City Looks For Cost Savings In Tracking Software

The city of Tempe, Ariz., is hoping to save money by investing in tracking software to keep tabs on its telecommunications assets.

Before installing asset-management software from iTracs Corp. six months ago, the city relied on an Excel spreadsheet developed by a retiring technician to keep track of computers, connections, and phone lines. "We had just one telephony technician who handled moves, adds, and changes," says Lawrence Faison, the city's telecommunications supervisor. But constant changes and additions to the city's telecommunications infrastructure meant a database had to be created, which Tempe is doing now. However, Faison adds that the database will have to be up and running for at least a year before the city will begin seeing any cost savings.

Faison says the tracking software will give technicians more information about the location of network connections, which, in turn, helps to expedite repairs and lower labor costs. The city also will use the software to keep an inventory of its telecommunications equipment. "We can build into the database the types of equipment plugged into a phone jack, such as type of phone, phone number, computer, IP address," Faison says. "We can pull reports that give us a breakdown of anything that's plugged into the infrastructure." Faison also sees benefits of using the technology beyond day-to-day operations. For example, he'd like to use iTracs asset-management features to keep track of the radios given to police officers from Tempe and neighboring cities during events such as the city's annual New Year's Eve Block Party and the Fiesta Bowl.

Senior Gartner analyst Patricia Adams says its common for companies to begin using asset management for a singular function, then expand use of the technology to achieve cost savings in other areas of the business. Adams adds that because more companies have cut IT budgets during the economic slowdown, "asset management will be one of the top five CIO initiatives through 2004."

Robert McCullough, a director with Hurwitz Group, agrees that more commercial and government enterprises are turning to asset management in order to save money. "Government, however, has been a classic lagger in technology adoption, and asset management is no exception."