You must regularly maintain your company’s equipment to get the most out of capital expenditures. Keeping track of maintenance operations is a difficult task. This task is most effectively performed by maintenance management software.

Maintenance management software can benefit several businesses and organizations like manufacturing and industrial plants, equipment leasing firms, malls, hospitals, warehouses, lumberyards, construction contractors, power and water utilities, transportation companies including bus, rail and air transport, car rental companies, office complexes, property management firms, apartment buildings, schools and colleges, hotels, large retail facilities, laundry rooms, zoos and aquariums, golf courses, libraries, and many more. 

What is the need for Maintenance management software?
Maintenance management software maintains a database of your organization’s maintenance operations. This enables you to manage equipment and facilities more efficiently thus increasing productivity. By ensuring timely upkeep and maintenance, the software can help prolong the life of your assets and reduce breakdowns. Even when problems and breakdowns occur, fast access to information will allow you to respond quickly. The software also helps you to keep track of the work already done on different equipment. This software is a must when managing high-tech buildings due to the complexity of required operations. It can help reduce costs and increase quality. Additionally, these systems provide the security and tracking required by the ISO 9000 quality standard. Some maintenance management software also provide green certification helping your business move towards  environment- friendly and energy efficient operations.

If you have more than five employees doing maintenance and facilities work, or more than 30 major pieces of machinery to look after, maintenance management software is a must for your organization. Also, if you are considering an upgrade on outdated maintenance software, switching to maintenance management software is a smart choice.

Tiers of Maintenance Software Companies
There are three main tiers of maintenance management software providers:

• Low-end system vendors sell software generally capable of managing only a single location.
• Mid-tier vendors sell maintenance management software to companies with 5-10 locations.
• Enterprise-level facilities management software vendors sell software to businesses with a large number of locations and equipment. The software is also suitable for managing equipment, vehicles, and facilities for oil refineries and high-end manufacturing businesses.

Buying Considerations

• Software Modules: Good maintenance management software is divided into individual modules addressing specific needs for ease of management. Since several modules may incur additional costs, purchase only the ones you need.
• Minimize customization: Some software packages focus on specific verticals like highway and public works, hospitals, manufacturing and vehicle fleet maintenance, while others offer a broad range of verticals. Though general-purpose software can also do the job, choose a specialized version, if one fits your requirements, to minimize customization costs and increase efficiency. 
• Software Features: Following are some of the features to consider in the maintenance management software:

1. The system should be able to handle all your basic maintenance scheduling requirement
2. It should also provide additional features like inventory systems for assets and parts, creating work orders and tracking labor hours. Instead of simply creating work orders, the system should include sign-offs, routing, and other tracking features.
3. If you have offices and equipment in multiple locations the system should provide remote access.
4. If you need maps of your facilities for locating parts and equipment, the software should be able to connect to CAD software.
5. Some systems also provide wireless support to allow you to work from mobiles and PDA’s. This can simplify tracking of maintenance operations. However, wireless support bears additional costs.
6. The system should allow several reporting options that help you assess the cost and efficiency of the maintenance operations. Additionally, the systems should be flexible to allow easy customization.

• ASP of Client server based software: Client-server software stores all maintenance details on your office servers and gives your employees full-time access to the data. Installation and maintenance require technical skill and expertise. Client-server software also provides a more comprehensive set of features than ASP- based solutions. Client-server software is a feasible option only if your employees have some technical skills. Application Service provider (ASP) software or Software as a Service solution stores property information on the vendor’s servers. A team of IT professionals manages this information ensuring its security, reliability, and 24-hour availability. This information is accessed via the internet and can be unavailable during network failure or congestion. ASP option needs lower initial investment and is a better solution if you need to provide remote access to your employees or extensive customization.
• Get a demo: Ask your vendor for a trial demo before making a purchase. Check if the software is easy to learn and operate. The software should meet all your requirements; provide easy-to-understand features and screens, simple rescheduling of maintenance operations and easy customization. 

Choosing a vendor
Maintenance Management Software is also known as enterprise asset management (EAM), facilities asset management systems (FAMS), predictive maintenance or preventative maintenance (PM) software, commercial maintenance management software (CMMS) and more.  There are some subtle differences between these terms but all essentially cover the same tasks.

Select a vendor who takes time to understand your needs and provides you with the right software solution. Your maintenance management software vendor is responsible for installing and maintaining the system. Find a vendor who is committed to customer service and can effectively handle bugs, feature requests, regular updates and upgrade to new releases. Ask for a comprehensive training package for all who will use the software. Call the references to find out about the vendor’s reputation before finalizing your maintenance management software provider.

Pricing
Maintenance management software packages come in a range of prices depending on the number of users, equipment to manage and additional features. Compare maintenance software price quotes to make an informed decision. Actual price also depends on the vendor and your geographic location. For example in the US a basic maintenance management software system may cost between $1000 and $10,000. Mid range systems cost up to $40,000. Price for maintenance management systems for large organizations with multiple locations is even higher. The most common pricing structure is a basic price for the software plus a per user cost. Certain modules, like PDA support, may incur an additional cost. Installation charges are also extra. Some vendors may include basic training in their costs, others will charge extra for the same.

Carefully analyze your needs, evaluate features and capabilities of the software, total costs involved and the track record of dealers before making a decision.