part ii - why-asset-management-system-software-implementations-fail

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Why Asset Management System Software Implementations Fail

Part II - Why Asset Management System Software Implementations Fail

In our prior post Why Asset Management System Implementations Fail - Part I we described the roles of the key players for implementing asset

management system software Each party brings a different skill set to the table which great facili-tators strive to recognize These skill sets are used to provide the expertise and buy-in from others

Critical Points of Failure

At the same time organizational leaders must be wary of as many crucial failure points as possible Some of the more notable points of failure for an implementation are

1 The scope of the project is not adequa-tely defined This occurs when the objec-tives of the customer and the vendor do not match up For example the vendor brings in an energy efficiency expert to map out a plan but the client really wants an auto-mated work order system The result is not

having the right tools or resources for the task at hand

2 The low hanging fruit is not being col-lected Recognize that 80 of the benefits come from 20 of the system therefore it makes sense to give the 20 a higher prio-rity

3 Unresponsive technical support or ope-rational staffs Staff can be unresponsive for any number of reasons ranging from a personality conflict to just having a really bad day Once the trust is gone almost no-thing can bring it back (Something Deloitte and SAP should have recognized early on) All vendor staff or consultants should know basic problem resolution techniques

4 Benchmarks are not set We live in a show me the money business world To avoid show stopping surprises from the customer it is important to be able to measure the success of the implementation at given time frames My guess is this was not adequately done with Marin County

5 Training is ineffective delayed or pus-hed aside Asset system training is the most underestimated value of implemen-tation Ineffective or non-existent training will result in lower system adoption rates end user resistance to using the system fewer people having a strong working knowledge of the system and far less of the system being utilized

Because training is very labor intensive it is often front loaded and intense This brings out other issues such as the staffrsquos ability able to retain more than 10-20 of what has been taught and a significant dependence on vendor technical support If tur-nover is a problem for the customer it is possible that within a year or two no facility employee will

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httpblogmintekcomEnterprise_Asset_Managementbid52196Part-II-Why-Asset-Management-System-Software-Implementations-

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have sufficient system knowledge to accomplish the desired objectives

bull Running out of time andor money to collect asset detail set-up System output is only as good as the information fed into it (garbage in=garbage out) Collecting asset detail is a time consuming process and often requires that manpower be taken offline to gather the needed information

For example a facilities manager might be expected to use their maintenance teams to collect asset detail But if they do this they may not have the resources to perform maintenance and repairs when needed Without careful planning resistance to the new asset management system software will grow

bull The emergence of Dragons A dragon is a p

erson who is either resistant to change or feels threatened by change Left unchecked

they bring in unwanted negativity that can derail an implementation by encouraging others not to buy-into the program Dragons can normally be stopped by including them in the implementation or selling them on how the change will help them do their job better

bull The operations team is not empowered to make the necessary changes to processes The operations implementation team has to have the ability to draw upon whatever re-sources they need to execute change When cooperation with the implementation team is optional the plan will unravel

Why Setting Expectations are Important

Many of the points of failure can be addressed by the vendor making sure they have a clear unders-

tanding of the customerrsquos expectations for bet-ter asset management and measuring results Other issues such as unresponsive support are an opportunity for vendors to exceed customer expectations My experience leads me to firmly believe that clients are more likely to leave be-cause of how a problem was handled then over the problem itself

As mentioned previously the setting of expecta-tions begins with the vendor salesperson and the executive or decision makers for the customer The process does not stop once the implementa-tion has started This is because of things rarely go according to plan Parties should be willing to adjust their expectations should unanticipated events occur

Many of the actual customer expectations are going to be handled with the sales contract It is not possible for me to list all the items that could be in a contract but it is possible to identify a few of the major expectations

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Expectations that Should be Addressed

bull The overall scope of the implementation in-cluding who will be involved and what they will be accountable for

bull A listing of customer objectives such as work order automation knowledge trans-fer space planning

bull A listing of vendor responses to the cus-tomer that describes what can be done to meet the customerrsquos objectives such using mobile handheld devices document han-dling and so on

bull How much customization will be required and what are the costs

bull Who will perform the set-up of the asset detail (customer staff vendor 3rd party)

bull The amount of training and the realistic re-sults of proposed asset management system training

bull Who will be trained how and where will this occur

bull How often will they be retrained bull Roll out schedule for large organizations or

multiple propertiesbull Benchmarks of success how will the client

know the system is working as sold

The purpose of these items is simply to make sure that the vendor understands the clients expectations and that the client is fully aware of the changes being implemented and what is required on their part to make this occur

By understanding the roles of the players critical points of failure and expectations clients and ven-dors can now review their resources to see if a third party is needed The final post of this series will take a look at some of the reasons a 3rd party may be needed to ensure a successful implementation

Share with us the problems with implementations that you have witnessed How many of the issues could have been resolved with better communi-cation

If you liked this article you may also enjoy reading

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have sufficient system knowledge to accomplish the desired objectives

bull Running out of time andor money to collect asset detail set-up System output is only as good as the information fed into it (garbage in=garbage out) Collecting asset detail is a time consuming process and often requires that manpower be taken offline to gather the needed information

For example a facilities manager might be expected to use their maintenance teams to collect asset detail But if they do this they may not have the resources to perform maintenance and repairs when needed Without careful planning resistance to the new asset management system software will grow

bull The emergence of Dragons A dragon is a p

erson who is either resistant to change or feels threatened by change Left unchecked

they bring in unwanted negativity that can derail an implementation by encouraging others not to buy-into the program Dragons can normally be stopped by including them in the implementation or selling them on how the change will help them do their job better

bull The operations team is not empowered to make the necessary changes to processes The operations implementation team has to have the ability to draw upon whatever re-sources they need to execute change When cooperation with the implementation team is optional the plan will unravel

Why Setting Expectations are Important

Many of the points of failure can be addressed by the vendor making sure they have a clear unders-

tanding of the customerrsquos expectations for bet-ter asset management and measuring results Other issues such as unresponsive support are an opportunity for vendors to exceed customer expectations My experience leads me to firmly believe that clients are more likely to leave be-cause of how a problem was handled then over the problem itself

As mentioned previously the setting of expecta-tions begins with the vendor salesperson and the executive or decision makers for the customer The process does not stop once the implementa-tion has started This is because of things rarely go according to plan Parties should be willing to adjust their expectations should unanticipated events occur

Many of the actual customer expectations are going to be handled with the sales contract It is not possible for me to list all the items that could be in a contract but it is possible to identify a few of the major expectations

15102010 2110


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ere

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end

you

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blogmintekcom



















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part ii - why-asset-management-system-software-implementations-fail

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