ETMA Inventory Standard for Fixed Wireline, Mobile and IT
Inventory for fixed wireline, mobile and IT provide a critical foundation for all programs.
Inventory management should not be thought of as a onetime event that merely focuses on capturing information from the day a program is implemented. It is an ongoing process which requires an ongoing sustained effort to gather, reconcile and validate information. Gathering unnecessary information can add costs to a project. On the other hand, failing to gather inventory elements that are needed to manage expenses and the services that an enterprise uses, can lead to an ineffective program that delivers poor performance.
This industry standard for fixed wireline, mobile and IT inventory will help enterprises make better decisions when selecting providers, lead to better performance and increased customer satisfaction. It offers valuable information that can be used in pre-sales and after implementing a program to help clarify a critical area which impacts the bottom line for everyone.
Inventory and asset management provide a critical foundation for all IT, TEM and MMS programs. Inventory management should not be thought of as a one-time event that merely focuses on capturing information from the day a program is implemented. It is an ongoing process which requires an ongoing sustained effort to gather, reconcile and validate information. The free ETMA inventory standard for IT, Fixed Wireline, and Mobile: ETMA seeks to promote more precision regarding inventory discussions.
Before starting a project, enterprises and Solutions Providers should answer these questions:
- What inventory information will be captured?
- What are the best sources to create the inventory?
- How will it be captured?
- What interfaces and additional source feeds are necessary?
- Who will verify data accuracy, enter it into the database and manage updates?
- How often will data be refreshed?
- How often will data be validated?
Clients can use the standards in this paper to answer these questions:
- What are the critical inventory elements that need to be tracked?
- How complete is my inventory collection compared to best practices?
- What business metrics and capabilities do I need to further establish visibility and control of my inventory as well as asset management vendors?
With this paper ETMA seeks to:
1. Establish an industry standard that serves as a baseline for Solutions Providers and enterprises.
2. Identify inventory items that enterprises and Solutions Providers consider valuable to track.
3. Insure there is clarity on what will be captured.