Administrator's Guide: Asset Configuration

In this section, we will provide you with a detailed overview of how the Assets & Inventory Plugin for Jira Cloud's database is structured, including its key components and their functions.

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Assets

At the heart of the AIP database are assets themselves.

These unique and individual items can be anything from laptops, servers, and equipment to contracts, vehicles, or licenses. In asset management, assets are typically tracked and managed throughout their lifecycle, from acquisition to disposal. The goal is to optimize the use of assets, minimize costs, and reduce the risks associated with asset ownership.

The AIP database allows you to link assets to Jira issues, providing vital context for issue management.

Asset attributes

Asset attributes are properties or characteristics that are associated with an asset. Each asset type has its own set of attributes that are used to describe the asset. For example, a laptop asset type might have attributes such as the model, manufacturer, and serial number.

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Attributes screen.

Asset attributes can be used to track the status of an asset (such as whether it is in use or has been retired) and to provide additional information about the asset (such as its location or condition).

Asset types

Asset types are another critical component of the AIP database. You can group similar assets together under a particular asset type, which acts as a container for the assets.

AIP comes with asset types including Employee, Supplier, Laptop, License, and Server but you can create any other asset type you require.

Asset types can be customized to your needs by defining specific attributes and properties for different types of assets, which makes it easier to manage them. For example, an asset type for laptops might include attributes such as model, manufacturer, serial number, and warranty information.

Asset types can also be used to define relationships between different types of assets. For instance, a server asset type might be linked to a business service asset type to show the relationship between the two.

Asset type collections

An asset type collection is a set of asset types that are managed as a group. Creating multiple asset type collections is useful for various reasons, such as auditing data, maintaining accuracy, and restricting access permissions. Data can be grouped into logical asset collections based on usage and who's updating it, so you can easily use different asset collections for one use case and link assets together.

You can keep sensitive data together, like employee information, in one collection with restricted access, for example. You can also create an asset type collection for IT assets, which includes asset types for laptops, servers, and software licenses. Another asset type collection might be created for facility assets, which include asset types for buildings, equipment, and vehicles.

To group data into logical asset collections in AIP, consider how the data will be used and who will update the data. This way, you can easily use multiple asset collections for one use case and create links between assets in different asset collections.