NinjaOne released our custom field functionality in 2021, adding a new level of flexibility, customization, and automation power to our platform. Custom fields are an advanced feature that requires setup to use, but once you start, the power and flexibility of this feature is almost limitless.
In this blog piece, we’ll walk you through a powerful use case for custom fields in NinjaOne. Refer to part one of this series for a quick overview of NinjaOne Custom Fields.
Asset Lifecycle Management
Asset lifecycle management is a critical aspect of any IT management program. While Ninja natively provides hundreds of data points on managed assets, additional information is often required due to the unique needs of each business.
Device custom fields can provide an effective method for identifying and managing the lifecycle of assets in Ninja.
Ninja will automatically identify, collect, and monitor critical IT asset information, including:
- Processors
- Memory
- Drives, volumes, and partitions
- Network adapters
- Video cards
- Chassis type
- Operating systems
- Product keys
- Serial numbers
- Software inventories
- And more
Information that is not available on the endpoint but that is critical for the management of the endpoint generally falls under the category of IT asset management. You can easily setup custom fields to track:
- Asset ownership – Who is in physical possession of this device
- Asset location and status – Is this device in use or retired? Where can I find it? What is the cost center?
- Hardware warranty status – Is this device under warranty? When will the warranty expire?
- Device mappings – Does an asset rely on another asset to function effectively?
Let’s setup a basic asset lifecycle management module using custom fields. We’ll setup several custom fields, including:
- Asset Status
- Asset Owner
- Asset Owner Email Address
- Asset Owner Phone Number
- Cost Center
Asset Status is used to define the operational status of the asset. We want these to be categorized into pre-set options. We’ll create a field with the following attributes:
- Label: Asset Status
- Name: assetStatus
- Field Type: Drop-down
- Technician: Editable
- Option Values: Will vary based on your needs
- Operational – Assigned: for end-user devices that have been assigned to a user
- Operational – Unassigned: for end-user devices that can but have not been assigned to a user
- In Repair: for devices that are in IT’s possession and actively being repaired
- Lost: for devices that are no longer in the organization’s possession
- Retired: for devices that are no longer managed
Asset Owner will be a text field to house the asset owners’ name.
- Label: Asset Owner
- Name: assetOwner
- Field Type: Text
- Technician: Editable
Asset Owner Email Address will be an email field to house the asset owners’ email address.
- Label: Owner
- Name: ownerEmail
- Field Type: Email
- Technician: Editable
Asset Owner Phone Number will be an email field to house the asset owners’ email address.
- Label: Owner Phone Number
- Name: ownerPhone
- Field Type: Phone
- Technician: Editable
Cost Center is used to identify where hardware, software, and support costs associated with a device as charged.
- Label: Cost Center
- Name: costCenter
- Field Type: Drop-down
- Technician: Editable
- Option Values: Will vary based on your needs
- Marketing
- Sales
- Finance
- Engineering
- Operations
We’ll likely want these fields across all devices, so we’ll set them up as global custom fields.
Once these fields are filled out, they’re easily searchable and reportable in Ninja.
Is this the first you're hearing about Ninja custom fields? For more on use cases of custom fields in Ninja read parts one and two of the series:
- https://www.ninjaone.com/blog/advanced-uses-for-custom-fields-in-ninjaone-pt-one/
- https://www.ninjaone.com/blog/how-to-provide-end-user-self-service-tools-with-ninjaone/
Why NinjaOne?
Tired of cycling through RMMs and being disappointed? Try out custom fields for yourself and see why NinjaOne is different. Start your free trial.
