Ghost Assets

Ghost assets are a silent but costly problem for companies managing large inventories of tech equipment. Essentially, ghost assets refer to devices that appear in inventory records but don’t seem to exist physically. They might have been lost, stolen, improperly disposed of, or they’re no longer usable. Whatever the reason, they’re not where they should be.

Because they’re still listed on paper ghost assets can distort data and lead to confusion. One common problem is where IT teams count on having devices ready for remote onboarding that don’t actually exist, or they can’t locate. You might think you have enough laptops in stock, for example, only to discover they vanished months ago.

This kind of issue typically stems from poor record-keeping, lack of consistent tracking, or outdated systems that don’t sync well with reality. The fact is that it often comes from using legacy systems or spreadsheets to track assets rather than modern IT asset management software. Some of which is available for free.

To prevent ghost assets from haunting your operations (pun intended), companies should regularly audit their inventory, validate physical assets against digital records, and use automated IT asset tracking tools that give real-time visibility.

Having a reliable IT asset management platform helps reduce these problems significantly. That’s why Dots offers free IT asset management software. No matter how big your company is, how many people work there, or how many countries you operate in.

If you’re interested to find out how Dots can help with your IT asset tracking, book a free demo today.