Even after you’ve successfully rolled out your new software (read Part 5: 9 tips to optimize your rollout for more information), there is still some work to be done to ensure ongoing support of your system.
Post purchase is a time when features, training and setup can be refined and measured. By taking a critical eye to your system you will be able to go beyond the basic functionality that you learned initially and dig deeper into more advanced features. This section will explain follow-up steps to complete 1 to 2 months after you have rolled out your system to ensure its continuous optimization.
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.
3 Steps to a Perfect Post Purchase Timeline
Short Term (3 weeks to 1 month)
Assess your newly created database and determine its current strengths and weaknesses. Make sure all basic features are working properly, that all users are receiving the right work order notifications and status updates, and that your team is getting the hang of integrating this new system into their everyday work life. Speak to different users to understand any challenges that they may be facing and follow up with a member of your vendors’ training staff to seek advice or get more training to mitigate these issues. If a process is working really well or you are seeing great benefit from a particular feature, maybe someone else in your organization would also see benefit from utilizing the tool. Slowly add new permissions to users throughout this period while striking a balance between robust functionality and software simplicity. These small changes and tweaks to the system will help to address user concerns while simultaneously getting the most out of your software
Medium Term (1 to 2 months)
After about a month of consistent software use, you will have collected enough maintenance history data to begin reporting on these activities. Reporting is one of the most robust and beneficial feature’s that a CMMS can provide. You can analyze in depth data to discover patterns and make better decisions. From HR decisions to repair and replace decisions to reordering spare parts, you can report on a wide variety of items or narrow your focus to view micro data. You will probably require one or two training sessions to adequately dig into your software reporting tools. Since the scope of reporting can be so varied, other members of your team may also find benefit in this feature. Reach out to your vendor to book a reporting-only training session for your team. The vendor can explain different types of reporting that may be helpful for stakeholders on your team, or each member can attend the session with a reporting objective in mind.
Long Term (3 months+):
In addition to reports training, get better acquainted with all features of your software by booking sessions with your vendor’s support team. Make sure that you keep these sessions short -limit them to one hour at a time- but frequent. Once you’re aware of the many ins and outs that your system has to offer, you’ll be able to truly master your software. Keep in mind software vendors come out with new updates throughout the year. Depending on if your system is deployed via web or is an installed solution, these upgrades will be received and communicated to your team differently. With web-based, small changes that may prove to be very beneficial to the user aren’t always directly communicated. That’s why it’s important to stay in the know by taking advantage of free resources that your vendor most likely provides. These ongoing resources include new CMMS content like videos, articles, social media messaging, and blog posts. Subscribe to your vendor’s e-newsletter, follow them on Linked In, and read their latest article. You can also check in with your account rep to see what’s new and what’s on their software development roadmap (aka a timeline of when new features will be released). By staying on top of the latest and greatest, you’ll be the first to get new info and will most likely get to share your opinion on these changes while they are still in beta testing.
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.
