Enhancing IT asset visibility with RFID-powered smart material tracking solution on AWS
A leading Southeast Asian technology enterprise modernized its manual asset tracking with HCLTech’s Smart Material Tracking (SMT) solution on AWS, unlocking real-time visibility, improved compliance and operational efficiency.
The challenge
The client faced four key problems with their manual asset management system:
- Lack of real-time visibility: The client had no instant insight into the movement or status of their 50+ type of IT assets, such as where they were located within the Singapore site
- Inefficient processes and compliance issues: The client's reliance on manual asset tracking creates significant inefficiencies, a high risk of human error, inaccurate inventory records and potential regulatory compliance issues
- No automated system: The client lacked an existing system, such as one based on RFID technology, to automate the audit, tracking and management of assets moving in and out of stockrooms
- Limited traceability and accountability: The client had limited ability to trace individual items and hold people accountable for their movements throughout the asset lifecycle
The objective
To deploy an RFID tracking system to enhance real-time visibility and control of IT assets.
The solution
To overcome asset management challenges, HCLTech deployed its RFID-based "Smart Material Tracking (SMT)" solution on AWS Cloud. SMT provides real-time visibility into asset location and usage through fixed RFID readers, mobile tracking and periodic inventory checks—streamlining operations and improving traceability.
- RFID-based "Track and Trace" solution
- This involved deploying an RFID solution for all the IT assets. Small RFID tags affixed to each asset can be read automatically by readers, providing real-time data on their location and movement without needing a direct line of sight
- This component provides real-time visibility into asset movement and is a core part of the IoT data ingestion pipeline
- Amazon MQ serves as the central message broker for IATM, enabling reliable inter-service communication using standard protocols like MQTT. It ingests data streams from RFID readers and middleware components at the Singapore site, helping decouple services and absorb traffic spikes. This improves system performance, ensures data integrity and supports scalable, event-driven architecture
- Secure, cloud-hosted IATM application implementation
- IATM application (Web, Mobile and cloud microservices): The IATM application was implemented on a containerized microservices architecture to manage the entire asset lifecycle, including:
- Onboarding: Adding new assets to the system
- Audits: Enabling quicker, more accurate inventory checks
- Movement tracking: Monitoring asset location in real-time
- Deboarding: Managing asset retirement or disposal
- Based on the client's needs and solutions, a robust, cloud-hosted architecture on AWS was implemented. This design leverages AWS for scalability, security and real-time processing, addressing the challenges of manual asset tracking and a lack of visibility.
- RFID readers and other devices at the client’s site communicate with the IATM middleware edge gateway, which applies filters, executes business logic locally and securely forwards the processed data to the cloud over a protected network connection. This architecture ensures efficient data handling, reduces latency and maintains compliance with security standards. Thereafter, AWS deployed the IATM services process, stored and managed the data, ultimately presenting it to users through web and mobile applications
- IATM application (Web, Mobile and cloud microservices): The IATM application was implemented on a containerized microservices architecture to manage the entire asset lifecycle, including:
- Operational enhancements and compliance
- Each asset tagged with a unique RFID identifier enables precise tracking and accountability. Fixed RFID readers installed at strategic entry/exit points automate asset movement logging, ensuring real-time visibility and reducing manual errors
- Automated audits powered by RFID technology replaced manual inventory checks, significantly improving accuracy and reducing audit time. Handheld mobile readers enabled efficient floor-walk audits, allowing teams to track assets even inside cabinets and racks, ensuring complete coverage and eliminating blind spots
- The "SMT Locate" feature, accessible via mobile app and handheld reader, provided precise asset location capabilities. It allowed users to quickly identify misplaced devices, even when stored among other items, supporting faster recovery and reducing downtime. These capabilities not only enhanced operational efficiency but also ensured compliance through accurate, time-stamped tracking and audit readiness
- Containerized backend on AWS: IATM microservices are stored in AWS ECR, orchestrated via ECS and run using AWS Fargate for serverless compute. This setup simplifies deployment and eliminates infrastructure management
- Secure and scalable architecture: Backend services are exposed through API Gateway with authentication and routing via ELB, specifically using ALB. Persistent data is stored in Amazon RDS (Aurora MySQL), ensuring reliability, scalability and compliance.
- Enhanced inventory visibility with real-time search, locate and notification features
- Real-time inventory updates ensure that asset records are always current, reducing manual errors and improving decision-making. This enhances operational efficiency by enabling teams to act on accurate data and maintain tighter control over asset utilization
- Automated asset search and email alerts for state changes (movement, check-in/out, deboarding) improve traceability and accountability. These features support compliance by maintaining timestamped logs and proactive notifications, ensuring audit readiness and adherence to regulatory standards
- Event-driven communication and notifications: Amazon SQS, SNS and Event Bridge were leveraged to enable reliable, decoupled messaging between microservices and trigger scheduled tasks like email notifications
- Serverless execution and monitoring: Leveraged AWS Lambda for executing tasks such as authorization and notifications, and CloudWatch for monitoring application health, performance and logs
- Secure and managed infrastructure: Utilized AWS VPC, NAT Gateway, Network ACLs and IAM for secure networking and access control. AWS KMS ensures encryption of data at rest, maintaining compliance with security standards, while Systems Manager Parameter Store securely manages configuration settings for the IATM application, supporting operational integrity and centralized control
- Connectivity, automation and DevOps: Established private connectivity via Direct Connect/VPN Gateway, automated infrastructure with CloudFormation and enabled CI/CD using AWS Developer Tools. ACM, CloudFront, WAF and Route 53 ensured secure, performant web delivery. Config, CloudTrail and Cost Explorer supported governance, auditing and cost optimization
The impact
- Achieved 100% inventory accuracy for all in-scope assets
- Reduced audit time by up to 80% using handheld RFID scanners
- Enabled real-time asset visibility and traceability through timestamped movement logs
- Improved compliance with automated notifications and audit reporting
- Delivered a user-friendly mobile and web interface built on a scalable framework for future expansion
