Executive Summary
Managing assets across 25+ countries, DMG Events struggled with inconsistent data, limited visibility, and manual processes that slowed down IT operations and led to inefficient procurement decisions. By implementing AssetSonar, the team built a reliable system of record, improving asset accuracy from 60% to 95%, increasing visibility by 60%, and saving over 300 minutes each month through automation. Today, asset operations at DMG Events are structured, automated, and driven by real-time data.
Overview
DMG Events operates globally, managing exhibitions in around 30 countries and employing approximately 750–800 people across the EMEA. With a highly dynamic workforce and technology assets constantly moving between locations, maintaining accurate and reliable asset data has become increasingly complex.
For Mohammed Fayiz, Cloud & Infrastructure Lead at DMG Events, this wasn’t just a tooling issue; it was an operational challenge. Asset data directly influenced procurement decisions, employee productivity, and overall IT efficiency. The need was clear: move from fragmented tracking to a system they could trust.
The challenge: When asset data can’t be trusted
Before AssetSonar, asset management at DMG Events relied heavily on SharePoint lists and spreadsheet-based tracking. While these systems captured data, they lacked consistency, automation, and real-time validation. Over time, discrepancies accumulated between recorded assets and actual devices in use.
The organization’s dynamic environment amplified the problem. Devices were frequently reassigned, employees joined and left in cycles, and updates were often missed. Assets remained incorrectly marked as checked out, location data was inconsistent, and there was no reliable way to validate inventory across regions.
For a business built around exhibitions and live events, this created more than an IT tracking issue. Devices often had to move quickly between venues, offices, temporary event sites, and regional teams. When asset records were inaccurate, IT could not always tell which laptops, tablets, scanners, or peripherals were available, where they were located, or whether they were ready to be redeployed for the next event.
That lack of accuracy directly impacted operational speed. Instead of quickly preparing equipment for upcoming exhibitions, IT teams first had to verify what existed, who had it, and whether it could be reassigned. In a fast-paced events environment, every delay in asset validation risked slowing down event readiness, procurement planning, and support for teams on the ground.
As a result, IT teams were forced to spend time reconciling data instead of acting on it, delaying operational decisions and creating inefficiencies across procurement and lifecycle management.
This resulted in a deeper operational issue: IT teams could not confidently rely on their own data.
As Mohammed Fayiz explains:
“Now we have a proper source of truth in terms of assets. If we compare with the data from 3 to 6 months before, it’s a huge difference.”
Before this transformation, accuracy hovered around 60%, making reporting unreliable and decision-making reactive. Leadership lacked a clear view of inventory, which often led to over-ordering devices and inefficient allocation.
The approach: Building a system of IT execution
Rather than simply replacing spreadsheets with another tool, DMG Events implemented a structured adoption plan to improve IT asset operations.
Step 1: Clean and validate asset data
The first step was data validation and instance sanitization. By comparing Microsoft Intune data with AssetSonar records, the team identified outdated and duplicate entries. Cleaning this data created a reliable foundation, critical for ensuring that any automation or reporting moving forward would be accurate.
This step ensured that automation would operate on verified data, preventing the system from scaling inaccuracies.
Step 2: Connect discovery to real-world asset structure
Next, the focus shifted to device discovery and organization. Integration with Microsoft Intune enabled continuous synchronization, while deploying AssetSonar agents provided deeper visibility into endpoints. Assets were then organized into logical groups, locations, and regions to align the system with real-world operations.
This improved not just visibility but also the quality of reporting, allowing leadership to make decisions based on structured, contextualized data rather than raw records.
Step 3: Automate custody and movement tracking
Finally, the team implemented best practices for custody and automation. Asset assignment became dynamic, based on user activity, while location data was automatically mapped from Azure. Check-in and check-out workflows were automated, eliminating reliance on manual updates and reducing inconsistencies.
By connecting asset data to real user activity and system events, asset records remained continuously accurate without requiring manual intervention.
Step 4: Centralize software contracts and renewal planning
Alongside hardware improvements, DMG Events strengthened its software asset management practices. Licenses and contracts were centralized, renewal tracking was enabled, and alerts were configured to provide advanced visibility into upcoming software renewals. This gave the team the visibility to move from last-minute renewals to proactive subscription planning, reducing renewal risk and supporting more informed vendor decisions.
The impact: From uncertainty to control
The most immediate impact was a dramatic improvement in data accuracy. Asset records improved from approximately 60% accuracy to 95%, giving the team a reliable system of record for the first time.
This shift eliminated the need for constant data validation, allowing IT teams to trust their inventory and act on it with confidence.
This accuracy unlocked a second layer of impact: visibility. With centralized dashboards, management could now understand asset distribution across regions, track allocation versus stock, and monitor lifecycle status in real time.
As Fayiz highlights:
“Management is very comfortable now seeing the dashboard. They can easily identify each region, how many devices there are, and what’s in stock.”
Automation further transformed day-to-day operations. Manual tasks, such as assigning devices, updating records, and managing check-in/check-out, are now handled automatically.
Previously, each onboarding or offboarding required manual updates across systems. With automation in place, these workflows now run in the background without intervention.
For every onboarding or offboarding event, the IT team saves 5 to 10 minutes. With approximately 30 such events each month, this saves over 300 minutes.
More importantly, the nature of work changed. Instead of maintaining data, the team could now focus on executing higher-value tasks.
“We don’t need to do anything manually now. Almost everything is automated.”
Improved visibility also led to better procurement and lifecycle decisions. With accurate data and integrated warranty tracking, the team now knows exactly which devices need replacement and when.
This eliminated guesswork from procurement and ensured that capital is allocated based on actual need rather than assumptions.
This eliminated unnecessary purchases and improved cost control.
“Now we know exactly how many devices we need to order and how many need to be replaced. We’re not spending too much anymore.”
On the software side, proactive renewal alerts allowed the team to evaluate contracts in advance, explore alternatives, and optimize licensing decisions.
This improved both cost control and compliance, as the team could avoid unnecessary renewals and identify better-fit solutions in advance.
For DMG Events, this also supported event readiness. Running global networking events and exhibitions depends on having the right tools, systems, and software available when teams move into execution mode. Better renewal planning helped reduce the risk of expired subscriptions or rushed decisions disrupting event operations.
This resulted in an estimated 5–10% improvement in software cost efficiency, driven by better planning rather than reactive renewals.
The transformation: From tracking to asset operations
What changed at DMG Events was not just the system they used, but the way IT asset management operated across the business.
Previously, ITAM was reactive, manual, and fragmented. Teams had to question the data before they could act on it. Asset records needed to be checked, cleaned, and reconciled before they could support procurement, allocation, renewals, or event readiness.
With AssetSonar, DMG Events built a cleaner, more reliable foundation for asset operations. Data accuracy and hygiene became part of the system, supported by integrations, automated updates, dynamic assignments, location mapping, and structured workflows.
That accuracy changed how IT worked. Instead of chasing records, teams could make faster decisions about which devices were available, where assets were located, who had custody, and what needed to be procured, reassigned, renewed, or retired.
For a business running global networking events and exhibitions, this reliability matters. Event execution depends on technology being available, traceable, and ready when teams need it. AssetSonar helped DMG Events move from simply tracking assets to running IT operations with greater speed, control, and confidence.
Outcome
With a structured hardware and software asset management adoption strategy, DMG Events has established a scalable, mature asset management framework. The organization now operates with accurate and reliable asset data, improved global visibility into IT operations, and automated workflows that reduce grunt work for its IT teams.
IT teams now spend less time maintaining systems and more time optimizing them, shifting their role from operational support to strategic enablement.
Software licenses and renewals are proactively managed, enabling better cost control and compliance.
DMG Events now operates with a trusted system of record that supports every asset-related decision, from procurement to lifecycle planning.
Most importantly, asset management has transitioned from a backend tracking function into a strategic capability, one that directly supports operational efficiency and business performance.
