Software as a service—commonly referred to as SaaS—is a rapidly growing industry. With SaaS, customers’ software needs are met through remotely-hosted applications, typically paid for via subscription. According to Forbes, the industry has experienced a growth of $200 billion in the last five years and is expected to earn $369.4 billion in 2024. SaaS’s tremendous growth has been fueled by several breakthrough applications, like Slack, and because it offers a host of other benefits.
One important SaaS niche is asset and maintenance management, which has revolutionized the way businesses manage their assets. The SaaS model allows customized services according to business needs and allows managing large amounts of assets through a single platform. That makes it ideal as the basis for maintenance management.
However, it is imperative to look at why and how SaaS serves as an ideal platform for maintenance management software:
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Flexibility:
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Maintenance management is different for every organization—it depends on the size, complexity, and nature of the business. Some assets are more expensive than others, are more vital to the business’s function, and may require special equipment to maintain. The process of asset maintenance can and should be tailored in software to account for the type of assets, and differentiate between high-value and low-value assets. Flexibility also helps improve customer experience and increase efficiency.
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Integrations:
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SaaS-based solutions often come with integrations with other SaaS offerings which allows both platforms to provide their services through a single interface. This not only offers convenience for users but improves the overall experience of the product. Maintenance management can be streamlined through fast ticket resolution, for instance, if the software integrates with solutions like Jira. That kind of closely coupled software approach allows you to generate service tickets and link them to items that require maintenance, rather than track identical assets in two different systems. This helps avoid any unforeseen maintenance expenses and reduces confusion.
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Accessibility:
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To provide a holistic platform, several asset management solutions either offer maintenance management as an important feature or base their products on maintenance management software. Since this software is available online, it’s easily accessible to users, allowing multiple authorized users to log in to the account to carry out business operations. And if your business is based in several locations, authorized users will be able to manage their location-specific assets.
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Scalable usage:
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As your company experiences rapid growth, flexible, easy-to-use maintenance management software comes in handy for better asset management. New features may become available, or more advanced features become relevant; with a SaaS solution, businesses can use or request new software capabilities via modules, without purchasing a whole new solution. This scalability helps businesses that need to use certain functions of the software and those which need to manage a variety of assets. Growth doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing, either: use can expand department or division to expand users’ access as needed.
» Major Ways You Can Streamline Maintenance Management
An intuitive maintenance management software makes it easier for your business to cut costs, and optimize asset usage. And with SaaS systems, the system’s ability to transparently evolve means you always have access to the most advanced system. Here are some benefits of employing maintenance management software:
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Preventative maintenance:
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Maintenance processes require consistent asset monitoring and servicing, which varies radically by asset: needs could include lubrication, battery fixes, equipment inspection, firmware updates, and more. Analyzing faults in your equipment well before they lead to failure is beneficial to maintain your assets, and avoiding unforeseen expenses. If the IT team does not keep track of laptop batteries or enforce best practices for handling laptops, then the chance of an employee’s laptop breaking down increases. A proactive, SaaS-based asset-management approach keeps your assets in their best shape. You can schedule maintenance events from time to time so regular service checks can be carried out, especially on high-value assets. This also helps expand the lifecycle of your assets, and improve asset safety.
With maintenance management software, you have the liberty to manage resources based on user roles, too, so certain staff members’ access can be limited or expanded to allow efficient use of resources. Through preventive maintenance, you can also prioritize assets based on their expected business returns. So, if certain assets are higher-value than others, then stepped-up maintenance plans can be executed to reduce equipment malfunctioning.
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Alerts for faster response:
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Automated maintenance helps improve your business efficiency and business operations. With regular maintenance alerts, you are always up-to-date with your maintenance schedules and activities. For example, if you start an asset service, then the relevant stakeholders will be sent an email notification noting the start of the service. This helps notify the asset owner of the action, and minimize confusion. Asset security is also guaranteed because only authorized users can schedule the maintenance.
With the help of maintenance alerts, users can make alternative arrangements if a repair or maintenance activity is going to take longer than expected. Users can also stay abreast of the maintenance timeline through automated alerts. These service alerts make it easier for the users to avoid unnecessary equipment downtime as the user will always be aware of the important maintenance timelines, and be able to plan around them.
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Recurring maintenance schedules:
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With SaaS-based maintenance management, you can improve collaboration and ensure that you do not miss out on needed maintenance by scheduling recurring maintenance. You can set how often you want the service to repeat while defining the start and end dates. Further, your asset can be scheduled to be sent automatically for maintenance.
Tracking recurring maintenance also allows you to keep detailed service records. You can even keep a check on the amount of time it takes for equipment to repair, so that you avoid future malfunctions, and derive insights into your IT operations. You can catch a bigger problem through service history records if an asset is being sent for frequent repairs. For example, if a refrigerator is checked in for repair multiple times, then it may require a part replacement.
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Compliance checklists for safety:
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Having a safe worksite is essential. Compliance checklists are vital to providing complete instructions to users regarding the repair and maintenance routines of the assets they need; these checklists also help vendors know exactly what is expected of them and the protocols that need to be taken care of. If you send a specialized piece of equipment such as a drilling machine for repair, for instance, you can attach the repair manual along with a checklist so that the right steps are followed and all repair needs are met.
Checklists make it easier for you to stay compliant with maintenance requirements and guarantee that your assets are always well-maintained. Also, compliance checklists play an important role in ensuring that rules and regulations are followed. With distributed assets, especially across a wide area, effective compliance tracking requires access to maintenance records stored in the cloud, and available to all authorized users. With that, administrators can ensure that their departmental assets are never neglected, no matter where they’re located.
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Mobile application to increase accessibility:
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SaaS-based systems are ideal for providing service via mobile app. Mobile accessibility makes it simpler and more convenient for both managers and end-users to access maintenance data from anywhere using mobile devices. The ability to use asset-related data from various locations makes it easier for you to streamline maintenance management. For example, if you find a broken tractor at a construction site that needs immediate repair, the site inspector or other employee can notify the vendor, and schedule the tractor’s repair by using the maintenance management software. This accelerates issue resolution, allowing you to have your asset back and functioning as soon as possible.
The portability of mobile devices means that an app-based approach speeds up item selection and reduces paperwork needs, making it simple to send multiple items for repair at once. And well-functioning assets mean continuous business operations—key to customer satisfaction and good user experience. By saving time and effort in maintenance, you can reallocate important business resources to other areas, such as improving asset procurement.
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Improved inventory management:
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Inventory management is a crucial part of business operations. Delays in finding spare parts for your broken equipment are frustrating and time-consuming: lack of control over inventory can quickly turn into an inability to respond to customer requests on time. Based on your business objectives and asset management plan, you can manage inventory well by
- Setting minimum or maximum inventory thresholds
- Sending email alerts for low inventory levels
- Maintaining vendor details to track the supplier
- Enforcing role-based access to maintain confidentiality and security
- Tracking inventory using barcodes, QR codes, or other identifiers
These functionalities expedite maintenance processes and ensure that you have the most efficient inventory levels for your unique needs, such as spare parts, lubricants for oiling construction equipment, or specialized maintenance tools. This not only creates confidence that repairs will be done on time but develops transparency and meets business requirements.
» How is a SaaS-based system useful for better asset management?
Maintenance management software can help improve your business functions, by consolidating and streamlining several processes. SaaS vendors especially focus on providing a satisfying experience to their customers through the provision of holistic software solutions that can cater to customers’ specific needs. Regular inspections and audits are important elements in maintenance management that can also be scheduled and recorded through cloud-based platforms. Smooth maintenance management is especially handy when your business is scaling, and cloud flexibility makes a SaaS management platform the ideal choice.
Author name: Rida Fatima
I am working as a Technical Content Writer at EZOfficeInventory, a leading IT asset tracking, and maintenance management software. I specialize in writing technical blogs for the company aimed at spreading knowledge about the usability and viability of its products. With a great interest in the tech industry, I am excited about how technology continues to evolve and be a significant part of business operations. Apart from professional work, I love writing poetry and photographing nature.
