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Analysing Discovered Data

xAssets IT Asset Management User Guide
Asset Inventory

Analysing Discovered Data

After discovery completes and data is loaded into the database, the Asset Inventory Dashboard provides charts and queries to help you understand what was found. This page explains how to use those tools to analyse your discovered estate and identify areas that need attention.

Prerequisites

  • At least one discovery run has completed and data has been loaded into the database.
  • You are logged in with a profile that has access to the Asset Inventory Dashboard.

Dashboard Charts

The Assets by Category chart on the Asset Inventory Dashboard is the best starting point. It shows the total count of assets broken down by category -- for example, PC - Desktop, PC - Laptop, Servers - Windows, Monitors, and Network devices:

TODO Screenshot: ClickMenu "Asset Inventory Dashboard" | Pause 2000 | PrintScreen "itam-asset-inventory-analysing-discovered-data"

The other charts on the dashboard (Assets by Department, Assets by Location, Assets by Manufacturer and Model) let you view the same data from different angles. Together, these charts answer the most common inventory questions: what do we have, where is it, and who makes it?

Expanding a Chart

Click the full screen icon (the expand icon in the top-right corner of any chart) to open it in a larger view. In full screen mode, a category tree appears on the left showing every asset category in the system:

Chart expanded to full screen with category tree on the left

From this view you can:

  1. Click a chart segment to filter the results to that category only.
  2. Click an item in the category tree on the left to jump directly to a specific asset type.
  3. Click "All Items in Query" at the top of the tree to return to the unfiltered view.
  4. Use the paging controls at the bottom to navigate through large result sets, or click View All Records to see everything at once.

Inventory Queries

For more targeted analysis, click the Inventory Queries tab at the top of the dashboard. This provides a library of pre-built queries organised into three groups:

  • Classification -- Assets by Category, Location, Department, Cost Centre, Status, Custodian, Supplier, and Company.
  • Hardware -- Assets by Manufacturer and Model, CPU Speed, Memory, Disk Size, Disk Space, Domain Name, IP Subnet, Cloud Assets, and Firewall Rule.
  • Software and Health -- Computers by Operating System, Patch level, Installed Software, Assigned Software License, and Assets by Health Issue.

Click any query name to run it. The results appear in the main area as a sortable, filterable table. From the results you can click individual asset links to open the Edit Asset dialog for further investigation.

See Hardware Analysis by Attribute for detailed descriptions of each hardware query.

Post-Discovery Checklist

After a new discovery run, work through these checks to ensure your data is complete and accurate:

Check Why It Matters
Review "Unrecognised Discovered Devices" Catches anything that could not be automatically classified. These may need manual categorisation.
Compare asset counts against expectations If you expected 500 desktops but only see 300, some machines may be offline, firewalled, or in a subnet that was not scanned.
Check the "Assets with Health Issues" KPI tile Highlights assets that need immediate attention (e.g., low disk space, outdated OS).
Review "Warranty Expiring 90 days" Identifies assets approaching warranty expiry that may need renewal or replacement.
Check software compliance The Software Compliance KPI gives a quick indication of licensing gaps.

Tips for Effective Analysis

  • Start broad, then narrow down. Use the dashboard charts first to spot patterns, then switch to Inventory Queries for specific questions.
  • Check "Unrecognised Discovered Devices." After a new discovery run, this category catches anything that could not be automatically classified. Review these to ensure nothing important is missed.
  • Use the KPI tiles. The "Assets with Health Issues" and "Warranty Expiring 90 days" tiles highlight assets that need immediate attention.
  • Export for offline analysis. For complex analysis or reporting to management, export query results to Excel using the View and Export link.
  • Compare over time. Run the same queries after each discovery to track trends (e.g., growing number of assets in a location, declining disk space).