IT asset refresh cycles

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Because of the rapid pace of technological innovation, you might want to define a technology refresh cycle for IT assets. In the Assets and Item Master applications you can specify a technology refresh cycle and technology refresh dates for IT assets.

In the Item Master application, you can specify a technology refresh cycle. In the Technology Refresh section on the IT Details tab in the Assets application, you can specify technology refresh dates for IT assets.

The following process is used to define IT asset refresh cycles:

Table 1. Defining IT asset refresh cycles
Process	Example
In the Item Master application, users specify a refresh cycle for an IT item, such as a notebook or a desktop computer.	You decide that when you purchase a notebook computer, you expect to keep it for three years and then replace it with a newer model. To define a 3 year cycle for refreshing notebooks, in the Item Master application set the value in the Refresh Cycle field for the notebook item to 36 months.
In the Assets application, when users create an asset record for a notebook, a technology refresh date is calculated based on the date that the asset record is created and the value that is specified in the Item Master application for the refresh cycle. This date is displayed in the Qualified Refresh Date field on the IT Details tab.	If you create an asset record for the notebook on 11/6/09, the Qualified Refresh Date (the date on which the notebook qualifies for refresh) is automatically set to 11/6/12 because you specified a 36-month refresh cycle in the Item Master application.
If for some reason the Qualified Refresh Date that is calculated is not an appropriate date for replacement, users can specify an alternate date in the Planned Refresh Date field.	If you create an asset record for a notebook that has a Qualified Refresh Date of 11/6/12, but you want to replace that notebook after 2 years instead of the normal 3 year cycle, specify a two-year replacement date 11/6/11 in the Planned Refresh Date field.

You can use the technology refresh data to determine what assets are eligible for replacement.

To determine what IT assets are eligible for replacement, you can use the Advanced Search features in the Assets application to search for specific dates in the Qualified Refresh Date and Planned Refresh Date fields.

You can also specify the refresh status of an IT asset in the Refresh Status field. The following table describes the valid values for refresh status.

Table 2. Refresh statuses
Status	Description
New	The asset is new to the refresh cycle.
Planned	A refresh is planned for in the future.
Qualified	The asset qualifies for refresh.
Refreshed	The asset has already been refreshed.
Scheduled	The asset has been scheduled for replacement.

Values defined for refresh status, planned refresh date, and refresh remarks can be updated using the Modify Refresh Date action in the Assets application. This action can be performed only from the record list. You can modify refresh information for all assets in the list, or you can modify information for selected assets in the list.