Book excerpt: Managing physical assets is a cooperative and cross-functional discipline that demands a solid governance structure, strong leadership, and well-coordinated policies and practices to meet organizational objectives and requirements in the context of their operations. Organizations struggle to balance cost, performance, and risk with regard to the management of physical assets. Traditional physical asset management systems tend to be silo-based in that they have been developed by a particular section or function for use only in that function. The effects of the isolated function-specific asset management systems are widespread and have significant implications, creating gaps and overlaps in business processes or impeding the decision-making processes. Organizations are investing lots of money and resources in building their physical asset management systems. However, for far too long the focus has been mostly on the tools and methodologies. These companies need to step up and undergo a paradigm shift focused towards creating a system of organization-wide physical asset management, and moving away from the silo approach. This transformational process will provide: an improvement in coordination and collaboration. the ability to manage physical assets across the organization. an alignment of all functional areas within an organization to reach common goals. This book will benefit practitioners and students enrolled in asset management programs, and help to change the way they understand and implement an effective physical asset management system to a more organization-wide, systems approach.