What's the best practice regarding a CI creation, for an asset procured and created "In Stock"?

[Smith Johnson]

Hello experts,

I would like your expertise and input in the following topic for the import of assets an CIs.

If e.g., a laptop is procured and marked as "In Stock" (i.e., create asset record with "In Stock" state), then maybe it does not make sense to create a CI, because the device is not yet operational. In other words, either a CI should NOT be created, or it should be marked as non-operational. Otherwise, it will be available, for example, when creating a new incident.

What's the best practice in this case when a new asset is procured and set "In Stock"? Should we abort the creation of the CI, or create it and set it as non-operational?

Regards,
Smith.

[Deepak Shaerma]

Hi @Smith Johnson 
Good Question, Please check with the best practises in ITAM to handle Asset and CI`s. I recommended 

1. Understand the Difference between CI and Asset:
- Asset: Primarily, an asset refers to a financial entity. An asset undergoes depreciation, can be in stock, assigned to a user, or even disposed of. It’s about tracking the lifecycle from a financial and physical standpoint.
- CI (Configuration Item): A CI represents an item that is or will be under the control of Configuration Management. CIs are crucial for managing the IT infrastructure, especially in terms of how changes to these items affect services and operations.

2. Handling New Procurements:
- For a new procurement marked as “In Stock,” it indeed does not immediately make sense to have it listed as an operational CI since it’s not yet part of the active IT infrastructure or affecting any services.

3. Recommendations:
- Do Not Automatically Create a CI: When an asset is procured and marked as “In Stock,” you could refrain from automatically creating a CI record for it. Instead, focus on managing it within your asset management processes until it’s ready to be deployed.
- Create CI When Deployed: Once the asset is set to be deployed and becomes part of your active environment (e.g., assigned to a user, configured for a particular purpose), you can then create a CI for it. This CI could have relationships defined showing its impact on services and other CIs.
- Set CI Status Appropriately: If your process or policy requires a CI to be created for in-stock items (for auditing, planning, or other purposes), ensure that the CI is marked with an appropriate status that clearly indicates it is not operational. This could be a status like “Non-Operational,” “In Stock,” or similar. This way, it will not be erroneously included in operational considerations, like incident management or change impact analysis.

Note: Please Mark this Helpful and Accepted Solution. If this Helps you to understand. This will help both the community and me..
- Keep Learning ‌‌
Thanks & Regards 
Deepak Sharma