Creating and updating assets in Smart IT

Any Smart IT user with minimum access permissions can update certain pieces of asset data such as the asset owner, location, and site. Such users can also add an image to the asset, add an outage, and relate the asset to tickets and people. If you have Asset Admin permissions, you can create new assets and update all information and attributes for existing assets. If you have Asset User permissions, you can modify an asset only if the asset is related to your support group. Your administrator (or any person with Asset Admin permissions) can relate the asset to your support group.

Before you begin

Before you create assets, ensure that:

• Your administrator has set up sandbox and production datasets. For more information, see Configuring BMC Asset Management settings.
• Your administrator has configured the reconciliation method for assets. For information about asset reconciliation options, see Configuring the reconciliation method for assets.

To create assets

When you first create an asset, you must specify the type (such as Computer System) and subtype (such as Printer). Some of the information you specify about each of your assets depends on the type and subtype. For example, you can specify a hostname for a printer, but not for a software asset. You can only add an image and specify an owner for an existing asset, so the Owner field and the option to add an image do not appear while you are creating a new asset.

If you do not specify the company to which the asset belongs, the asset is assigned to the default company. (The default company is configured in the AST:AppSettings form, which is accessed from the Custom Configuration tab in the Application Administration Console in the BMC Remedy ITSM mid-tier UI.) If you do not have access to the default company, you will not be able to view and access the created asset.

Depending on whether your system is configured with a sandbox dataset, the asset creation process varies:

• If your system is configured with a sandbox dataset, assets that you create or modify flow through the sandbox dataset. You can choose to wait until the data has been reconciled (in other words, after the Reconciliation Engine runs and moves it into the production dataset), or move on to the next asset. New assets and asset updates in the sandbox dataset do not appear in Smart IT. You can view them by using the BMC Remedy ITSM mid-tier client.
• If your system does not have a sandbox dataset, asset data goes directly into the production dataset and is visible in Smart IT.

The following examples show how to create and update two types of assets. The procedures are similar for all asset types.

Example 1: Creating a new asset in the production dataset

Allen has ordered a new computer system and he wants to add it as a new asset in the system. 

1. Allen logs in to the Smart IT universal client with Asset Admin permissions and chooses Create New > Asset from the menu.
2. He specifies Computer System for both the Type and Subtype and clicks Continue.

3. He enters information in the required fields, Name and Description. 

   Best practice

   When creating an asset name, follow a consistent naming convention. According to IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) guidelines, identifiers should be short but meaningful, and for hardware, not based on supplier device names. For example, the name might include an indicator of the item's function followed by a numeric code, such as MONITOR100.

4. After Allen specifies the Company, he can also specify the categorization and cost center. These fields depend upon the company and only become enabled after a company is selected.

5. For the Status, Allen chooses Ordered.
6. Allen decides to enter more information about the asset at a later time, and saves the asset.

Example 2: Updating an asset in the sandbox dataset from a mobile device

Bob is a field agent working on a ticket for a malfunctioning projector in a conference room.

1. From his phone, Bob logs in to Smart IT and scans the barcode on the back of the projector.
   The asset profile for the projector opens.
2. He notices that there's no image associated with the asset, so he carefully compares the manufacturer, model, and serial number on the projector with the information in the asset profile to make sure it is the same.
3. Bob adds some trailing zeros to the serial number in the asset profile, so it matches the number that he found printed on the projector.
4. To save time for other field agents in the future, he snaps a picture of the projector with his phone, and adds the image to the asset profile.
5. When he saves the profile, a message appears indicating that his changes must be reconciled. 

To update the primary contact

When editing the asset profile, you can specify the role of the primary contact of the asset, and then enter the person’s name. The primary contact can have one of the role specified in the Role list such as Managed by, Used by, Owned by, and so on. Irrespective of the role specified in Smart IT, in BMC Remedy ITSM, the person related with the asset is indicated as the primary contact of the asset.

Note that the roles specified in the People tab of the asset are secondary in nature, and are specified for further reference.

This section also provides information about the asset location. In the Asset Site - Region > Asset Site - Site Group > Asset Site fields you can specify the asset location. These are dependent and out-of-the-box fields. Based on the company you have specified, options under these site location fields are displayed.

1. Open an existing asset profile from the Asset Console, or by clicking or tapping the asset name in a ticket, people profile, or asset profile.
2. Open the primary contact section for editing:
   1. • (Universal client) Click the pencil icon.
      • (Android devices) Tap the menu (three dots symbol), and then tap Edit.
      • (iOS devices) Tap Actions, and then tap Edit.

3. Update the primary contact, and then click or tap Save.

To add or change the asset image

To add or change the asset image, open an existing asset profile, click or tap the Pencil icon at the top left of the asset name, and then navigate to the location of the image file.

To search for CIs that are in Delete status

You can search for CIs that are in Delete status from assets. On the Asset Console, to filter CIs in Delete status, select the Delete check box from the Status list.

To relate the asset to a person, company, or group

You can add a relationship to a person, organization, department, or support group directly from the People tab of an asset profile.

1. Click + Person.

2. From the panel that slides into view, make a selection from the People Type menu. You can add only one people type at a time:

   If you select Person...	a. In the Search field, type a person's name and press or tap Enter. b. Select the person from the search results list.
   If you select Company...	Select from the list of available companies.
   If you select Organization, Department, or Support Group...	a. Ensure that the information in the Company field is correct. b. From the list, select the organization, department, or support group.

3. From the Role menu at the bottom of the panel, select a role.

4. Click Add People.

To specify an outage for an asset

From the asset profile:

1. From the asset profile, open the Outages tab.

2. Specify the unavailability (outage) type, status, and description.

3. Specify the outage start and end dates.

4. Save.

From a change request:

1. From Related Items for the change request, create a related outage.

   A list of assets related to the change request is shown. You can filter the list as needed.

2. Select assets to which you want to apply the outage.

3. Specify the outage type, status, description, start date, and end date.

4. Save.

To scan asset codes to a field in the asset profile

The asset barcode or QR Code can be scanned to populate one or more of the following fields in the asset profile:

• Tag Number
• Asset ID
• Serial Number

After you save the asset record, the barcode or QR Code becomes associated with the asset. The next time a field agent scans this asset barcode or QR Code, the associated record will be displayed. For more details about the features related to scanning assets, see Scanning assets in Smart IT using mobile devices.

To scan a code to a field in the asset profile:

1. On the asset profile, tap the  icon for the field that you want to populate with the asset code.
2. Using a mobile device camera, scan the asset tag.
   The barcode or QR Code value is populated in the selected field.
3. Save the asset.