Asset Management System Functional

Specification
Below is a crowd sourced functional specification for a typical asset management system,
with clauses listed in order of their importance, as judged by the number of site
members voting for the clause. Click here for the unranked list of capabilities.

It should be a good reference for anyone building or considering purchasing an asset

management system.

To edit, comment on, or vote for a clause, click on the first link in the clause (usually the
word ability).

An ideal asset management system should have;

 a built-in unit rates table that can be used to bulk up-date asset replacement costs,

and record how unit rates have changed over time.
 the ability to update the system software automatically via the web.
 the ability for the user to add an unlimited number of customised fields to the
database.
 the ability to bulk revalue assets using unit rates and asset condition information
stored within the system.
 an on-line manual that is updated, whenever a system update is released. The
manual should be well indexed, and include a list of updates and when they were
implemented.
 a browser based interface.
 the ability to click on any photos or documents displayed by the system and have
them open up in a web browser.
 the ability to interrogate the system database via an SQL Query and display the
results in a wiki.
 the ability to auto generate a wiki page for every asset and facility within the system,
and to populate the page with initial content based on a user defined template.
 the ability to pass variables to queries and reports via a URL in a browser.
 the ability to auto-populate a new asset with data from an existing similar asset to
reduce data entry time.
 the ability to generate a report detailing all maintenance and other works carried out
on an asset over any specified period of time.
 the ability to model the effect of changing one variable (e.g. the funding available
for renewals) on another variable (e.g. maintenance expenditure).
 the ability to associate and re-associate components to an asset, and assets to
a facility.
 the ability to record a transaction for every change made to the system database.
 the ability to record customer requests, and to program an asset inspection
and/or maintenance in response to them.
 the ability to import GPS tracking data, and use it to automatically record when a
road segment was inspected.
 an ODBC compliant database, and be able to extract and use data stored in other
ODBC databases.
 the ability to be hosted on either Council servers or in "the cloud".
 the ability to update asset condition data, with out immediately effecting the
asset's written down value / carrying amount.
 built-in default settings that allow the software to run immediately after it is installed
and data is uploaded into the system, including, but not limited to unit rates, useful
lives, asset types, depreciation rates, etc.
 the ability to record the maintenance carried out on asset components.
 the ability to import asset data from an as-constructed drawing drafted in
compliance with an appropriate data standard, (e.g. ADAC, A-SPEC).
 the ability to generate customised queries and reports.
 the ability for the user to add links to webpages or any other electronic file or
document with a known URL.
 the ability to effectively manage a wide range of asset classes
including; roads, drainage, water, sewerage, buildings, fleet, etc.
 an open data specification/schema/format.
 the ability to link to and extract data from common GIS
systems (e.g. ArcGIS and MapInfo), and to display that data in an embedded map
window.
 the ability to calculate the amount of depreciation that should be charged against
an asset over a given period of time.
 the ability to program a range of maintenance activities against an asset or
asset component.
 the ability to automatically generate renewal programs for a wide range of asset
classes.
 an asset register capable of recording a wide range of asset data, including but not
limited to the variables listed here, or their equivalent.
 the ability to dispose of an asset, including identifying the reasons and methods of
disposal, and calculating the depreciation, book value and profit or loss on sale as a
result of the disposal to accounting standards.
 the ability to calculate depreciation, accumulated depreciation, and written down
value for assets by component.
 the ability to produce a financial valuation of assets to meet accounting standards.
 the ability to permanently save all custom queries and reports, and make them
available to all users.
 the ability to record all capital treatments carried out on an asset over its lifetime
and the cost of those treatments.
 the ability to set up an unlimited number of work ticket templates for use with
different asset types.
 the ability to view all photos uploaded into the system in a photo-viewer type
application.
 the ability to roll back the system to any point in time.
 the ability to automatically schedule maintenance for the first working day after a
fixed period of time has elapsed since maintenance was last carried out.
 the ability to embed images in forms and reports.
 the ability to simply process the replacement of part of a network asset segment.
 the ability to allow users to set up custom data input forms, suitable for inputting
data via desktop computers, and mobile devices.
 the ability to search the output of a query for instances of a given text string.
 the ability to display in table format any combination and number of data fields, with
the option of sorting records by any field, singly or in combination, and in either
descending or ascending order.
 the ability to modify the default minimum data set for each defined asset type, and
to notify the user of any missing attribute information at the time of data entry.
 the ability to generate a data file containing all of the the fields specified in
the Roads Alliance Minimum Common Data Set and satisfying the rules necessary for
it to be uploaded into the Roads Alliance Hub.
 the ability to export data to a CSV file.
 the ability to export data to an Excel file.
 the ability to specify the data type for each user definable field added.
 the ability to define multiple asset hierarchies.
 the ability to display defined data hierarchies (e.g. facility -> asset -> component ->
sub-components) in navigation tree format.
 the ability to allow users to create and store queries & reports containing data about
assets of multiple types, e.g. the total value of all roads, buildings and drainage
assets at an airport.
 the ability to create custom data input screens for each asset type.
 the ability to generate barcode labels for asset IDs.
 the ability to allow an administrator to nominate if assets should be numbered using
an intelligent numbering system or a sequential numbering system.
 the ability for an administrator to specify which fields are mandatory for each asset
type.
 the ability to store & retrieve the names, addresses and other details of contractors
and other council contacts in and from a name & address register.
 the ability to send e-mail notifications to the officer(s) responsible for a given
activity.
 the ability to record different failure modes for each asset type with descriptions of
each failure mode to assist in grading.
 the ability to generate job cards that provide details of the work to be carried out on
an asset, including special notification of hazards associated with the asset.
 the ability to effectively manage spare parts.
 the ability to list all the customer requests associated with an asset, in a particular
time period.
 the ability to define a list of values that can be assigned to a given field, and for
those values to be available as a drop-down list when manually entering data into
that field.
 the ability to search and return all matching assets in the asset register by various
fields, singly or in combination.
 the ability to view the full transaction history of an asset even if the asset ID number
has changed.
 the ability for an administrator to define whether the unique asset ID is automatically
generated or manually assigned by the user.
 the ability to apply user definable business rules and controls for the creation of
assets in the asset register and for the entering of asset attribute data.
 the ability to generate a report containing the values of all the indicators required
within a National Performance Report.
 the ability to associate a list of treatments with a given defect type, and present
them as a drop down list within the system.
 the ability to estimate the time required and cost to carry out maintenance works
logged in the system, and yet to be completed.