Within InfraLink, an Asset represents material property that may be purchased, stored, moved, installed, or otherwise used, repaired or disposed. This article discusses the following topics related to Asset records.

Assets and System Elements

 It is important to distinguish between an Asset and a System Element. System Elements represent the functional decomposition of the System, typically reflected in the System design (e.g., single-line drawings, logical diagrams), and each System Element has a specific function and Location. On the other hand, Assets are the physical components that are installed against (i.e., associated with) the System Element. An Asset typically has a manufacturer, model, and serial number.

The following chart illustrates some differences between the characteristics of System Elements and Assets:

Asset Categories

InfraLink separates Assets into two principal categories: Trackable and Consumable.

Trackable Assets

Trackable Assets are serialized items, which typically have a higher cost and are often repairable and re-deployable. Each Trackable Asset is uniquely identified using a manufacturer-assigned serial number and/or an owner-assigned Asset Tag (i.e., barcode).  Trackable Asset Example: Sony SNCCH240 High Definition camera for general purpose

Consumable Assets

Consumable Assets are items that cannot be identified or tracked individually. Consumable Assets typically have a lower cost and are not usually repaired. Consumable Assets are not typically assigned Serial Numbers or Asset Tags.  Instead, Consumable Assets are tracked by lot or quantity.  Consumable Asset Example: Pack of 15 Generic 20’ power cords, USA 3-pin plug NEMA 5-15P to IEC C13 connectors.

Asset Attributes

Beyond an Asset being categorized as either a Trackable Asset or a Consumable Asset, InfraLink maintains pertinent Asset attributes ranging from physical attributes to configuration properties (e.g., MAC address) to functional attributes. Below, we discuss the Asset attributes supported by InfraLink, including Identification, Contract, Location, Type, Status and Condition, as well as unlimited Custom Field attributes.

Identification Attributes

The ability to establish and maintain unique identification of Trackable Assets is critically important to satisfy by configuration management and compliance requirements. InfraLink supports several identification attributes for each Asset, including the Manufacturer, Model, Serial Number, Owner and Asset Tag.

• Manufacturer – InfraLink allows Users to maintain a list of Manufacturers. When a new Asset is entered into InfraLink, the User must select a Manufacturer. Note: Once a Manufacturer is selected, Model options are filtered accordingly. (i.e., a User can only select a Model associated with that Manufacturer.)
• Model – Model is a required Asset attribute, and InfraLink maintains a catalog of known Models from each Manufacturer. The Model selection may assign specific values (e.g., dimensions, resolution, etc.) for some or all of the Asset’s Custom Field attributes. Note: For more information, see the Custom Fields section below.
• Serial Number – Serial Number is an Optional Asset attribute. The same serial number may be used by two different Manufacturers for different products. Thus, the Serial Number alone cannot be an Asset’s unique identifier.
• Owner – The Owner of an Asset may be used to identify Government-/Owner-furnished Assets versus contractor-furnished Assets.
• Asset Tag – Asset Tag is an optional Asset attribute. The Asset Tag is Owner-assigned and physically displayed on the Asset as a barcode label.

Taking into account operational limitations, sometimes all identification details are not readily available for an Asset. To ensure unique identification of Assets and Asset data integrity, InfraLink enforces the following business rules:

• Asset Tag and Serial Number are optional attributes.
• The Manufacturer + Model + Serial Number combination must be unique. (i.e., two Assets of the same Manufacturer and Model must have different Serial Numbers. However, if the Manufacturer or Model are not assigned for an Asset, this rule is not enforced.)
• The Owner + Asset Tag combination must be unique. (i.e., any two Assets that belong to the same Owner must be assigned different Asset Tags.)

Type

The Instance Administrator defines and configures Asset Types, which enable InfraLink to manage the nomenclature and inventory of Assets purchased, stored, shipped, installed and maintained throughout a project lifecycle. The Asset Type, a required Asset attribute, defines a collection of similar Assets that, in some cases, may be used interchangeably. The Administrator determines how narrow or broad the Asset Type definitions are during configuration. Typically, an Asset Type represents a group of Assets that:

• Can be used to perform the same or substantially similar functions; and
• Have the same configuration parameters (e.g. length, weight, current rating, screen resolution, indoor-outdoor rating, etc.)

When defining the Asset Types in InfraLink, the Administrator will also define the Custom Field attributes that will apply for each Asset Type. (For more information, see the Custom Fields section below.)

Location

InfraLink maintains two Location databases:

• Installation/Service Locations
• Storage/Warehouse Locations

Similar to the Installation/Service Locations tracked as part of the System configuration database, InfraLink provides the capability to define and maintain the hierarchy of Storage/Warehouse Locations. The Administrator will define the hierarchy of the stored Warehouse/Storage Locations to:

• Organize inventory Locations at the level required by the project. This can range from the area, building, and room down to the individual shelf, bin, and position.
• Enforce warehouse structure integrity by applying Location hierarchy rules
• Associate warehouses with one or multiple Contracts to effectively manage Asset inventory in a multi-project and/or multi-contractor environment.

In general, a Location must be specified for each Trackable Asset, and this should be the Asset’s current or last known Location. An Asset’s assigned Location may be an Installation/Service Location or a Storage/Warehouse Location depending on whether or not the Asset is deployed. Trackable Assets often change Location as they are deployed and then later moved back into inventory. 

InfraLink enforces certain rules to maintain the integrity of Asset Location information:

• A spare not checked out by a User must have a Storage/Warehouse Location.
• A spare checked out by a User may or may not have a Location.  The Location, if specified, is not required to be identified as a warehouse.  For example, a User may check out an Asset to perform testing in a lab.
• A deployed Asset inherits the Installation/Service Location of the System Element it is associated with.
• An Asset which has been disposed, sent out for repair (RMA), or returned to the vendor will not have a Location.

Contract

Assets may be associated with, thus available to, one or multiple Contracts in InfraLink. InfraLink enforces restrictions on Contract-Asset associations:

• In order to create an Asset not associated with a Contract, the User must have a global permission to create Asset.
• In order to create an Asset associated with one or multiple Contracts, the User must have permissions to create Asset under each of the Contracts or the global permission to create Assets and access to the selected Contract(s).
• If an Asset is associated with a System Element the Asset inherits the Contract association from the System Element.

The Contract association(s) controls Users’ visibility and access to the Asset based on User Permissions.

Status

Assets have a workflow with a set of fixed statuses. The Asset Status is driven by the Asset Lifecycle parameters.  (See Asset Lifecycle section.)

Condition

The condition of an Asset is tracked in accordance with the Government standard defined by Federal Acquisition Regulation 45.606-5. An asset may be in one of the following key conditions:

• New - the Asset is new (as received from the manufacturer)
• Functional - an uninstalled Asset that has been tested and confirmed operational
• Broken (i.e., not functional) – a  new or uninstalled Asset that is not operational
• Unknown - the condition of the Asset is not known

Custom Fields

Asset Custom Fields are defined globally at the Instance level by the Administrator. Asset Custom Fields support a wide range of data types (e.g., text, numeric, date/time, file upload, etc.) and may include both optional and required data fields. Required data fields are always denoted with an asterisk (*).  The Administrator may use Custom Field validation rules and default values, and Custom Fields may also have custom behaviors (e.g., hidden, read-only, optional, required) based on the Asset Status. 

For Trackable Assets, Custom Fields can be assigned at the Type or Model levels.  However, when a new Asset is entered into InfraLink, editing is permitted only within the Custom Fields set at the Type level.

• Custom Fields configured at the Type level will apply to all Assets within that Type. For example, an Asset Type “IP Camera” has a Custom Field for “MAC Address”. Each IP Camera entered into InfraLink
• as an Asset will have a unique MAC address. That information will be entered into the designated Custom Field when each IP Camera Asset is created and tracked at the individual Asset level.  
• Custom Fields configured at the Model level will have values that are shared across all Assets of that same Model. For example, if the custom fields "Diagonal Dimension" and "Max Resolution" are associated with the "Computer Monitor" Asset Type, and the particular Model, “Dell "E2316H" has those Custom Fields defined as “23 in" and “1920 x 1080”, respectively, all Assets of that Model will inherit those defined values.  

Note: The values specified at the Asset Model level will not be copied to the individual Asset records. However, they will be displayed as read-only (unless hidden) on all Asset views, including grids, details, and create/edit forms, and they are available as filtering criteria.

For Consumable Assets, Custom Fields can only be configured at the Model level. This is because the Model of a Consumable Asset fully defines that Asset. There is no distinction between items or batches of a Consumable Asset.