Auditing is the gathering of all information that describes the characteristics and the exact condition of each IT asset. The client modules of Aiken Workbench automatically detect the specifications of PCs, Macs, Android/iOS smartphones/tablets, monitors, printers and other devices and stores them in the database.

Aiken Workbench also provides a systematic way to enter information that cannot be obtained automatically, such as cosmetic defects. It also includes an Android app to take pictures of defects and store them in the database for further use, along with the auditing information.
Retrieving the information as it’s returned by the hardware is useful, but it’s not enough. Experienced ITAD technicians know that hardware manufacturers do not always store information in a consistent way. The Aiken Workbench code has been created using input from real working environments, so as to deal with the challenges of specific computer models, devices and components. It may, among others:

The aim is to get consistent information for all the assets, so it can be automatically used in reports and data processing (export to ERPs, etc) without further human intervention.

All audited information is stored in MySQL, an industrial-strength database. The information can be accessed in real time, both locally and remotely, by using the Workbench Manager application - available for Windows, Mac and Linux. ITAD companies can also distribute this application to their customers or suppliers for free, allowing them to follow remotely the work in progress, print their own reports and erasure certificates, and export the information to files in their own custom formats.

In addition to using the in-built reporting and exporting capabilities, the auditing data can also be accessed by using the hundreds of commercial or open source tools available for MySQL and ODBC-compliant databases, or by writing custom programs. Integration with in-house ERP systems at the data level should be straightforward in most cases.