Cloud Asset Management: Everything You Need To Know

In the last decade, most businesses have shifted to the cloud to efficiently scale their products and service offerings. As these businesses grow and scale-up in size, the use of the shared pool of computing resources on the cloud significantly increases. Now, there are a few laws which businesses need to consider during the adoption of the cloud. It is crucial for these businesses to understand the effect of these laws and adopt a risk-prone approach to comply. This is where cloud audits and compliance becomes critical for a business.?

Compliance mandates and audit checks are hard for engineering teams as they have to manually prepare a list of resources across all cloud services. It takes a chunk of their time and effort due to the requirement of clean and accurate information.?

Incidentally, the transformation of asset management has evolved in the last decade. What began as a basic pen and paper ledger or spreadsheets are now converted into cloud-based asset management software. Cloud asset management softwares enables businesses with robust abilities from asset tagging and mobile application to enhanced reporting capabilities.?

In this article, we are going to take a look at what cloud asset management is along with the below mentioned points:

• What is an asset cloud?
• What is cloud asset management?
• What is the importance of Cloud Asset Management?
• When to use a professional cloud asset management software?
• Is cloud asset management best for your business?

What is an Asset Cloud?

An asset cloud is a centralized digital storage center that runs on the internet. A majority of organisations today either use cloud software or cloud solutions to keep a close track on their business assets ( for instance, company equipment).

Although asset records can be stored on internal company hard drives and servers, cloud asset storage services leverage a remote server. By doing so, a business’ asset records can be accessed from anywhere using the internet and it is essential during these times when remote work is a norm. Asset clouds assist you to reduce costly internal infrastructure, improve business functionality, and offer a dedicated asset history.?

After COVID-19 induced lockdown and restrictions, an asset cloud has helped improve the productivity of employees. As digital assets are available anywhere in the world, your team can easily log into any business app and get their job done. It may look like a security concern to some, but most cloud solutions come with robust security features that offer admins the full access control and management.?

What is Cloud Asset Management?

A business’s ability to tap in an asset cloud to retrieve their digital assets is a great thing. Though, as with physical or digital asset storage solutions, proper management is required to take care of security and functional requirements. This is where cloud asset management comes in handy.

Cloud asset management is the process using which an organisation’s cloud infrastructure and application data can be controlled and managed in the cloud. Most businesses use a number of cloud-based apps for storage and management of digital assets. With the help of cloud-based asset sources, cloud asset management allows you to organise assets to avoid security issues.

Integrating the use of cloud asset management practices offers the right visibility and control on the digital assets stored in the company cloud. Optimising a business’ asset cloud enables users to instantly access business data when required and offer a method to efficiently monitor internal assets and handle data security.?

What is the importance of Cloud Asset Management?

Whether it is physical assets or digital business data, asset management is an integral part of any business. Firstly, asset management is important for complete visibility and control over business assets. By understanding the in and outs of asset inventory, you can efficiently streamline business operations and enable multiple users to access data anywhere and anytime.?

Moreover, it is easy to misplace business assets without efficient management, risking data to fall into the wrong hands. Digital assets that find their way into the wrong hands can give rise to expensive customer mishaps and security issues that can definitely hamper business operations or let cybercriminals in your front door.?

Without a deep understanding of where the current assets are located, how they are used, or any kind of usage history, a business has the risk of overspending in the lookout of lost or obsolete assets. The capability to monitor assets for inactivity or depreciation can help eliminate unnecessary dedicated expenses, along with replacements or upgrades to maintain productivity.?

When should your business opt for a Cloud Asset Management software?

To get the maximum advantages out of cloud asset management, you will need a solution that is tailored to meet your business requirements. So, you can either choose to build your own asset management in spreadsheets or go with a cloud asset management software. The option you choose will depend on your business requirements and your organisation size.?

Here, we will look at the advantages and disadvantages of both.

Advantages and Disadvantages of building your own system

The easiest solution is to create a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. It is important to note that these programs are built for a single manager as these interfaces are not meant for a multi-user management approach.?

Some of the advantages include:

• Pricing –?Spreadsheets built in Microsoft Excel or Google are the cheaper alternatives than a dedicated cloud asset management software.?
• Limited Data –?This system is best suited for smaller businesses that do not have a long list of assets to manage.
• Physical Assets –??Spreadsheets are best for physical assets and not for cloud-based assets which often come with different attachments.
• Flexible Organisation –?Improved organisation from changeable categories and tag identifiers enable adjustable organisation.?

But, building your own asset management system can have a few disadvantages like:

• Limited Users –?Spreadsheets are used by one or two users and are not often meant for multiple users.
• Lack of Integrations –?It is expensive to build a mobile application to scan the barcodes and QR-codes that link to your business assets.
• Time-Consuming –?Due to lack of automation, manual input can be time-consuming and monotonous for bulky data.
• High Error Percentage –?Consistent manual data entry significantly increases the changes of data input errors and critical asset details.
• Few Resources –?Due to the inability to attack asset data like pictures, maintenance records, and SOPs means you lose out on crucial business asset details.?

On the other hand, there are advantages and disadvantages of using cloud asset management. If the features of a manual asset management are not fit for your business, you will be happy to know that there are various cloud based asset management softwares to choose from.

We believe cloud asset management software is the best bet for larger businesses where the possibility of having a large number of physical and digital assets is significantly higher than startups.?

Software enhances the visibility in each digital asset and its respective data. By doing so, your business can be right on top of depreciation, app updates, warranty expirations and much more. Moreover, there are special security features including dedicated servers and data encryption.?

Advantages of Cloud Asset Management:

• Centralized Data –?Cloud-based software centralizes the data in a single location for ease of search and organisation.
• Improved Accessibility –?Cloud solutions enable multiple users and remote access.
• Attachments –?Software improves asset efficiency by enabling users to attach important asset data like pictures, SOPs and more.
• Reduced Time and Effort –?Software automation allows you to reduce time-consuming management processes and maintain data accuracy.
• Mobile Apps –?Mobile applications are important to scan barcodes and QR-codes on asset tags.?

Though cloud asset management solutions are really helpful, there are a few disadvantages that you can lookout for.

Disadvantages of Cloud Asset Management:

• Expensive –?Cloud asset management is expensive if you have a small team and limited number of assets to look after.
• Internet Dependency –?Cloud access needs an internet connection and assets are not available if internet connection is unstable or lost.
• Processes –?Irrespective of automation, businesses must remain in control of how they establish processes like tagging inventory for assets.
• Required Training –?It can be overwhelming to reach total business efficiency without availability of proper training.

Conclusion: Is cloud asset management the right choice for your business?

As you have read above, trying to figure out the right asset management approach for your business can be a tricky part. If you are a business with limited digital and physical assets, an in-house method may be sufficient. For larger organisations looking for a highly effective solution with management capabilities, cloud asset management software may be the best pick for you. If you have any questions, you can write to us at?[email protected]?