Unified Asset Management System for Enterprise and Customer Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data management solutions fail to efficiently consolidate and manage the intersection of customer and internal assets across disparate systems, leading to data redundancy, inefficiencies, and synchronization challenges between customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
Innovation Solution
An information management system that provides a consolidated representation of assets through a global asset definition, stored in a data repository, which includes physical attributes and is accessible across multiple application systems, distinguishing between physical and financial representations while eliminating ownership-based segregation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If separate CRM and ERP systems are used to manage customer-owned and enterprise-owned assets respectively, then asset management coverage is improved, but data redundancy and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the previously separate CRM and ERP asset management systems into a unified system where both customer-owned and enterprise-owned assets are managed through a single platform. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate systems while maintaining comprehensive asset management coverage, directly resolving the technical contradiction between adaptability and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified asset management system performs multiple functions previously handled by separate systems: it manages both customer-owned assets (CRM function) and enterprise-owned assets (ERP function) within a single platform. This multi-functionality allows the system to cover all asset types without requiring separate specialized systems, thereby reducing complexity while maintaining versatility.
2Loss of information
If asset data is extracted and synchronized between separate CRM and ERP systems, then both systems can access asset information, but processing overhead and synchronization complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the asset data redundancy problem by implementing a single source of truth for asset information. Instead of extracting and synchronizing data between separate systems, the unified system stores asset data once and makes it accessible to all functions (both CRM and ERP operations) directly from that single repository, eliminating the need for complex extraction and synchronization processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified asset management system acts as an intermediary that provides centralized access to asset data for all business functions. Rather than having separate CRM and ERP systems communicate through complex synchronization mechanisms, the unified system serves as a mediator that both functions access directly, eliminating the need for data extraction and synchronization while maintaining data accessibility.
3Reliability
If frequent synchronization is performed between separate systems, then data freshness is improved, but computational resources and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the asset management functionality from the business operations. By separating the asset data repository from the operational systems (CRM and ERP functions), the system allows operations to access current asset data without requiring synchronization. The segmentation enables real-time data access for reliability while eliminating the time-consuming synchronization process entirely.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified system enables continuous access to fresh asset data without interruption or synchronization delays. Business operations can continuously access up-to-date asset information directly from the single source of truth, maintaining data freshness (reliability) without the need for periodic synchronization actions that consume time and computational resources.
4Adaptability or versatility
If two separate systems (CRM and ERP) are deployed to manage different asset types, then comprehensive asset tracking is achieved, but operational overhead and maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the operational overhead of managing two separate systems into a single unified system. By merging CRM and ERP asset management functionalities, the system maintains comprehensive asset tracking coverage while reducing operational overhead related to system maintenance, updates, and coordination between separate platforms.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified asset management system provides universal functionality that handles both customer-owned and enterprise-owned assets within a single platform. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate specialized systems, thereby reducing operational overhead while maintaining comprehensive asset tracking capabilities across all asset types.
Data Source
AI summary
An information management system providing a consolidated representation of a plurality of assets is disclosed. According to one embodiment, the information management system includes a data repository operable to store a plurality of global asset definitions which represent enterprise-owned assets and customer-owned assets. In one embodiment, one global asset definition is stored as a record of an asset of the plurality of assets. The global asset definition includes a functional specification of the asset and a physical attribute of the asset. The system further includes a work management application communicatively coupled to the data repository which provides a work flow manager that is operable to determine a work flow associated with the global asset definition. The work flow manager is further operable to manage the execution of the work flow.