Client & context
An organization with a shared office workspace and many employees needed a better way to:
- Track where employees were physically located.
- Understand the hardware and network configuration at each workstation.
- Plan hardware upgrades and support visits more effectively.
They were relying on spreadsheets and manual tracking, which led to confusion and delays for IT support.
Challenges
- IT staff needed to know exactly where an employee was sitting when they reported an issue.
- The company wanted a single system to track:
- Computers and their characteristics.
- Local network sockets and phones.
- Other workplace assets.
- The solution had to be simple for support staff to use and integrate with the existing environment.
What I did
1. Designed the asset model and data structure
- Created a data model for:
- Employees and workstations.
- Computer hardware characteristics and installed software.
- Network sockets, phones, and related infrastructure.
- Ensured the model supported future growth and reporting needs.
2. Implemented location tracking via logins
- Built a mechanism to automatically detect the physical workplace where an employee logged in.
- Linked login data to the asset map, so support could see:
- Which desk a user was at.
- Which computer and peripherals were in use.
3. Built an interactive asset map and views
- Implemented an interactive map of the shared workspace.
- Allowed IT staff to:
- Click on a workplace and see the associated equipment and employee.
- Search for an employee and quickly find where they were seated.
- See details of hardware for upgrade planning.
4. Reporting and planning support
- Added views and reports to help IT:
- Identify outdated or underpowered hardware.
- Plan replacements and upgrades.
- Track changes over time.
Results
- IT support could find employees and their workstations within seconds, dramatically reducing friction in day-to-day support.
- The organization gained a single source of truth for hardware, network sockets, phones, and other assets.
- Upgrade planning became more data-driven, based on actual usage and configuration.
- The system reduced manual tracking and errors, freeing the IT team to focus on higher-value work.
Tech & responsibilities
- Role: Full-stack developer and system designer
- Technologies: Web stack (1C/SQL), internal network integration, asset and location mapping, reporting
- Scope: Data model design, implementation, UI for IT staff, and reports
If your IT team is juggling spreadsheets and tribal knowledge to understand who sits where and what hardware they use, I can help you build an asset and location tracking system tailored to your workflow.
Back to all case studies
