software and removed software for each user, the hardware inventory is busy scanning all hardware on the computer. In fact, it will send an alert if there are any changes to its hardware signature – including external devices such as flash drives.”

With the aim of ring fencing the solution, Powell Tronics is currently in the testing phase of its integration to the Impro access control system. This add-on module will include the functionality of not allowing users to leave the premises unless an asset has been properly signed out. The interface works in an SQL environment and should be ready for release at the end of Q2, 2012.

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