Maintenance management solutions is the phrase vendors use when they want to cover the whole market, from a free work order app to an enterprise asset system, and it hides the one thing a buyer needs to know: which size of operation a product is built for. This page sorts maintenance management programs by that size, says what software maintenance management and software for maintenance management mean when they appear on a quote, and gives the short test a buyer applies to any product whatever it calls itself.
The phrase and what it covers
A maintenance management solution is any product that holds the four records: the register, the schedule, the work orders and the history. That covers a free tier for a team of two, a mid-market CMMS for a plant, and an enterprise asset management system for a multi-site company. The phrase on a quote means the vendor is selling the category; the tier and the modules underneath it are what the buyer is actually getting.
By size of operation
For a few dozen assets and one or two technicians: a free or entry-tier CMMS, or the worksheets on this site until the overdue list needs a screen. For a few hundred assets and a small team: a mid-market CMMS with mobile work orders, meter-based scheduling and a reporting screen, which is where this site's worked example of 180 assets sits. For thousands of assets, several sites, stores and procurement: an enterprise system with an implementation project. Buying the tier above your size costs a year of configuration; buying the tier below costs a migration.
Reading the quote
Software maintenance management on a quote usually means the licence for the core records. Software for maintenance management with modules listed means inventory, purchasing, integrations and sensors are being sold alongside, each a tier boundary. Ask which tier holds the register, the schedule, the mobile work order and the reporting, and price that; the modules are added when the site needs them, and most small sites never do.
The short test
Import fifty of your own assets. Put ten tasks on them with a checklist. Close five work orders from a phone with findings. Find the overdue list and the reactive share without asking. Export everything. Any product that passes that test is a maintenance management solution for your size; any that fails it is one for someone else's.
Questions people ask about maintenance management solutions
Are maintenance management solutions and CMMS the same thing?
In practice yes. CMMS is what most of the category calls itself; solutions is the broader marketing term that also covers EAM.
What does a small business need from a maintenance management program?
The four records, a phone app that closes work orders, and a reporting screen with the reactive share. Everything else is for a larger site.
How do I compare maintenance management programs?
On your own register, in a trial, with the short test above. Feature lists compare vendors with each other; the trial compares them with your site.