
As people prepare to leave their positions at Berkeley Lab, they work with their supervisor to ensure the return of assigned assets and a completion of responsibilities based on their specific work. Timely completion of these responsibilities and the return of assets helps to make for a smooth exit transition and assists the supervisor and division staff in efficiently managing property. This includes chemical assignments, phones and unresolved travel expenses, along with other important business processes. When not appropriately addressed, asset mismanagement creates compliance issues for the Lab and results in lost assets, inaccurate inventories and unresolved financial transactions.
To streamline the offboarding experience, IT and Strategic Initiatives launched the Individual Asset Status (IAS) Report last year. This self-service reporting function is available within the Lab’s BAR Reporting system and is proactively pushed to supervisors and administrative staff in advance of an individual’s planned departure.
This innovative tool supports the existing process by providing consolidated information about essential responsibilities. It simplifies asset management, improves transitions, and enhances organizational efficiency. It is also a great example of the strategic partnership between the IT team and the Strategic Initiatives team.
A Unified Vision
The project began with a challenge identified by the scientific Area Deputies. Ben Sandmann and Rhett Persaud, program managers within Strategic Initiatives in Operations, envisioned a more efficient way to manage information and address assets assigned to individuals, requiring technical innovation and cross-functional problem-solving. Vik Bhatia, Computer Systems Manager in the Business Systems Department of IT and his team members Rengan Krishnan and Rajesh Chintalacheruvu stepped in to translate the concept into reality, partnering closely to understand key workflows and organizational needs.
Vik’s team brought together isolated “silos” of data, uniting information from enterprise systems like HR and Finance with decentralized sources such as Google Sheets. This integration gave the Lab a holistic view of assets, something previously unattainable without the manual efforts of individually accessing multiple siloed data sources and generating manual reports. At the same time, the Strategic Initiatives team ensured the tool addressed practical concerns, such as offboarding employees and succession and continuity planning, making it both functional and actionable.
Features That Matter
“Our goal with the IAS report was to provide a streamlined and user-friendly way to manage assets and responsibilities assigned to individuals,” said Rhett Persaud from Strategic Initiatives. “If it isn’t easy to use, it won’t be used at all.”
With that feedback in mind, Rajesh and Rengan spent hours researching, analyzing, and building the tool to make sure that all of the critical report features were in place, including an Employee Summary tab for a high-level overview of all assets and responsibilities, as well as drill-down tabs for specific asset details such as property, space assignments, chemicals, badge access, and telephone devices. Reports can be generated for individual employees or in batch formats, filtered by supervisor, organization, or appointment end dates.
Designed to meet a variety of needs, the report is configurable, links directly to relevant systems for verification, and allows users to export data into PDF, Excel, or CSV formats.

Collaboration in Action
The partnership between IT and Strategic Initiatives was key to solving a multi-layered challenge. For example, during employee offboarding, it was possible for aspects of asset return and process close-outs to be overlooked. Tracking down property or closing outstanding travel can be more challenging after an individual’s departure. Strategic Initiatives worked with IT to ensure the tool accounted for any gaps, enabling managers to track all relevant assets and responsibilities.
“The tool reflects the power of combining IT innovation with Strategic Initiatives expertise,” said Mark Dedlow, Business Systems Lead, IT Division. “IT’s strategic thinking and the technical work enabled data integration across systems, while Operations ensured the solution met practical needs for day-to-day operations.”
This collaboration also addressed succession and continuity planning. By providing centralized, up to date visibility into assigned assets and process close-outs, supervisors and support teams could plan ahead, ensuring operational continuity and reducing disruptions.
Results and Impact
The Individual Asset Status Report now supports supervisors and supporting staff who are involved in the exit process as a central resource for supervisors and division support staff. It streamlines asset tracking, supports compliance, and reduces service interruptions by giving managers the ability to proactively manage transitions. It also proactively emails supervisors 13 days before the person’s last day of work, giving the team time to incorporate the work into those last few days.
“The Individual Asset Status Reports really made my job easier by providing information in a concise format that lets me easily see what actions I need to take,” noted Julie Drotz, ALS Safety Manager. “The IAS report addresses multiple needs in one. It’s a perfect example of how smart technology allows us to do more with less. I appreciate your work!!”
The creation of the Individual Asset Status Report highlights the impact of cross-departmental collaboration. By aligning IT’s technical capabilities with Strategic Initiative’s operational insights, the Lab now has a tool that efficiently supports asset and process close-out management. Accessible through the BAR system, this report delivers greater efficiency, better planning, and seamless employee transitions, demonstrating the value of integrated solutions driven by strong partnerships.
Key Takeaways from the article
- The Individual Asset Status (IAS) Report simplifies employee offboarding by consolidating information on assigned assets, responsibilities, and unresolved tasks, ensuring smooth transitions and compliance.
- Developed through a partnership between IT and Strategic Initiatives, the IAS Report integrates siloed data from systems like HR, Finance, and Google Sheets, providing a unified view of individual assets. It is a great example of collaborative innovation at the Lab.
- The tool has many user-friendly features, offering high-level summaries and detailed breakdowns of assets that allow supervisors to generate customizable reports and export data in various formats for better asset management and planning.
- The IAS Report had a major operational impact. By addressing gaps in asset tracking and succession planning, the IAS Report enhances efficiency, minimizes disruptions, and supports proactive management of transitions across the Lab.