PeopleMuster

IT asset policy template

Laptops go missing quietly. Not stolen. Just never given back, sitting in a drawer at an address nobody kept, under a serial number nobody wrote down.

For any team issuing laptops, phones or access cards. Works from about five devices upward, which is the point where memory stops being a register.

IT ASSET POLICY — [Company name]
Effective [date] · Owner: [IT lead]

1. WHAT WE ISSUE
Role-based. A typical [engineer] gets a laptop, charger, headset and an
external monitor. [List your standard bundles by role.] Anything beyond the
bundle needs [department head] approval.

2. WHO OWNS IT
The company owns every issued item, including anything bought with a company
allowance. Equipment is for work. Light personal use is fine and does not
transfer ownership.

3. THE REGISTER
Every item is recorded before it is issued, with:
  · asset code and serial number
  · make, model and specification
  · condition and health at issue
  · who holds it, and from what date
An item with no register entry is not issued. That rule has no exceptions.

4. LOOKING AFTER IT
Keep the machine updated and locked when you step away. Use a bag in transit.
Do not leave equipment visible in a car. Do not lend it to anyone outside the
company, family included.

5. SOFTWARE
Install what you need for work from [approved sources]. Licences are bought by
[IT], not expensed. No pirated software, on any machine, at any time.

6. DAMAGE, LOSS AND THEFT
Tell [IT] the same day. Accidental damage during work is the company's cost.
Theft needs a police report where one can be filed. [State your position on
loss through clear negligence, and do it before it happens, not after.]

7. REPAIRS AND REPLACEMENT
Raise a ticket with [IT]. Do not take a company machine to an outside repair
shop. Replacement cycle is roughly [3 years] for laptops, sooner if the
machine is holding you up.

8. WHEN YOU LEAVE OR CHANGE ROLE
Everything on your register entry comes back on your last working day, with
chargers and adapters. Condition is checked against the record at issue, and
both parties sign the handover form.

9. RETIRED EQUIPMENT
Wiped before it leaves the building, then [donated / recycled / resold], and
marked retired in the register on the same day.

Approved by [name, title], [date].

Before you send it

  • Clause 3 is the whole policy. Everything else assumes a register exists and is accurate at the moment of issue.
  • Decide the negligence position while nobody has lost anything. Written afterwards, any rule looks aimed at one person.
  • Record the specification, not only the model name. Knowing which laptops have sixteen gigabytes of memory is what lets you reassign one instead of buying one.
  • Keep this document away from mobile device management claims. Recording an asset is not controlling it, and no wipe or lock happens from a register.
  • Each device in the PeopleMuster register holds a device code and a serial number. It also carries a verified or not-verified state, a health grade, and a status of ready, under maintenance or retired. Who held it before is kept too.

What the asset register holds

Questions people ask about this letter

Should staff be charged for a damaged laptop?

A knock during work is usually a company cost. Charge for it and people stop reporting faults. Plain carelessness is a different question. What you may take out of someone's pay is limited in many places, so ask locally before you write a charge into a policy.

What makes a register entry trustworthy?

A serial number, and someone checking it. A model name tells you nothing. Two matching laptops in a cupboard cannot be told apart without the serial on the record.

Does an asset register mean device management?

No. A register says who holds which machine, and what condition it was in. Pushing settings or wiping a lost laptop needs other software. Do not let this policy imply otherwise.

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