What is the difference between Catalog Item and Hardware Asset Classes?

Anne-Claire_Hodgkins

What is the difference between the classes and how would you go about using them. For example would a Network Device Switch be best tracked as a Hardware Asset or a Catalog Item - if it's being monitored and wanting to track renewals and warranties on it. 

Adam_Dzyacky

The difference here is the idea of the cookie cutter vs. the cookie itself.

Catalog Item = the cookie cutter/general shape of something in your environment
Hardware Asset = the cookie/an instance of one of those Catalog Items

So to your specific example, you would have one Catalog Item like "Cisco Catalyst Switch 2960x" but you would have one or many Hardware Assets of that in your environment. This then easily lets you answer the question "How many Cisco 2960s are in the environment?" but also track the individual instance of each switch as Hardware Assets let you do things like Custodian, Purchase Orders, Asset Depreciation, etc.

Adam_Dzyacky

The difference here is the idea of the cookie cutter vs. the cookie itself.

Catalog Item = the cookie cutter/general shape of something in your environment
Hardware Asset = the cookie/an instance of one of those Catalog Items

So to your specific example, you would have one Catalog Item like "Cisco Catalyst Switch 2960x" but you would have one or many Hardware Assets of that in your environment. This then easily lets you answer the question "How many Cisco 2960s are in the environment?" but also track the individual instance of each switch as Hardware Assets let you do things like Custodian, Purchase Orders, Asset Depreciation, etc.