Getting started with Asset Management

Quick tour

Asset Console is the primary interface for performing all tasks in BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management. You can watch the following video for a quick tour of Asset Console:

Watch the YouTube Video for a quick tour of the Asset console

Asset lifecycle

By using the Service Asset Lifecycle value path, you can manage service assets from initial procurement to retirement, as shown in the following illustration:

The following table describes the several stages in an asset lifecycle:

Basic concepts

As an asset administrator, you can manage the lifecycle of any configuration item (CI) in the BMC Configuration Management Database (CMDB). You can populate asset data from multiple sources, such as BMC Helix Discovery and data integration tools, by manually receiving assets through the Receiving module or the Smart it mobile app, creating the asset records, or through external data sources. BMC Helix CMDB normalization and reconciliation procedures ensure that asset data is not duplicated in the database.

The following image depicts a high level flow of data in your asset management process:

Data providers, such as discovery applications, put data into BMC Helix CMDB, where it is partitioned into separate datasets. This data is then brought together into a consolidated production dataset that you use as the single, reliable source of reference for your IT environment. Consuming applications, such as BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management, BMC Service Level Management, applications represented in Business Service Management, and more, use the data in the production dataset. 

Federated data

Federated data is data stored outside BMC Helix CMDB but linked to configuration items (CIs), so that it is accessible through BMC Helix CMDB. A few examples of information that can be federated are invoices, purchase orders, and printer maintenance records. By federating non-essential data, you can improve the efficiency of CMDB and make maintenance easier. To learn more about federated data, see Learning about federated data.

Federated data enables the BMC Helix CMDB and asset management tools to work closely. BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management supplements CI records in the BMC Helix CMDB with federated data about asset lifecycle management data and functionality. You can build your organization's asset data on the foundation of a completely reconciled and normalized production dataset of CI information, even when multiple data sources (like Discovery tools, or manual addition of records) are involved.

Datasets in configuration management

A dataset is a collection of CI information for a specific data source. BMC Helix CMDB and BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management provide a control mechanism that appear in the form of CMDB datasets. Separating the data into different datasets (sandbox and production datasets) based on the source of that data provides governance of the data that is available in the production dataset. By default,  BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management is configured to use a sandbox dataset (BMC.ASSET.SANDBOX). This effectively causes BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management to read from the Production Dataset (BMC.ASSET) and write to the Asset Management Sandbox.

Reconciliation Engine in datasets

The Reconciliation Engine determines which modified attributes should be modified in the production data. When a user modifies data, the data flows through the sandbox dataset, and then through the Reconciliation Engine. An administrator defines what sources of updates have the most appropriate (trusted) information to load into the production dataset. The administrator can also decide to disable the sandbox dataset.

Learning about asset management

BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management provides the primary interface to manage, track, and monitor the assets of your company.

You can perform the following functions by using the BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management interface:

• Receiving assets via mobile clients,
• Creating assets
• Modifying assets
• Querying asset CI data
• Managing inventory

Learn more