Data capture and tracking systems specialist Wasp Barcode Technologies announced the release of AssetCloud, a cloud and subscription-based software that helps organizations track, maintain and collect data on the materials they own.
Customer-requested attributes built into AssetCloud include customizable data fields and reports, a simplified check-in/checkout process and ability to recover previously disposed assets.
“Platforms that are easier to use have better adaptability,” Brad Vinson, Wasp Barcode product marketing manager, told eWEEK. “There’s a lot of high-tech strategizing and complex programming that goes into a platform, but if the user doesn’t easily understand how it all works, he’s not going to use it. Fancy bells and whistles and high-tech accolades don’t mean a thing if the user can’t use them.”
AssetCloud also offers the ability to create customized reports and a library of commonly used asset management reports, set scheduled audit times and receive status updates on audit completion.
“We did a lot of research to first learn what users wanted in the software, and we also studied how they used asset tracking platforms in general long before we started developing AssetCloud,” Vinson said. “Once we had this information, we invested thousands of hours into the UX design and testing alone. It’s little things that make the biggest difference—icon placement, colors, clean designs, responsiveness and smooth operation on multiple platforms.”
Enhanced security provides users access to specific data and software applications based on their role in the organization, with the ability to specify individual sites that are associated with a funding source.
“Businesses need analytics—you’ve got to have good data in order to make good business decisions. Opinions, hunches and gut feelings don’t cut it anymore,” Vinson said. “The analytics available through asset management software helps businesses make good decisions that save valuable time and money. For example, you can see how assets are being used, track their uptime and downtime, predict when items need to be replaced and more. This prevents you from wasting money over purchasing items you don’t need.”
A free 30-day trial of AssetCloud is available, and the software can be purchased directly from the site. Pricing varies based on subscription duration, desired features, plan option and number of users.
“Asset management practices and tools have evolved as technology has evolved,” Vinson said. “Years ago, people had to rely on Excel or some other spreadsheet to track their assets, but they never had real-time data and ran a pretty high risk of data entry errors. We then had barcodes, scanners and asset management software hit the scene, which made things significantly easier and more accurate.”
Vinson sees asset management tying into the Internet of Things (IoT) in the future so objects can collect and exchange data on their own.
“We will see systems that can predict asset maintenance, automatically order replacements, monitor the conditions in which assets are stored, and more,” he said. “It will be ultimate in user-friendliness.”