The folks over at Asset Panda have put together a nifty little graphic that defines five asset tracking hacks. They are as follows:
1. Kill the Spreadsheet – Stop wasting time with spreadsheets that are not shared or mobile.
2. Ditch Expensive Hardware – Most small businesses already have smart phones or tablets in hand. Therefore, there is really no need to purchase expensive hardware unless one scans a lot.
3. Backup To the Cloud – Make sure your asset tracking is on the cloud, accessible to everyone and backed up.
4. Mobile Apps – Make sure your asset tracking software has mobile apps so you can use your smart phone and/or tablet.
5. Integration Is Important – Check to see if your asset tracking software integrates with your accounting software and any other tools such as email.
There you have it – and here are these same hacks visually.
I really like how Google Forms can feed results directly into a Google spreadsheet. Great solution for data entry that doesn’t require you to be using a spreadsheet on a mobile device (screen is still too small in my opinion).
Aira Bongco
Agree. In fact, the most effective hardware can often be downloaded for free. I also agree with the importance of integration. This will make it easy to have data accessible anytime, anywhere. Technology is amazing but only if you can maximize its use for your benefit.
Agree with all of these (some more than others!). For asset tracking, small businesses know they need to track their assets, the know the risk in losing assets, and they know the time it takes to answer simple questions like “how many laptops do we need to order?”. They need something as easy to use and maintain as possible because for them to switch from their (most likely manual) process is going to take some convincing. An asset tracking solution for a small business has to be simple, secure and cover all the bases for asset tracking (so they don’t need to buy another solution to do something else).