Assets

The Assets module is your organization’s governed inventory of the things you are accountable for: equipment, devices, systems, applications, vehicles, instruments, medical devices, anything where it matters that you have a clear record of what exists, who has custody, what condition it’s in, and when it was last reviewed.

This module is the inventory and readiness layer, distinct from your operational systems that may track the same assets for different purposes (the CMDB, the procurement system, the fixed-asset register). Governance asset records exist to attach to controls, risks, evidence, and assessments — to anchor the governance program in real things.

When you would reach for this

You set up assets when:

• A framework or regulator requires an inventory of the assets in scope.
• Custody of an asset needs to be governed (who is accountable, when it changed hands, with audit trail).
• Asset readiness needs to be assessed (operational condition, security posture, calibration status, certification state).
• Assets need to be tied to the scope of a control, an obligation, or an assessment.
• Decommissioning needs an audit-grade record (when, by whom, with what disposal authorization).

You don’t reach for this when running the operational system that controls the asset day-to-day (CMDB, MES, EHR, etc.). Assets here is the governance projection of inventory; the operational systems remain authoritative for runtime detail.

What lives in assets

Three record types:

Asset record is one item in the inventory. It carries:

• A display name and a stable key.
• An asset kind (free text describing what kind of asset this is).
• A source kind (where the asset record originated: imported from a CMDB, manually entered, derived from a procurement record, etc.).
• A classification snapshot (sensitivity, criticality, regulatory class).
• A custodian (the responsible party).
• A commissioning date and a decommissioning date.
• A status walking through planned, active, under-maintenance, decommissioned, etc.

Custody assignment records who or what has custody of the asset at a point in time. Custody is not the same as ownership: an asset can be owned by the organization but in the custody of a contractor for a maintenance period. Each assignment carries:

• The asset.
• The subject (the party, member, department, or other holder).
• An assignment kind (primary, temporary, loan, contractor-custody, etc.; free text).
• A start date and (when known) an end date.

Readiness assessment captures the asset’s current condition against a defined readiness state. It carries:

• The asset.
• The readiness state (ready, degraded, under-maintenance, non-operational, etc.).
• The assessment kind (operational, security, calibration, certification).
• An assessment snapshot with the structured detail.
• An assessor and a performed date.

A worked example: an aviation maintenance organization governs its tool and component register

An aviation maintenance organization (MRO) services commercial aircraft on behalf of multiple airline customers. Its asset inventory includes thousands of items: specialized tools, calibrated test equipment, lifting equipment, removed components awaiting repair, ground support equipment, and certified rigs. Each asset has regulatory implications: calibration intervals, traceability requirements, custody chains, return-to-service records. The compliance manager, Rashid, sets up Assets like this.

Step 1: define asset kinds. Rashid catalogues the asset kinds that matter for governance:

• calibrated-tool — torque wrenches, dial indicators, leak testers; each with a calibration interval.
• test-equipment — pressure rigs, hydraulic test sets; complex equipment with multiple calibration points.
• lifting-equipment — jacks, slings, hoists; under load-test regimes.
• removed-component — components removed from aircraft, in the repair workflow.
• ground-support — tugs, GPUs, ground power; large items with operational checks.
• consumable-traceable — fasteners and consumables that require lot traceability.

Each kind has different readiness criteria, custody patterns, and lifecycle expectations.

Step 2: ingest the inventory. Rashid configures imports from the MRO’s CMMS (computerized maintenance management system). New asset records flow in with source kind cmms-import. Manual entries (for items not in the CMMS) come in with source kind manual.

Step 3: custody assignments. Each asset has a custody assignment. For tools, custody is typically the technician or the toolbox. For removed components, custody changes as the part moves through repair stages: from the airframe, to receiving, to inspection, to repair, to certification, back to the airframe (or to stores). Each handoff is a new custody assignment, with the prior one closed.

Step 4: readiness assessments. Each asset has periodic readiness assessments per its kind:

• Calibrated tools: assessment at every calibration interval (typically annually). Readiness state moves from ready to under-calibration to ready after recalibration.
• Test equipment: assessment at calibration plus operational check at scheduled intervals.
• Lifting equipment: assessment at load-test intervals.
• Removed components: assessment at receiving (visual + dimensional inspection) and at certification (return-to-service).

Step 5: link to governance. Through Scope, assets are tied to the relevant facility nodes. Through Controls, the controls that apply to asset management (tool-control, calibration discipline, custody chain) reference the asset population. Through Evidence, readiness assessment results are evidence claims supporting compliance with calibration controls.

Step 6: decommissioning. When an asset is retired (a tool past its useful life, a component scrapped, ground equipment sold), the decommissioning is governed:

• An end-of-life custody assignment to the disposing party.
• A final readiness assessment with state non-operational and rationale.
• A decommissioned status on the asset record with the decommissioning timestamp.
• Linked disposal authorization from Retention if retention rules apply.

After a year:

• The asset register is a governed, audited inventory.
• Every tool’s calibration status is visible at a glance; tools approaching calibration expiry are surfaced for action.
• Custody chains for removed components are end-to-end traceable.
• An auditor (from a regulator or an airline customer) can be shown the inventory, custody history, and readiness status of any asset in seconds.

Custody patterns

The assignmentKind field captures the nature of the custody relationship:

Kind is free text; pick what fits your domain.

Readiness states

State is free text but the common values support cross-organization comparison.

What you’ll see in the product

Assets lives under Governance → Assets in the workspace.

Three top-level tabs: Assets, Custody, Readiness.

The Assets list shows the inventory: filter by kind, status, custodian, scope. This is the operational view for inventory governance.

Inside an asset, you see:

• The full record with classification snapshot and source kind.
• Current and historical custody assignments.
• Current and historical readiness assessments.
• Linked scope nodes.
• Linked controls and evidence.
• Activity history.

The Custody tab is a cross-asset view of custody activity (recent handoffs, current custody per asset, custodian-by-custodian view).

The Readiness tab is a cross-asset view of readiness assessments (upcoming expirations, recently completed, by state).

Every change is captured in the workspace Audit Log.

Common workflows

Adding a new asset

1. Assets → Assets → New asset. Pick the kind, capture the display name, key, classification.
2. Set initial custodian.
3. Run an initial readiness assessment if applicable.
4. Link to scope nodes through Scope.

Recording a custody handoff

1. From the asset’s Custody tab, close the current assignment.
2. Create a new assignment to the new custodian with the appropriate kind and start date.
3. The handoff is captured in the activity history.

Recording a readiness assessment

1. From the asset’s Readiness tab, create a new readiness assessment.
2. Pick the kind (calibration, operational, security, etc.) and the resulting state.
3. Capture the assessment snapshot (results, technician, instrument used, conditions).
4. Save; the asset’s current readiness reflects the new state.

Decommissioning an asset

1. Close the current custody assignment.
2. Create a final readiness assessment with state non-operational and rationale.
3. Set the asset’s status to decommissioned and capture the decommissioning timestamp.
4. Link to any disposal authorization from Retention.

Looking for the API?

See Assets API reference for the v1 REST endpoints to read assets, custody assignments, and readiness assessments from an external system.

Related

• Scope - assets typically belong to a scope node.
• Controls - asset-management controls reference the asset population.
• Evidence - readiness assessment results can be evidence claims.
• Assessments - generic assessments may reference assets as their subject.
• Retention - asset records and disposal authorizations are subject to retention.
• Party Engagements - contractor custody references party engagements.