College campuses face a set of challenges that are truly unique compared to other institutions. Tasks like maintenance, document planning, and package tracking become more extensive and complicated within a campus setting. Chief among those tasks is the undertaking of asset management. Universities, especially those serving thousands of students, are tracking an enormous number of assets each day. Our goal? To streamline your entire asset management process with modern software. Here, we tell you everything you need to know when looking for and implementing asset management software and how you can maximize results with the right solution. 

What Does University Asset Management Include?

Asset management encompasses a variety of tasks unique to every school. Generally speaking, asset management encompasses the systems developed for operating, maintaining, upgrading, and disposing of assets within and across your campus. It does not just include identifying where an asset is at a given time but creating touchpoints for every step of the asset lifecycle with each asset, whether that be 300 or 300,000. For universities, this can include the following: 

• Tangible assets such as buildings, laboratories, residence halls, sports facilities, libraries, and other physical structures on your campus
• Equipment, either general, such as computers and office equipment, to specialty equipment for labs, arts, and engineering
•  Campus vehicles, including buses, maintenance trucks, delivery vehicles, and more

Asset management also includes the processes of asset tracking, inventory management, lifecycle management, and disposal. Additionally, university asset managers are often responsible for taking part in sustainability initiatives, monitoring compliance, and identifying cost-reduction opportunities for their teams. Imagine doing all this by hand or with five different software platforms. Pretty challenging, right?

What to Look for in Your Asset Management Software

Each school faces its own set of challenges, unique workflows, and desires for facilities management. But, one thing that always remains is the need for a comprehensive, user-friendly software solution. If your team has been discussing implementing or switching software, here is what we recommend looking for: 

Preventative Maintenance Management

Reactive maintenance is one of the largest costs for universities, leading to equipment downtime, constant asset replacement, and an endless cycle of payments. Asset management solutions with preventative maintenance at the forefront use business intelligence tools to identify where an asset is in its lifecycle, when preventative maintenance should be done and automates tasks for employees to complete as needed. 

Real-Time Tracking

Now this is a game-changer. How many times have you been somewhere on campus needing to track asset inventory, but you lose service or WiFi disconnects? Suddenly, the past few hours of work were for nothing, and you’re left frustrated. Asset management solutions with real-time tracking, like Intra, work anywhere on your campus, anytime. When there’s no service, no worries – we automatically save your progress to show up when you’re back online. 

Compliance & Audit Resources

One of the most frustrating yet most important parts of asset management – is compliance. Inventory tracking is a must for universities, especially departments working with hazardous materials like laboratories or research centers. You can streamline asset checks, schedule consistent audits, and harness data and important documents for any compliance checks. 

Platform Over Point Solution

One of the most frustrating things in facilities management is switching between five different software solutions, entering the same data over and over again, or using software for one specific task and nothing else. Opting for a platform that encompasses solutions for other related FM tasks like package tracking, campus services, and central receiving streamlines data and eliminates repetitive tasks. 

Meet Your Complete Asset Solution – Intra

Do all of these benefits above sound like something you’re looking for? Good, because they are all built into our asset management software, Intra. Intra is a complete facilities software solution, specifically designed for higher education. Ready to learn more and schedule a demo? Contact us today to schedule a demo, or send us an email at [email protected] with your questions.