Computing
Canada
February 2, 1998
HELPING LITTLE FIRMS WATCH THEIR
CORPORATE ASSETS
When software developer Nicholas Francis got
tired of popping tops off computers and searching
around the basement for parts, it was time to get
organized. "When need a few different
platforms around to test and write our software
in different environments. "Every time we
wanted to find something we had to walk around
with a screwdriver," said Francis, president
of Computer Servicenters Canada Ltd. in Toronto,
Ont.
Recognizing that he was probably not alone in his
frustration, and that keeping track of assets has
far-reaching benefits beyond mere organization,
he searched the market for a product that would
help a small company track its assets simply an
inexpensively.
He found nothing.
"Right now there isn't anything out there
that's just meant to do asset tracking," he
said, adding that most products are part of
complex financial management systems that cost
thousands of dollars. "A lot of people
aren't doing asset tracking because they have
pictures of spending $50,000 and putting five
people on the project." So he wrote an
asset-tracking program, Asset Minder Pro, and
created a company called PC Imageware Corp.
Launched in July 1997, the company has since
secured 12 Canadian value-added re-sellers and
plans to enter the U.S. market this year. The
plug-and-play tool retails for $399 and runs
under Windows 95 and NT workstations, requiring
12 MB RAM and 15 MB hard disk space. It is
designed to track everything from purchases to
service calls, loans and returns, and eventually
asset disposal. It integrates Internet
connectivity, document imaging, a
location-centric database (included) and bar
coding capability. "Now we just query very
quickly to see what we've got and where it
is," Francis said. Ever since Stanford,
Conn.-based Gartner Group Inc. announced in 1996
that a networked PC costs $11,900 (U.S.) per node
for hardware, software, support, administration
and operations, the need for tracking has become
very apparent.
Gartner estimated that a saving of 26 percent
could be achieved with proper deployment,
support, platform standardization, "best of
bread" selections and asset management
procedures. "Best of bread" could
account for a 15 percent saving all by itself.
Gartner later said 89 per cent of people surveyed
were willing to fund enterprise asset inventory
projects with the right justification, or were
actively looking for new tools.
In the health care field, where the concept has
been embraced, assets often include people, from
employees to clients. In the computer world, with
so much portable equipment in use, the system
allows assets to be checked in and out with an
optional bar code scanner. It also helps track
assets that go missing through forgetfulness or
theft. Companies may also want to take stock of
their assets before the millennium change,
ensuring that their asset tracking/management
systems are year 2000-compatible, Francis said.
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