Asset management tools are available to support individuals, small businesses, and large organizations. Most asset management tools are software or Internet-based systems. There are tools that support fixed assets, while other tools support digital assets, and some tools support multiple types of assets.
An individual might be interested in an asset management tool that allows him or her to track fixed and movable items. These tools allow the individual to maintain a home inventory of all valuable items. Individual asset management software can be purchased as a stand-alone application or as a part of an overall personal accounting package.
Small businesses might maintain many different types of business asset schedules. A small business may use software similar to that of an individual for tracking these assets. Many software programs are available to maintain each type of inventory and schedule. It may be easier for a small business to find multiple software tools to manage its assets. Generally, for smaller organizations, it is more cost effective to purchase programs that manage specific asset types rather than a software program that manages all asset types.
Large organizations such as corporations or government entities tend to purchase asset management tools that support many different asset types within the same program. The cost of a software license for such asset management tools might be spread across different parts of the organization. Using a single software program to manage all assets permits the organization to report and analyze assets either together or separately. These types of asset management tools are frequently linked to other large organization systems such as financial accounting or disaster recovery applications.
It is sometimes difficult for a large organization to include its digital asset management in the same program as the organization uses for all other asset management processes. This is due to the need to have more of a library to manage digital assets rather than a database of information. Digital assets are also more numerous than other types of assets. A system to manage these assets needs broader capabilities to tag specific assets with incremental information.
A digital asset management system may support other types of assets. Generally an individual or a small business is more likely to use this blended asset management approach. In this scenario, the individual may include his or her entire photo library in the same set of databases as his or her home inventory. A digital asset management program is likely to support tagging assets with multiple pieces of information for retrieval purposes.