Laptops, phones, tablets and shared office equipment move around. People join and leave, devices are swapped, and a spare laptop ends up in a drawer. A device inventory keeps a current answer to a simple question: which devices does the organization have, who has each one, and what can each one reach?
This article is general information about documentation and planning. It is not legal, compliance or security advice. Recovery targets and technical configuration are decisions for your organization to make with qualified professionals and to record in your own documents, and which obligations apply to you varies by organization, industry and jurisdiction.
Why it matters for continuity
When a device is unavailable, the first questions are whose it is, what it was used for and what else depends on it. An inventory answers those quickly. It also links to your dependency map, because the people and processes in the map rely on the devices in the inventory.
What to record for each device
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| Device | A name or asset tag that matches a label on the device |
| Type | Laptop, phone, tablet, printer or other |
| Owner | The person who has it, or the team for shared equipment |
| Location | Where it usually is: an office, a home, a storeroom |
| Systems reached | Which company systems it is used to reach |
| Issued | When it was issued to the current owner |
| Returned | When it came back, for devices no longer in use |
| Notes | Anything a later reader would need |
How to build it
- Start with what you know. List devices from purchase records, the people who look after equipment and a walk around each location.
- Ask each person. A short message asking everyone to list the company devices they hold fills most gaps.
- Label the devices. Match each device to its inventory name so the two stay linked.
- Mark the unknowns. Any device nobody can account for becomes an open question with an owner.
Keeping it current
Tie the inventory to two moments:
- When someone joins, add the devices they are issued.
- When someone leaves or changes role, record which devices come back and when.
Review the whole inventory on a cadence your organization chooses and writes down. Record each review with its date, who took part and what changed. Keep superseded versions rather than overwriting them.
What it is not
The inventory records what exists and who has it. It does not show that any device is safe or set up correctly. How devices are configured is a decision for your organization to make with qualified professionals.
For worksheets and checklists you can start from, see the Free Resources page on this site.