An Enterprise Asset Management system or often known as EAM software, organizes and keep track of organizational physical assets. An EAM business software is a digital approach to the planning and control of all of the activities required to maintain business assets throughout each individual asset’s lifecycle.
With the right EAM system, you can not only keep your assets operating within specs and reduce energy usage but also increase efficiency and identify problems before they shut down your operations.
Organizations can not only keep assets operating within specifications and reduce energy usage, but vastly increase efficiency and identify problems before they shut down operations. In short, an EAM system can be used to optimize maintenance and turn it into a competitive advantage.
To meet these goals, consider software that has built-in preventive features and alerts; provides checklists and easy-to-use daily scheduling capabilities; gives contractors access to the system through their own portal; can scale as users are added without causing a system crash; and provides native, platform-agnostic mobile capabilities.
Here are the primary categories to consider when looking for an EAM system.
Cost
When choosing an enterprise asset management business software, you need to consider what that purchase you make provides. Is it just a basic framework that requires spending even more money on add-on modules and customizations to get the right functionality?
When thinking about cost, consider, too, how the EAM system will be deployed. Modern enterprise software has moved beyond on-premises-only deployment options to either cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) models or hybrid deployments. Make sure that whatever EAM software you choose offers a reasonably priced cloud option—with a reasonable number of licenses required—and that all the functionality is available through this deployment model.
Cloud deployment ultimately saves money because you don’t need to purchase and maintain the hardware required to run the EAM system, and you don’t have to perform your own upgrades or system maintenance.
Flexibility and scalability
When it comes to deployment modes, the more flexibility, the better. Look for a system that can be deployed in the cloud, on-premises, or in a hybrid environment. Consider, too, what type of cloud deployment is available. A multi-tenant deployment model provides a shared, secure infrastructure that can scale up when you need more capacity, or scale down during off-peak times.
Beyond how the system is deployed, consider how well it can handle your workload. A company may start out small, but it’s not likely to stay that way. An EAM system needs to be able to grow along with your company and support as many concurrent users as you may need—without ever having to worry about it crashing.
Integration
An EAM system doesn’t operate in its own corner of the world, disconnected from the rest of the enterprise. It should offer an integration platform that allows users to work within a common workflow and single interface. It should use multiple applications without having to shift gears, easily sharing key screens, data, and attachments.
In addition, an EAM system should offer integrated functionality for other key business areas, like human resources and financials. With everything tied together and operating seamlessly, the right EAM system can help you improve visibility that is key for better decision-making, helping eliminate the inefficiencies, costly maintenance requirements, and missed opportunities that result from disconnected systems and information silos.
Mobility
An EAM system should enable workers to roam between connected and disconnected environments without having to worry about losing application performance. Consider software that enhances the communications link between the field and the office, so that managers and field service workers can assign, perform, and record activities and ad hoc work orders anytime, anywhere, and from any device.
With the current speed of business, and the problems that could result from inaccuracy, workers can’t wait until they come back in-house to update asset records. To keep assets running at peak efficiency, and avoid unplanned downtime, the EAM system should have full mobile capabilities, to keep critical maintenance and asset data complete and up-to-date at all times. Access to GIS, documents, videos, diagrams, images, and other information reduces trips back to the office and increases productivity.
Read About: Benefits of having Asset Management software