1. Overview
A freshly installed ITAM App has no reference data of its own. Because every Asset Unit must name an Asset Type, the first job after installation is building a classification model — and doing that by hand, or through Data Loader, takes time before you can record a single asset.
The Default Data section of the ITAM App Settings page removes that step. It ships with a catalog of 100 asset types covering common IT equipment and software, the Asset Properties each type should carry, and starter Departments, Asset Categories and Disposal Reasons. You choose what is relevant to your company and load it in one click.
Primary use cases:
- Setting up a new org, so asset entry can start on the same day.
- Adding a category of equipment you did not track before, such as networking or AV.
- Filling in the reference tables without hand-typing them.
Nothing is created automatically when the package is installed. The catalog only reaches your org when an administrator picks what they need and presses Load.
2. What gets created
| Selection | Records created |
|---|---|
| An asset type | One Asset Type, one Asset Property for each property you keep that your org does not already have, the list values of any new property whose Value Type is List, and one Asset type Property Connection per property you keep |
| An asset category | One Asset Category. The catalog offers 15 purpose-driven groupings, such as Developer equipment, Loaner pool and Pending disposal |
| A department | One Department. The catalog offers 12, such as IT, Finance and Operations |
| A disposal reason | One Disposal Reason. The catalog offers 11, such as End of life, Damaged beyond repair and Returned to lessor |
The connections are what make the catalog useful: they populate the Default Property Bundle on the Asset Type record, so every Asset Unit you later create of that type is offered exactly those properties to fill in.
The 100 asset types are grouped into twelve families:
| Family | Examples |
|---|---|
| Computers and workstations | Laptop, Desktop, Workstation, Thin client, Tablet |
| Mobile devices | Smartphone, Smartwatch, Mobile hotspot, SIM card |
| Displays and peripherals | Monitor, Keyboard, Webcam, Docking station |
| Printing and imaging | Laser printer, Multifunction printer, Scanner, Projector |
| Networking | Router, Network switch, Firewall, Wireless access point |
| Servers and datacenter | Rack server, NAS, SAN, UPS, PDU |
| Storage and media | External SSD, USB flash drive, Memory card, Backup tape |
| Telephony and AV | Desk phone, Video conference system, Interactive whiteboard |
| Security and access | IP camera, Access card reader, MFA security key |
| Software and subscriptions | Software licence, SaaS subscription, Cloud service, SSL certificate |
| Field and specialised | Barcode scanner, POS terminal, Industrial PC, Drone, VR headset |
| Training and certification | Exam voucher, Professional certificate |
3. Step-by-step procedure
Phase 1: Open Default Data
- Open the ITAM App and go to the Settings tab.
- The Default Data card shows how much of the catalog your org already has. Press Open default data to open the catalog in its own window.
Phase 2: Choose records
- The window lists the twelve asset type families, followed by Asset Categories, Departments and Disposal Reasons. Expand a section to see its entries, each with a badge showing whether it is Not loaded, Partly loaded or Loaded. Loaded entries cannot be picked again.
- Tick the entries you want, or use Select all to take a whole section.
- To find something specific, type in the search box. It matches names, descriptions and property names across every section, so searching for firmware finds every asset type that tracks it.
- Press Next.
Phase 3: Choose properties
This step appears only when you picked at least one asset type.
- Each selected asset type is listed with the properties the catalog gives it, all ticked. Each property shows its Value Type and whether it is new, an existing property that will be reused as it is, or already in this type’s bundle. Properties already in the bundle cannot be unticked here; remove them from the Asset Type record instead.
- Untick anything your company does not record, or use Select all / Clear on a type.
- To change one property on every selected type at once, choose it under Apply to every selected type and press Keep everywhere or Remove everywhere.
- Press Next.
Phase 4: Review and load
- The review lists how many asset types, new properties, reused properties, property connections and reference records will be created.
- Press Load. Use Back to change anything first, or Cancel to close without creating anything.
- The window closes, a message confirms exactly what was created, and the card updates its counts.
Open any newly created Asset Type to see its Default Property Bundle, and adjust it there if your company records something different.
Undoing a load
Every load is listed under Recent loads on the Default Data card, with when it ran, who ran it and what it created. While none of those records is in use yet, the load can be taken back:
- Press Undo next to the load and confirm.
- Every record the load created is deleted: its asset types, properties and their list values, property connections — including ones it added to asset types you already had — and its asset categories, departments and disposal reasons. Records that existed before the load are not touched.
- The load is then marked Undone.
Undo is all or nothing. If any record from the load is already in use, nothing is deleted and the card lists what is in the way, for example Asset Type “Laptop” is used by 3 Asset Units. A record counts as in use when another record refers to it — an Asset Unit of that type, a value recorded for that property, an asset tagged with that category, an owner in that department, a disposal with that reason — or when a loaded property has since been added to one of your own asset types. Clear those uses first, or keep the load.
Records you have already deleted by hand since the load are simply skipped. Changes you made to a loaded record, such as a new name or description, do not stop the undo. If you added one of your own properties to a loaded asset type, that connection is removed along with the type; your property itself stays.
4. Notes and limitations
- Loading only adds records. If your org already has an Asset Type, Asset Property, Department, Asset Category or Disposal Reason with the same name, it is reused as it is and never modified. Names are matched without regard to capitalisation.
- An existing property keeps its own Value Type. A property’s Value Type cannot be changed once an asset uses it (see Validation Rules), so a property you already have is connected to the new asset type exactly as you configured it, even where the catalog would have declared it differently.
- List values are only created with a new property. If a List property already exists, its values are left alone rather than topped up with the catalog’s.
- It is safe to run again. A second load of the same selection creates nothing. A type shown as Partly loaded already exists but is missing some of the catalog’s properties — for example because you unticked them last time. Picking it again offers only the missing ones.
- Unticked properties are not created. A property you untick for every selected type is not created at all, and its list values are not created either.
- Only an Asset Admin can load. The section relies on create access to all of the objects above, which the Asset Admin permission set grants.
- Nothing is loaded on install or upgrade. The catalog is offered, never applied for you.
- Undo is available for the five most recent loads shown on the card. Each load is also kept as a Config Item record of type Default data load. After a load has been undone, or once its records are in use, remove anything you no longer want in the usual way.
- A very large load may not be undoable. The list of created records is stored on the Config Item; in the rare case it does not fit, the load is recorded without it and shows no Undo button.