Find the best Web Based CMMS Software

Whether you work in manufacturing, retail, healthcare, transportation or another industry, maintaining your machinery and equipment is important. Manual maintenance such as documenting details about a physical plant and listing individual equipment and their performance, can involve multiple spreadsheets that require updates from time to time. Moreover, this fails to give your maintenance professionals real-time data on asset performance and status of scheduled work orders. A web-based computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) solution can help you monitor, measure, and manage day-to-day maintenance operations in real-time through web and mobile applications.

Web-based CMMS Software solutions are hosted on the vendor’s server allowing you to save money on IT purchases related to hardware, operating system licensing, network and configuration, and IT support. All you need is an internet connection to access the cloud based CMMS software from anywhere in the world. This allows managers and maintenance professionals to assign technicians to tasks based on their location. Accordingly, workers are notified on their mobile devices. Since the system is always with you, this reduces travel time between the jobsite and office.

With an array of products available on the market, buying a CMMS solution can be confusing. To help you figure out which tool matches your business needs, we’ve created this buyers guide that has all the essential information related to purchasing web-based CMMS software.

Here’s what we'll cover:

• What is web-based CMMS software?

• Common features of web-based CMMS software

• What type of buyer are you?

• Benefits of web-based CMMS software

• Key considerations

• Market trend to understand

What is web-based CMMS software?

Web-based, or cloud-based CMMS software, helps organizations track the upkeep of their assets and the related maintenance cost via the internet. This includes facility management, equipment (or machinery) maintenance, from anywhere. Web-based CMMS software platforms are deployed in the cloud and can be accessed through a browser or an app.

Cloud-based deployment, or software-as-a-service (SaaS), means the tool is installed on a vendor's server and you can access it via the internet or a web browser. Whereas on-premise CMMS software needs to be downloaded and installed on local computers or servers.

Asset tracking in Asset Panda Software (Source)

Common features of web-based CMMS software

What type of buyer are you?

Before purchasing a web-based CMMS system, you should determine your buyer category so you can choose the right tool. Most buyers fall into the following categories:

• Small and mid-size businesses (Up to 500 employees): Small businesses often use spreadsheets to manage their scheduled maintenance of machinery. But as their business grows and becomes complex, maintaining manual spreadsheets with limited functionalities can make it vulnerable to human errors and miss out on important data. Due to limited budgets and resources to set up local servers for maintenance software, such buyers should opt for a web-based CMMS software. With a monthly subscription fee, web-based CMMS solutions are more affordable than on-premise software.

• An easy-to-use web-based CMMS platform with features such as asset tracking, preventive maintenance and work order management would be beneficial for such buyers. This will help prevent errors, trigger notifications on scheduled tasks, and compile audit history all in one place to create accurate budgets. A cloud or a web-based CMMS solution does not require any set up costs or dedicated IT staff to maintain or resolve the software issues. All these are taken care of by the vendor.

• Large businesses (over 500 employees): Enterprises with large amounts of assets and equipment spread across different locations require routine management at regular intervals to avoid any unexpected downtime. Whether they are working on-site or off-site, it is important to keep your equipment updated for quality service delivery. A web-based CMMS software would be beneficial for the buyers of this segment.

• These buyers should opt for a cloud CMMS that can be implemented quickly and offers training support from the vendor. A fully featured web-based CMMS solution with features such as automatic alerts, asset lifecycle management, audit trail, API, compliance management, and technician management can help such buyers reduce unplanned downtime and increase productivity.

Benefits of web-based CMMS software

Cloud CMMS solutions offer the same functionalities as on-premise systems but with a number of additional benefits.

• Remote accessibility: A cloud CMMS application can be accessed from any location. All you need is an internet connection. The software can be accessed through a web browser or mobile device such as a laptop, smartphone, or tablet. Remote accessibility of such software lets you manage work orders, submit service requests, and more from any location. This helps you schedule maintenance tasks and improve productivity. Most vendors also provide a mobile app, so you can navigate the mobile friendly interface of the software while on the go.

• Timely software updates: Keeping your software updated with new features, and improvements are crucial to improve your business efficiency. With a web-based CMMS solution, updates are included in the subscription fee and your vendor is responsible for these to occur automatically after a certain period of time (i.e. weekly, monthly, or yearly). Timely software upgrades will fix previous bugs, update security features, and provide you with the latest version of the software with no additional cost.

• Scalability: Web-based CMMS solutions can be scaled as your business grows in size and becomes more complex. When the software is deployed in the cloud, adding new users, expanding reporting capabilities, and building on new assets and maintenance data while your business environment changes is easy to do. This requires no additional implementation or hardware costs.

Key considerations

• Easy-to-use interface: An easy-to-use interface can save the time required to learn the software. You can easily organize maintenance schedules and track asset performance in such tools. Make sure to select a solution that is intuitive for workers to use and is easy for you to assign workers to multiple tasks at once. This can help you make your workers and employees get used to the software faster.

• Third party integrations: The software you choose should be able to integrate with other applications that your organization currently uses. These can be inventory management software, asset tracking software, fleet maintenance software, and facility management software. The integration between the chosen web-based CMMS solution and other software applications will allow you to keep all your data in a central location. This avoids any duplicate data entry and helps informed decision making.

• Mobile access: It is important for the software you choose to be accessible through a mobile device. Web-based CMMS software can be accessed through a browser on your computer but what if you are on the road and have an important maintenance task to schedule? Or, you need to quickly gain access to updates on the current asset performance? You need to be able to access the solution through your mobile device. Make sure that the cloud CMMS solution provider you choose offers a mobile application or mobile friendly interface of their solution which is compatible with android and iOS devices.

Market trend to understand:

• Artificial intelligence (AI) powered CMMS software will enhance predictive maintenance: Artificial intelligence is using the power of analyzing data to revolutionize how different industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation are maintaining their assets. AI-integrated web-based CMMS software leads to continuous monitoring and self-maintenance. This helps in avoiding unwanted breakdowns in machineries and equipment. Vendors offering AI-powered CMMS solutions help businesses gather real-time data on the performance of their assets and predict the future downtime and breakdowns of their equipment.

Note: The application selected in this article is an example to show a feature in context and is not intended as an endorsement or recommendation. It has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.