Skip to content

Changes

Page history
Update What is on a Computer Asset Card authored by sis00imb's avatar sis00imb
Hide whitespace changes
Inline Side-by-side
What-is-on-a-Computer-Asset-Card.md 0 → 100644
View page @ 70ce86fe
# What is on a Computer Asset Card
The Computer Asset card is broken down into a number of different 'fieldsets'. Data about the asset tis broken into thematic areas. One area, Operational Data, is updated using Snow and MDM data on a nightly basis to provide live information about the asset. The asset's status is determined from this data.
## Summary and Status
![Status](./pictures/cac_status.jpg)
The first part of the card give the asset's name and a summary. The summary is a collection of fields, currently set as the hostname plus the model number. Hostname is the most common way assets are referred to but assets generally only have a hostname when they are live on the network. The actual asset ID is the _serial number_. In future, in the event of serial numbers clashing, extra data may be added here to restore unqiueness, for example by suffixing the manufacturer's name. The raw serial number is also stored as a field (see General Data below) so it can be identified against external data sources.
To the right of the box an icon and a message saying the asset is operational. Please ignore this for now.
## General Data
![General Data](./pictures/cac_general.jpg)
The General Data panel is the main panel for static information about the asset. This is normally obtained when the asset is purchased, or at least when the purchase is reported to us at the start of the following month.
The fields here are as follows:
| Field | Description |
| ------ | ------ |
| Serial Number | The devices serial number as reported by BIOS. It is generally also printed on a label on the device |
| Manufacturer | The equipment's manufacturer. |
| Model | The model. |
| Description | A free text box describing the asset. There are no particular rules here but any long descriptions are best left for notes. |
| Room | This can be used to help locate an item. It is generally populated only when it is known, for example following an audit. It is worth also adding the building if this is unclear. |
| Mac Address | The wired MAC address of the device. For later devices the PKID is sometimes populated in this field. |
| Sticker Number | This is the ID given the device on our asset labels. It usually follows a year code. |
| Delivery Address | Where the equipment was originally shipped to, taken from the monthly report. Where equipment has been shipped to an individual, the address is just given as the postcode to protect personal information. |
| Notes | A free-text box to add any specific information about the device. If there is a lot of information it is likely best to put this in a document and attach it. |
| Wifi MAC Address | This is the wifi Mac address, which can also be populated directly from the MDM tool. |
| Alert Date | A generic date field used to send a reminder when that date arrives. |
| Alert Reason | The alert reason allows the alert date to be generic. Often the reason is the warranty on the device has expired. |
| Audit Date | A date when the device was audited. Specific advice will be given about auditing devices but generally this means a date when the device was last seen/handled by a member of DTS and confirmed to be present and correct. |
## History and Assignments
![History and Assignments](./pictures/cac_hisass.jpg)
This section shows if the asset is assigned to either a branch, a person or both. This denotes 'ownership' (see XXX). Assignment to either a branch or a person is independent of each other, i.e. there is no _inheritance_ of the owner's branch being applied. Put another way, the person's home branch (if they are staff) might not necessarily be the branch the asset is assigned to.Assignments can be added and removed as devices move through their lifecycle. When the device is disposed of the assignments will be maintained but archived with the card.
TOPdesk maintains a history of notable events involving the asset and also any modifications to the asset card. A notable event may be the assets inclusion in an incident, change or problem ticket but also changes in the asset details are recorded here. The history is broken into current events and also historic ones so as to not clutter the card too much. As assets are updated on a nightly basis, active cards may have a long history but events can also be filtered to make this more manageable.
The following shows the history panel in action.
![History](./pictures/cac_hist.gif)
## Operational Data
![Operational Data](./pictures/cac_ops.jpg)
This panel contains the main dynamic data, as determined from the management services (Snow and Intune). This is the only panel which *should not be edited by hand*. If it is, the new data is likely to just be overwritten at the next update, i.e. overnight.
The fields are as follows:
| Field | Description |
| ------ | ------ |
| Hostname | This is derived from Snow, or if that is not available Intune. If neither is available, for example the device is not operational, it will seek to maintain the hostname last identified. |
| Last Logged On User | This is obtained from Snow, or if that is not available Intune. It is the username of the person last logging into the device |
| Operating System | This is obtained from Snow, or if that is not available Intune. It gives the name of the operating system. Currently the version is not identifed but this may be added if needed. |
| Is Lab PC | Either yes or no. Yes indicates the device is a lab PC or used on a tech table. This is obtained by cross-referencing the hostname with Active Directory to obtain the distinguished name and from that to see if it falls into relevant OUs. It is a choice field but is just yes/no for now. Being a choice field allows for additional designations to be added in future, for example 'Tech Table'. |
| Distinguished Name | This is obtained by cross-referencing the hostname against the Active Directory and obtaining the Distinguished Name from it. It is helpful in identifying what a machine is. The actual hostname is removed from the Distinguished Name so that the field can be used to collect all hosts in a particular OU easily via filtering.|
| Intune UPN | If populated, this is the AAD UPN of the user the device is assigned to in Intune. It is an important field as it gives a strong indication of the actual owner of the device. it is *not* authoratitive however as that is left to the actual assignement in TOPdesk. There could be a number of reasons for this, for example the device is on loan to a user, or belongs to a pool of devices managed by a team leader.|
| Intune Sync | If populated, this is the date the device last syncronised with Intune. Along with Snow Scan Date it is a good indicator of whether the device is active or not. It is used to help determine the device's status.|
| Intune Enrolled | If populated, This is the date the device was enrolled into Intune.|
| Snow Scan Date | If populated, this is the date the device was last scanned by Snow. Along with Intune Sync it is a good indicator of whether the device is active or not. It is used to help determine the device's status.|
|Apparant Owner | This field makes a best guess of who the device's owner may be based on the Snow/Intune data. The Intune UPN is used if present, otherwise the Most Frequent User in Snow is used as a less authoritative estimate. The 'friendly name' is also used here, which is useful for checking any current person assignments the asset may have.|
##Financial Data
![Financial Data](./pictures/cac_findat.jpg)
This panel contains financial information about the asset.
The fields are as follows:
| Field | Description |
| ------ | ------ |
| Purchase Date | Date the asset was purchased. This is usually the Shipping Date (e.g. XMA reports). |
| Warranty Date | Date of any warranty on the asset. |
| Supplier | Who supplied the device. Usually XMA of late. |
| Cost Centre | University Cost Centre the device was purchased from. Normally derived backwards from the Order Number if purchased via Agresso. The friendly name of the Cost Centre is also given, although as there is no hierarchy, some of these names can be rather meaningless. |
| Order Number | Order number can be either University order number via Agresso or a made-up one if purchased via Purchase Card. |
| Cost | The cost of the device. |
| Device Replacement Programme | Checkbox to indicate if the device was purcased from central funds as part of the Device Replacement Programme. |
## Disposal Data
![Disposal](./pictures/cac_disposal.jpg)
This panel gives information about the disposal of the device, if this has occurred.
The fields are as follows:
| Field | Description |
| ------ | ------ |
| Disposal Method | This gives both a reference and a collection point for the disposed device. |
| Disposal Date | The date the item was processed by the disposal agent. |
## Relationships
![Relationships](./pictures/cac_relate.jpg)
The device may be related to one or more other asset in TOPdesk. These are managed in this panel.
## Documents
![Documents](./pictures/cac_docs.jpg)
Any documents related to the asset can be stored or read from this panel.
\ No newline at end of file