As the holidays rapidly approach us, many organizations are "shopping" for a new Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS). Have we outgrown our current system? Has our business model changed so much it's a requirement now? Perhaps it's the "newer is better" syndrome. As one who spends a majority of his working life assessing and working within these systems, I have noticed a few things:

· 90% of the time a new system will yield the same results. The implementation methodologies utilized for the current system are reapplied. Most times this configuration and data structure is migrated to the new system to make it "look and feel" like the old one. The one that needed to be replaced...

· 90% of the time necessary work flows and processes have never been developed and the system has not been integrated into routine maintenance use.

· 90% of the time the equipment/asset hierarchy has never been established to enable effective cost roll-up or meaningful reporting capabilities.

· 90% of the time users of the system and users of the data within the system have never been trained on proper system or data utilization.

· 90% of the time replacement was not necessary, however re-implementation was.

How can you be confident you're not unnecessarily replacing the system? Perform a system assessment. Evaluate all system data fields and structures, review work flows and processes, and evaluate the equipment/asset hierarchy. Utilize the information from the assessment to develop a re-implementation plan and save your current system and save your organization money.

Not sure where or how to get started? We can help. People and Processes more than a name it's about the people and giving them sound processes.

Tip provided by Dave Bertolini
Managing Principal
People and Processes, Inc.