Last week in Part 3 of our CMMS Expert Series, we showed you the three types of CMMS setup, breaking down the cost, implementation timelines and considerations you should know before making an integration decision. To complete this selection, Part 4 gives you insight into the four factors you should consider when selecting your setup type.

We’ve consolidated our awesome CMMS Software Basics and Beyond Guide for your downloading pleasure here! Don’t want to read through the entire blog series? Then get it now.

We’ve devised a simple flow chart to determine the best course of action to get your system up and running quickly. In this section, we will go over the questions located in the blue bubbles on the chart which relate to the four factors affecting setup. After understanding the four factors, you’ll be able to use the flow chart to determine your optimal setup type.


Implementation Type - New Page (1)
Four Factors Affecting Setup Type

1-Existing maintenance management software- Simply put, if you already have maintenance management software and are looking to switch to a different vendor, a lot of the setup work may already be done for you. Your team will have less of a hurdle during the initial setup of your new database, and integrating software processes into their daily business lives. This will come in handy during Part 3- rollout. For now, the primary question you need to ask yourself is “does this current system allow you to export your data?”. If the answer is yes, then you’re in luck! Your setup just got a whole lot simpler and your maintenance history tracking just became much more extensive. By migrating maintenance history data from an old system into a new one, you will have seamless and consistent tracking from the beginning of time instead of losing your data during the switch. In addition to maintenance history, lists of assets and equipment, users, inventory and spare parts, and work order templates can typically be migrated from the old software into the new one. Your vendor’s support team can help you clean up and import your data, making this process much simpler.

If your current system does not allow you to extract your data then you may have a little more work ahead of you, which is where vendor support staff comes into play. Perhaps you have kept old spreadsheets with asset and equipment info listed or perhaps your current vendor can pull info from your old database. If all else fails you can at least use your old account as a guide to setup your new one, showing you the equipment or assets that you used to track and copying them into your new database. Full or partial setup service is recommended at this point to get you up and running quickly and correctly.

2-Integration Budget- As stated in Part 1, make sure you leave room in your budget for integration fees. Hourly import fees can run anywhere from $150/ hr. to $250/ hr. depending on the vendor, while others may include this fee in the license or eat the cost altogether. On site audits have a wide pricing range as they usually add a per diem for travel and food expenses and they base the price on the number of assets involved in the audit. $1,000- $3,000 per day gives you an idea of an audit price point. Regardless of which setup route you take, we strongly recommend that you opt for some help in setting up your system, meaning that you will need to budget at least in part for these services.

3-Implementation Timeframe- You can view your implementation timeframe in three distinct periods, short term (1-3 months), medium term (3-6 months), and long term (6 months- 1 year). If you’re not in a rush to get this new system off the ground, then you may have more time to slowly and steadily set it up yourself. You can take your time grooming your lists to import, conducting your own audit using internal staff, and getting feedback from fellow team members on the kind of permissions they require or the assets they would like to track. If you need your system up and running more quickly, then it might make more sense to hire a professional to get the job done for you. With their expertise in the industry and ease of use with their own product, vendors can conduct full audits and setup your account within a month or less.

4-Dedicated Internal Resource- A dedicated internal staff member should be appointed as the go to contact person for setup and ongoing system support. This person should be one who will regularly use the system and who can diffuse new info to their team of software users. This “software champion” can help to setup the new system by gathering asset info, filling out import spreadsheets, and integrating this info with the software. Some organizations utilize the skills of a third party software consultant to help properly research a new system and set it up. Other organizations task summer interns or trainees to setup the system, making this a large ongoing project for the duration of their contract. This temporary hire could make sense as the initial setup contact, but make sure this champion has successfully relayed their knowledge to the rest of the team who will be using the system on an ongoing basis. If you have a designated staff champion on your team with the mandate to set up your system, databases can get up and running much more quickly than those who don’t make this a priority in the maintenance department.

We’ve consolidated our awesome CMMS Basics and Beyond Guide for your downloading pleasure here! Don’t want to read through the entire blog series? Then get it now.

Read Part 5 of our CMMS Expert Series where we discuss the 5 tips to optimize your CMMS roll-out strategy.

About The Author

Jonathan Davis

Jonathan has been covering asset management, maintenance software, and SaaS solutions since joining Hippo CMMS. Prior to that, he wrote for textbooks and video games.
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