CMMS: Following the Process to Success

Part 1: CMMS: Managers Need to Focus on Software Implementation

Part 2: Software Installation: Managers Should Partner with Vendors, Consultants

Part 3: CMMS: Don't Implement Button-Pushing Training

Part 4: Product Focus: CMMS

Software Installation: Managers Should Partner with Vendors, Consultants

By Dan Hounsell, Editor - August 2011 - Software

Managers can avoid these problems — and a host of other unforeseen complications — by planning the entire upgrade or new installation more carefully. Developers encourage managers to build relations and rely on the vendor for support.

"You can't go through the process on your own," Miller says. Managers have to develop a relationship with a trusted advisor, whether that is a vendor or an independent consultant.

Miller also suggests managers avoid relying on one person in the department to spearhead the implementation, especially if that person has no authority to demand results and take action if results are less than satisfactory. Complications also can arise if that person leaves — namely, the project can grind to a halt until a new person gets up to speed.

Complicating matters further, managers also might not have identified the essential in-house processes — such as work-order management and data collection — that must be in place for the installation to succeed.

"In many cases, it's not fully understood how (a department's) workflow fits into a CMMS workflow," Conroy says. Without that level of understanding, managers might not be able to mesh the two processes successfully.