According to the ServiceNow Hardware Asset Management documentation, an asset is defined as "any tangible, physical company technology asset, including those currently in use, those in storage, and support equipment"1. Throughout the life of an asset, the following data are tracked2:
Financial data: This includes the cost, depreciation, and value of the asset, as well as the budget and expenses related to the asset. Financial data helps to optimize the return on investment (ROI) and total cost of ownership (TCO) of the asset.
Contractual data: This includes the terms and conditions, warranties, service level agreements (SLAs), and renewals of the contracts associated with the asset. Contractual data helps to manage the vendor relationships and compliance obligations of the asset.
Lifecycle data: This includes the status, location, ownership, and history of the asset, as well as the events and actions that occur during the asset lifecycle. Lifecycle data helps to monitor the performance and utilization of the asset and plan for its retirement or replacement.
The other options, configuration data and hardware data, are not tracked throughout the life of an asset, but rather at specific stages or levels. Configuration data is the information about the technical attributes and relationships of the asset, which is stored in the configuration management database (CMDB) and managed by the configuration management process3. Hardware data is the information about the physical characteristics and specifications of the asset, such as manufacturer, model, serial number, and barcode4. References:
ServiceNow Hardware Asset Management: Hardware Asset Management overview
ServiceNow Hardware Asset Management: What is the IT Asset Lifecycle?
ServiceNow Hardware Asset Management: Asset and CI management
ServiceNow Hardware Asset Management: Hardware Normalization
