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When spreadsheets were the most advanced software applications in the world, tracking your IT assets using a spreadsheet was the ideal method. However, times have completely changed.
With the advancement of technology, companies are adopting more modern solutions that can help them perform their day-to-day tasks more efficiently. In that regard, IT asset management software has replaced spreadsheets for asset management.
It is faster, easier, more technologically advanced, and more economical to track IT assets with asset tracking software. If you want to keep up with the rest of the business world, you need to use IT asset management.
Comparing the two - IT Asset Management Software versus Spreadsheets
Here are some useful tips when comparing using simple asset management software vs spreadsheets in your company or organization.
- Keeping spreadsheets up to date is difficult.
The most fundamental requirement for an asset tracking system to work is that the asset register is up-to-date. An outdated asset register is no different from not having one at all.
The problem with spreadsheets is that they are incredibly impossible to update. You must find each cell and manually enter updated data each time. IT asset management software, on the other hand, offers a systematic way to keep your asset register up to date. - Using spreadsheets can lead to errors.
Spreadsheets were designed to store data, not to track assets. Because there's no room in asset management for errors, whereas one can create plenty of them using spreadsheets. Every spreadsheet has a mistake, which leads to a disaster in asset management.
The reason spreadsheets are prone to so many errors is because employees update them based on what they know. Oftentimes, different employees have different information about an asset, and without a collaboration area, spreadsheets cause confusion and errors. - There's no room for automation.
With BlueTally, asset tracking is streamlined and automated. Spreadsheets are just plain old sheets that must be manually edited for every update. This is a lot of work for a person who is responsible for managing assets.
Maintaining an up-to-date record of all assets is much simpler with asset tracking software. When multiple employees have access to the asset register, responsibility is shared across the team, rather than resting solely on one person.
Pick the right tool for the job
In terms of efficiency and functionality, IT asset management software is clearly superior to spreadsheets. However, you might still be inclined to believe that free spreadsheet software is more cost-effective than an asset tracking system.
When tracking assets with spreadsheets, you'll find that you spend significantly more time and resources than you would if you used asset tracking software like BlueTally.
We've built BlueTally to help all kinds of companies and organizations manage their most important assets - both physical and digital. Learn more about BlueTally and get started with our free and simple asset management software.
