ISO 55000 defines Asset management as the “coordinated activity of an organisation to realize value from assets”. In turn, Assets are defined as follows: “An asset is an item, thing or entity that has potential or actual value to an organisation”. This is deliberately wider than physical assets but these form an important focus for more organisations.

Asset Management involves the balancing of costs, opportunities and risks against the desired performance of assets, to achieve the organisational objectives. This balancing might need to be considered over different timeframes.