Patrick,
For full disclosure the company I work for, TRM, sells IBM Maximo, an Asset and Work Management EAM suite of solutions. That said, in your case, the final software/tools solution doesn't really matter… it's the change management process.
The first step is having a clear view into the value of the consolidation. What are the tangible points of value that this change is expected to have? Can you point to objective evidence that a change of this magnitude has had real benefit elsewhere? Can you point to specific benefits to all of the user communities involved, supporting their buy in? Cool looking apps on a tablet is not a good enough reason. Do not put yourself in a "sales," position for the solution. It needs to sell itself.
Then comes the diagraming and requirements gathering phase. The goal is not to replicate your current inefficient processes into the cool new apps! Rather, it is an opportunity to question each input, step, and output of your processes. Just because you've been doing business a certain way for 25 years does not mean that way needs to find its way into your new set of tools. Maybe the tools have a best-practice foundation you can take advantage of. Clear diagrams of everyone's processes are critical. Only then can you find the commonalities and vast differences that turn into requirements for the solution(s).
I am a big fan of "hand flying," or piloting a proposed new process set in the selected software solution. In your context, it appears many different groups of users will be expecting the new set of software tools will fully support their job functions. While that seems an obvious statement, it is important that everyone impacted by the change be involved as the solution evolves. Being able to do real work in a piloted solution goes a long way towards adoption and real value to the business. Taking an Agile vs. waterfall approach to solution development can also be beneficial as folks can see progress and have time to ponder further details.
Hope this helps. Thanks for the scenario! Stop by the TRM or IDCON booths (or our sessions) @ SMRP and lets you and I talk more!
John Q. Todd
TRM – Sr. Business Consultant
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John Todd
Total Resource Management
Alexandria VA
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-25-2022 08:08 AM
From: Patrick Allan
Subject: Consolidation of Work Management Systems
Hello All,
My utility has been undergoing a major Business Model review to shift from an energy delivery and generation stream (Generation, Transmission, Distribution and Gas) business unit structure to a integrated delivery model (Asset Management and Operations Business Units). As such we are consolidating CMMS technologies and Work Management Processes into one Enterprise Asset Management System to support our new AM division.
Has anyone else gone through such an effort?
Where did you start?
What were some of your major challenges?
How did you get buy in from the maintenance planners/technicians?
How did you consolidate Asset Management work methods with customer focused work methods (Distribution is heavily customer focused and some work is on customer assets or inspections of customer hook ups)?
Did you integrate design groups into your Work Management system to help schedule and track their efforts on maintenance and capital work?
What technology did you land on for your Enterprise Asset Management System?
Thanks
Patrick
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Patrick Allan
Winnipeg MB
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