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ASSET MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE TIPS |
| > Hints and tips for asset management software |
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Asset management is defined as a systematic process of operating, maintaining, and upgrading physical assets cost-effectively. It combines engineering and mathematical analyses with sound business practice and economic theory. Asset management systems are goal-driven and, like the traditional planning process, include components for data collection, strategy evaluation, program selection, and feedback. The asset management model explicitly addresses integration of decisions made across all program areas. Its purpose is simple -- to maximize benefits of a transportation program to its customers and users, based on well-defined goals and within available resources.
Identification/Development Of Policies And Management Prescriptions Regardless of whether a consultant is retained, the first step in the process of preparing an asset management plan is to identify and evaluate the effectiveness of the basic management policies which have guided the agency in the past.
Asset management is a structured and systematic approach to managing your fixed assets on an ongoing basis. This approach addresses all phases of an asset's life cycle, from pre-acquisition through retirement.
Effectively tracking these assets means knowing what you own, where it's located, where you bought it, for how much and who has it. The primary objective of asset management is reducing the total cost of ownership and maximizing the significant investment in these assets.
Successful asset management systems incorporate policies, functional products, and operational procedures and resources to achieve this objective. Asset management by its very nature is cross-functional, impacting various work groups within Information Systems and also other departments such as Finance.
At some agencies, these policies may be clearly articulated as written statements or guidelines, often contained inboard/commission statements or in agency operations manuals. Conversely, other agencies may not have codified some or all of their operating policies in writing. Instead, the policies may be part of an undocumented, yet very real "corporate philosophy" developed over time and passed verbally from employee to employee. Policies, too, maybe directed to management of a specific type of resource, or general to all resources. Regardless of which form the policies take, it is important for the core team and/or its consultants to identify and analyse these management tenants to determine if they are valid approaches meriting continued adherence. In instances when formal asset management policies do not exist, or existing ones are found to be inadequate, the core team must develop the requisite new management prescriptions. To do this, the core team and/or its consultants must develop a number of basic assumptions concerning the environments in which the agency will operate in the future. Once developed, these assumptions will serve as the basis for the development of recommended management policies.
Typically, the assumptions are of two types: internal and external. Internal assumptions relate to the historical and projected future operating environment of the agency. These assumptions are developed by answering questions such as:*What is the extent and nature of the resource base managed by the agency? Is this likely to change in the future?*Is the goal of the governing board or commission to increase the overall value of the agency's holdings?*What has been the past position of the agency's governing board toward land trades, sales, and acquisitions? Is this stance likely to continue?*What are the basic legal and other directives governing the agency's actions? Are changes foreseen which could alter this "operating environment?"*Should the agency promote development of its holdings? Further, should it participate financially in supporting such ventures?*Are there minimum target rates of return that the agency should expect from developments on its holdings? External assumptions concern factors not under the control of the agency or its board/commission, but which have, and will likely impact the agency. Among the questions which lead to generating these assumptions are:*What has been, and will likely be population growth in the state? Will this growth occur primarily in areas where an agency manages assets?*What have the prices been for products produced from land managed by the agency? What is the likely future trend in these prices?*Are new land use regulatory laws likely to impact the use of assets managed by the agency? What might these changes do to impact agency land management activities?
Once the core team has developed a set of assumptions based on the answers to these and other similar questions, it can begin to develop the policies that will serve as the general, and resource-specific management prescriptions supporting the asset management plan. However, before proceeding to the policy development stage, it is important that these tenants be reviewed and approved by the agency's governing board/commission. As a further check, the assumptions should also be discussed with the stakeholders team to ensure "buy-off" of these policy-supporting premises. Evaluation And Classification of the Asset Base The second major component of an asset management plan is the land classification system. Development of this system and the assignment to it of parcels or resources managed by the agency may either be relatively easy, or entail a considerable amount of work depending on the amount and quality of information an agency has about each of its holdings.
Needless to say, it may be difficult, if not impossible, to develop either an asset management plan or land classification system without a good understanding of the asset base. Although an agency may have a detailed legal description of every parcel it manages readily available, a good likelihood exists that few, if any, agency staff could locate a number of the parcels on the ground, much less provide a description of their physical attributes. This is particularly true if the parcels occur in remote, rural or undeveloped areas without roads or other readily usable benchmarks. As a consequence, it is highly possible that very little descriptive information may exist "in-house" about of a number of the parcels managed by an agency. Therefore, a key step in the conduct of an asset management plan is to develop a good database concerning the nature and financial performance of the parcels under the agency's management if one is not already available. To develop such a database is not easy. Among the desired information concerning each property would be:*Size in acres.*Degree of state ownership (in fee or split estate).*Past and present use(s); possible other uses.*Revenue generation history.*Unique attributes such as the presence of threatened and endangered species or historic and cultural resources.*Proximity to urbanized areas and infrastructure (roads, power, water, natural gas, etc.).*Approximate value (assessed, appraised, other). With this information, a land classification system can be developed, and the various holdings can be aggregated for the purposes of classification into broad categories thereby facilitating greater analysis
Plan Acceptance, Adoption And Implementation A key component in the development of an asset management plan is keeping the agency's governing board/commission, agency staff, stakeholders, and general public involved in its development. Unless these groups are kept informed of the progress being made on the plan, and periodically asked their opinions at critical junctures in the development process, they will not feel any linkage to, and consequently will not "buy into" to the product.
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