ODEK Technologies is an information and communication technology company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Founded in 1998, it provides modern enterprises with comprehensive and customized technology infrastructure solutions. It ensures optimal solutions—tailor-made, end-to-end IT infrastructure and support services to meet unique business requirements and provide exceptional value to its customers.
Manual workflows and their limitations
We talked to Karien Greff, Managing Director, who explained the importance of accurately tracking IT assets for their business model. Any IT equipment, like desktops, laptops, and other networking devices, is promptly delivered to clients and invoiced accordingly.
ODEK’s IT department faced challenges in accurately tracking an asset’s location, extracting its custody details, or determining the whereabouts of assets moved for service by the helpdesk team. Maintaining asset schedules and updating their billing on spreadsheets was even more daunting. Karien mentioned they have a unique calculation formula to charge for IT assets, and updating this information on spreadsheets is time-consuming and prone to errors.
They also followed a manual custody transfer process in which the engineer had to print a paper form and take signatures during asset transfers or returns. After which, tickets were logged, and the asset management team would update asset custody information.
These crucial information updates were delayed, leading to a lack of visibility and outdated information. Any lost or stolen asset was challenging to find, even after hours of searching or reconciling records by managers. As a result, asset loss disrupted operations and reduced capital and profitability.
Streamlined Asset Management with AssetSonar
Leopold Mulan, a key business partner at ODEK who helped shape their business model, was searching for an asset management solution that would serve their needs. That’s when he discovered AssetSonar. With our software, ODEK has streamlined asset tracking and effortlessly updates information from any IT device, whether a phone or computer, no matter where they are. Here’s a look at how AssetSonar made a difference for them.
1. AssetSonar Agent to reconcile crucial data
The AssetSonar Agent helps ODEK keep track of all hardware and software details. The agent syncs with AssetSonar automatically and updates ODEK’s system with real-time information. For example, Karien can reconcile whether all devices have anti-malware software installed. If not, the agent helps locate those devices, and they can install the software without hassle.
Karien also discussed how they use custom fields for IT assets to ensure custody and billing details are updated. They pull up custom reports by specifying Agent as the Asset Source to get detailed information on which fields still need to be updated. She gave an example of how custody was transferred, but the client’s billing details were not updated. The report helped them track missing information and update data promptly.
With the help of an Agent, ODEK now accurately tracks IT assets, reducing asset losses and improving capital management.
2000 or more laptops are secured and managed effectively with the help of an Agent.
2. Mobile app for Quick check-in/out
Karien walked us through some key workflows for the organization’s IT team. The helpdesk team creates an onboarding ticket whenever a new client requests an IT device from ODEK. After this, the engineer requests the store manager to transfer the assets. They give the engineer custody after a quick checkout of the assets through the mobile app. The engineer sets up the assets after a quick check-in on his mobile app.
As the assets are returned, the store manager chooses a custom state, such as ‘in stock ready to be delivered. They also add the delivery-specific details on AssetSonar, including who will receive it and how. A report containing all the assets that need to be delivered that day is fetched for the delivery person. While on the move, the delivery person assigns custody of the assets to himself before handing them over to the engineer at the location. The customer then receives possession, which they confirm by signing on to the engineer’s mobile app.
Karien was pleased with how easily AssetSonar updates the customer, custody, and check-out details within the time the asset gets delivered to the customer. The asset check-in and check-out procedure has been expedited, and ODEK’s onboarding process has been optimized using a mobile app.
40 or more IT assets put out for delivery are quickly checked in or out with the help of a mobile app, increasing user productivity by ~20%.
3. Custom fields tailored to their needs
ODEK uses several custom fields to suit its billing and reporting process. Fields are populated with ticket numbers, customer names, or custody checks and are grouped according to their requirements. Here are a few examples of how they use custom fields:
Dropdown field
Karien created the customer dropdown field to better categorize and organize customer data according to their billing criteria. They saved all customer details at the time of asset transfers, making it easier to pick a specific customer from the dropdown list and track their custody details and billing history.
Multiple choice field
ODEK also uses a multiple-choice custom field to choose custom states in conjunction with the customers’ field. The state changes as the custody transfers from one person to another. Karien mentioned that the custom state would be in stock when assets are reserved for customers, and then it will change to ready to be delivered when the assets are en route to the location.
Number field
They added a ticket number field to check on its requestor and the progress.
4. Reports for informed decision-making
Reports have helped ODEK identify issues and take quick actions to streamline the asset management processes. Karien explained that they have custom master assets reports created and exported as a template. The template contains all active and retired assets, and Karien adds additional checks to rectify issues, if any. For example, an asset is transferred to the customer, but the custom state is incorrectly entered as in stock. Changing the state to the correct order has helped them bill customers on time.
They also generate monthly reports monitoring asset use against each customer. She gave an example of a customer who is supposed to have one laptop, but the report shows two. The IT team can then investigate the reason or deny access per policy. Karien also shared that they generated collection and delivery reports for the delivery person to tally the assets and deliver or collect them accordingly.
We’ve reduced a lot of losses with our assets; as you know, laptops are very, very expensive, and this impacts our capital and operational efficiencies. We’ve achieved, I would say, at least 60%.
The way forward with Assetsonar
Karien expressed her satisfaction with AssetSonar, elaborating how different functionalities help them understand asset management and smoothly track assets. She ensured that the support has been beneficial and considerate in developing their requests and making the process easier. This continuous improvement makes AssetSonar crucial to its future growth and success.
