The unstoppable growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) is causing a transformation to take place in the manufacturing industry. IoT provides an avenue for machinery and other physical devices to collect data and report it through Internet transmission. It’s this type of dynamic that has already created the changes seen within multiple manufacturing systems throughout the world. One of those systems being Computerized Maintenance Management Software (CMMS).

Cloud CMMS gives manufacturers the option to manage computing services and access data over the internet as opposed to using hardware installed on-premise. This includes things like security, data storage, business intelligence, analytics, and networking. By installing Cloud CMMS, manufacturers can scale their business as needs change, decrease operation costs and run organizational infrastructure more effectively.  

Why Cloud and not On-premises CMMS? 

The reasons for moving to the cloud are often different for various organizations. The markets each organization serves, and the size of these businesses usually play a role in why they decide to make the move. For example, smaller manufacturing businesses often make the move because of financial reasons. Cloud CMMS eliminates the expense needed to maintain hardware and to pay IT professionals to manage the complex on-premises systems. 

In today’s ever-changing manufacturing environment, another advantage to installing cloud CMMS is that it provides flexibility. How? It allows employees to access organizational data anywhere there’s internet access. This is very advantageous, especially as we now know a pandemic and a forced work-from-home situation was a reality and could become a reality again in the future. Security might be a concern for many manufacturers if they think of employees accessing business data from anywhere. But remember that the organization’s data will not be on employees’ computers, but instead securely stored in the cloud. 

Other manufacturing organizations decide to take the leap to the cloud because of data accuracy, increase in productivity, and less manual data capturing. On-premises CMMS requires employing and paying staff that’s well-versed in IT to install updates regularly, maintain the network and integrate the system with external software applications. By moving to the cloud, organizations host all their maintenance data securely on the service providers’ servers, leaving more room to focus on important organizational tasks like business growth, managing customers, and addressing product issues.

 

Benefits of Cloud CMMS

Security

Data on the cloud is stored and protected by some of the best encryption standards available in the world, and besides that, by storing data on the cloud, maintenance managers can be sure data does not get lost, the chance of hardware failure is decreased significantly, and virus attack risks are mitigated too.

According to Cybint, 95% of cybersecurity breaches are caused by human error. 

By implementing Cloud CMMS, both maintenance managers and owners can experience peace of mind. 

Predictable costs

When using on-premises CMMS, things like system downtime and hardware recycles, costs organizations money, and interferes with productivity. By moving to Cloud CMMS, these things are of the past, as one pays a set amount each month, which makes it easier to stick to your budget.

Fast performance

Cloud CMMS runs on extremely fast fiber optic technology, meaning, data transactions are quick and efficient. This type of technology outperforms traditional hardware anywhere from 40% to 200% (Plant Engineering, 2021). 

Easy scalability

When organizations grow or add a new facility, Cloud CMMS eliminates issues such as hardware profiling and installation or network upgrades that usually accompany moving with on-premises CMMS. This means growing your business is easier than ever!

Moving to Cloud CMMS

Cloud CMMS implementation varies for each company. Two of the influencing factors are the amount of data that has to be transferred and the type of maintenance system you are moving from and to. Some CMMS systems are very basic and include features like asset management, work order tracking, and employee management. Other, more advanced systems, like Proteus CMMS, is a scalable and versatile cloud-based suite that manages, schedules, tracks, and reports your maintenance activities. These larger and more advanced systems generally have more data to transfer and, therefore,  it also takes more time to do so.

As for a general timeframe for moving from on-premises to the cloud, for an organization with advanced CMMS systems, many integrations, and lots of data, it might take up to 3 months to complete the migration. For smaller organizations with fewer data and integrations, one can expect to complete the process in about two weeks. 

Luckily, there is not a big learning process involved in the transition, as on-premises and cloud CMMS often look and work the same from a user’s point of view. 

Who should consider Cloud CMMS

Big organizations that have facilities in different parts of the world, will significantly benefit from the centralization a Cloud CMMS offers. With a robust CMMS like Proteus MMX, this type of centralization means different languages and time zones become irrelevant, as all organizational data is in a central location offered in various languages. Dynamic businesses, continually looking to grow, are also parties who could benefit from Cloud CMMS. Why? Because by implementing the cloud means eliminating the need for installing hardware infrastructure at new facilities.

Manufacturers that have to comply with many requirements from regulatory bodies, should also consider using the cloud, as should businesses who want to make sure their data stays safe and is backed up regularly. 

Even though Proteus MMX can be an on-premises maintenance management system, it also prides itself on its advanced and comprehensive cloud platform. Eagle has been in the CMMS business for more than 30 years and has tried and tested everything maintenance management-related. To keep your data safe, grow your business easily and save money, call Eagle at 262-241-3845 or send us an email or schedule a demo.