Questions About Fit and Functionality
1. Which Asset Types and Industries Is Your Software Built For?
Asset management covers very different things. Buildings, production equipment, laptops, vehicles and infrastructure each need different data and workflows.
Ask which asset types most of the vendor’s customers manage, and which sectors they work in. A good answer names specific asset types and customer types. A weak answer is “we can handle any asset”.
2. How Does Your Software Manage the Full Asset Lifecycle?
You want one record for each asset from purchase to disposal. Ask the vendor to show how the software handles each stage:
- Purchase and registration
- Assignment to a person, site or department
- Maintenance and repairs
- Transfers between locations
- Retirement, disposal or sale
3. Which Tagging and Tracking Methods Do You Support?
Tagging is how assets get from your building into the software. Ask which methods the vendor supports, such as barcodes, QR codes, RFID (radio frequency identification), GPS or Bluetooth tags.
Follow up with:
- Do you supply the tags, or do we buy them separately?
- Does the mobile app scan tags on standard smartphones, or do we need dedicated scanners?
- Does the app work offline in basements, warehouses or remote sites?
4. Do You Include Maintenance Management, or Will We Need a Separate CMMS?
Some asset management tools include preventive maintenance scheduling and work orders. Others track assets but leave maintenance to a CMMS (computerised maintenance management system).
Ask exactly which maintenance features are included, and whether they cost extra. If you need both systems, ask how they share asset data.
5. How Does Your Software Support Audits and Compliance?
Regular physical asset verification confirms that what’s in your register matches what’s on site. Ask the vendor to show how an audit works in the software, from scanning assets to reconciling missing items.
Also ask:
- Does the software keep a full audit trail of changes to each asset?
- Can it send reminders for statutory inspections, such as LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations) checks or portable appliance testing (PAT)?
- Do you offer an audit service if we don’t have the staff to run one ourselves?
6. How Does Your Software Handle Asset Depreciation?
If your finance team relies on the asset register, depreciation matters. Ask which methods the software supports, such as straight-line or reducing balance, and whether it produces a fixed asset register your accountants can use.
7. Which Reports and Dashboards Come as Standard?
Ask to see the standard reports, and check they cover what you need, such as:
- Asset location and custody
- Utilisation
- Maintenance history and cost per asset
- Depreciation and asset value
Also ask how easy it is to build a custom report without help from the vendor.
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Questions About Data, Integrations and Security
8. How Will You Migrate Our Existing Asset Register?
Ask how the vendor imports that data and who does the work. Useful follow-ups:
- Can we bulk import from a spreadsheet, and is there a template?
- Will you help clean up duplicate or incomplete records?
- Can the software handle parent and child assets, such as a building and the equipment inside it?
- Can we add custom fields for the data we already track?
9. Which Systems Does Your Software Integrate With?
Common integrations for asset management include:
- ERP (enterprise resource planning) and accounting software, for depreciation and purchasing
- ITSM (IT service management) and network discovery tools, for IT assets
- Telematics, for vehicles and mobile equipment
- IoT (internet of things) sensors, for condition monitoring
Ask whether each integration is built in, requires a partner or needs custom work through an API (application programming interface). Custom work usually means extra cost.
10. Where Is Our Data Hosted and How Is It Protected?
Asset data can include locations, serial numbers and staff details. Ask where the data is stored, and whether it stays in the UK or EU if GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) applies to you.
Ask for evidence rather than assurances. That includes security certifications such as ISO 27001 or SOC 2, how often data is backed up and how quickly it can be restored.
11. Who Owns Our Data, and How Do We Get It Back if We Leave?
Ask whether you can export your full asset register, history and documents in a standard format at any time.
Check whether exporting costs extra and how long the vendor keeps your data after the contract ends. A confident vendor answers this without hesitation.
Questions About Cost
12. How Is Your Software Priced?
Asset management software is priced in several ways, and the model affects what you pay as you grow. Ask which of these the vendor uses:
- Per asset
- Per user
- Per site
- Tiered plan
13. What Costs Sit Outside the Licence Fee?
Ask the vendor to list every cost that isn’t in the subscription, including:
- Implementation and setup
- Data migration
- Tags, scanners or other hardware
- Training
- Integrations and API access
- Premium support
14. How Will the Price Change as We Grow?
Your asset count, user numbers and sites are likely to change over the contract. Ask what happens to the price when each one grows, and whether price rises at renewal are capped.
Also ask about the contract itself: the minimum term, the notice period and whether you can reduce licences if you need to.
Questions About Implementation, Training and Support
15. What Does Implementation Involve, and How Long Does It Take?
Ask the vendor to walk you through a typical implementation for an organisation of your size. A clear answer covers:
- The main steps and a realistic timeline
- Who does the work on their side and who you need to provide
- How long tagging your assets is likely to take
- What “go-live” means, and what support you get in the first weeks
16. Can We Run a Trial or Pilot With Our Own Assets?
A demo uses the vendor’s sample data. A trial or pilot shows you how the software handles your assets, your sites and your team.
Ask whether a free trial or paid pilot is available, how long it lasts and whether the data you enter carries over if you buy.
17. What Training Is Included?
Asset data is only reliable if the people scanning and updating it know what they’re doing. Ask what training comes as standard for administrators and for field users.
Check the format (online, on site or self-service guides), whether training for new starters is included later and what it costs.
18. What Support Do You Offer, and How Quickly Do You Respond?
You find out how good a vendor’s support is when something goes wrong. Ask:
- How big is your support team, and where is it based?
- Which hours do you cover, and does that match our working hours?
- What are your response and resolution times for urgent issues?
- Will we have a named account manager?
19. What Uptime Do You Guarantee?
If the software is down, your team can’t check assets in or out or run an audit. Ask what uptime the vendor commits to in writing, how planned maintenance is scheduled and what compensation applies if they miss the target.
Questions About the Vendor
20. How Do You Test Your Software?
This question is usually best answered by a product manager. Ask how the vendor tests for usability and quality before each release.
A good answer mentions internal user testing, beta testing with customers and external testing. It should also explain how the vendor protects data integrity and security during updates.
21. How Do You Decide Which Features to Build Next?
You want to know that customer feedback shapes the product. Ideally, feedback goes from customers to the vendor’s support and implementation teams, and from there to product development.
Ask to see the product roadmap for the next 12 months, and how customers can request features. The answer should be clear and specific, not vague.
22. How Is Your Company Growing?
Growth shows whether other buyers trust the vendor, and whether the vendor is investing to keep up. Ask:
- How many new customers did you sign last year?
- How many people did you hire, and in which teams?
- How big is your development team?
You’re looking for growth that’s matched by new people in development and support. Fast customer growth without new hires can leave a vendor overstretched.
23. Who Is Your Ideal Customer?
A vendor that knows its market answers this quickly and specifically. Compare the answer with the case studies and testimonials on its website. If you don’t look like the ideal customer, ask how the vendor supports organisations like yours.
24. Can We Speak to a Customer Like Us?
Ask for a reference with similar assets, a similar number of sites and a similar team size. Then ask that customer how implementation went, how support responds and what they’d do differently.