10 criteria for choosing your CMMS software 

Once you have decided to equip your vessel with CMMS software, you still have to find the one that will suit you best. To choose the CMMS that is right for you, there are a few criteria worth knowing. 

1 - Analyse your needs 🔎

Before buying CMMS software, you need to understand your own requirements: which software suits the size of my vessel? For how many vessels? For how many users? Do I need support or training? Do I need a heavyweight enterprise system or a tool that is easy to use? Depending on your answers and your needs, you will settle on the software that best matches your project.  

2 - Define your objectives 💪

Buying and installing CMMS software is not an end in itself: depending on your project, a notebook or an Excel file may well be enough. What matters most is working out, for your company and your organisation, which solution is the best fit and will help you meet your objectives in planning, cost control and sharing information across the company. If you want a reliable history and advanced functionality, you will certainly find CMMS software on the market that fits. 

3 - An online or offline solution 📶

Getting a connection at sea can be very difficult, if not impossible, once you are well offshore 😤 There are of course solutions that give crews internet access (link to article on connectivity at sea), but at a cost that not every shipping company can afford. 

So you need to decide whether you need software that works offline or software that requires an internet connection. Software that works offline will inevitably cost more, because it usually means installing hardware on board (an on-board server) or installing the software directly on the ship's PCs, which makes updates harder. Service costs are often higher for synchronisation and support. This type of solution suits large vessels that spend a lot of time offshore. 

For smaller shipping companies, vessels are mostly operating along the coast and have a mobile connection. Technical maintenance is also mostly carried out ashore by dedicated teams. Online software is therefore a good fit for this type of organisation because:

•  there is no hardware to install, 
• updates are very easy and come at no extra cost
• costs are controlled, both for setup and for support
• data is synchronised in real time between the vessels and the company head office.

At Smart Sailors, we have chosen to offer our clients both: online software accessible from any computer with an internet connection, and a mobile application that works online or offline.

4 - Managing your users 👥

User rights define who can do what inside the software. Once it is installed, agree within your shipping company who will look after what in the CMMS. This can help share out roles on board more clearly and limit the risk of errors and misunderstandings. That way, every member of the crew can manage their own module. You would not want a crew member to accidentally delete data you needed (but rest assured, with its full audit history, Smart Sailors keeps a record of everything, deletions included 👌). 

5 - Support 🧑‍💻

User support is an aspect of your CMMS software that deserves careful thought. With SaaS (Software as a Service), when you buy software you are also buying a service that runs for as long as you use it. You will always have questions that go unanswered if you buy a licence with no personal follow-up behind it. After using the CMMS for a while, your needs will grow and you will want new features and other services that better match those needs. With SaaS, you always have follow-up and help so that the software keeps matching your requirements. Good user support is what keeps your business running smoothly with the CMMS. At the first sign of a problem with your software, you can be sure of a quick answer (especially at Smart Sailors 😉). 

6 - Training 🗣

Having CMMS software is not enough in itself: you have to know how to use it and embed it properly in the way your company works. You need to make sure your software genuinely reflects your vessel. Over time, and as crew members change, you can lose efficiency with your software, which is why training is a key point. So check whether the supplier is responsive and ready to answer all your questions (at Smart Sailors we have a chat and we reply within the hour 😎). 

7 - Mobile application 📱

You need to know whether you spend more time on your computer or on your phone on board, and ask yourself whether in future you want the software on your computer and/or your phone. At Smart Sailors we have developed a mobile application (alongside the desktop software) that lets you manage your vessel from your phone alone. 

8 - Database volume 📦

You would not want to receive an alert telling you that you have reached your storage limit, would you? 😟 Ask yourself whether the software has enough space to store your databases, and how much storage you would actually need. Knowing the storage limits is an important thing to establish before committing to any software. With our CMMS, storage is virtually unlimited. 

9 - Data security 🔒

Protecting your data matters: nobody wants to lose all the information they have entered into the software. You need to establish beforehand whether your future CMMS software guarantees your data is fully secure. Smart Sailors is reliable over time, with several servers synchronising continuously, which is your guarantee of zero data loss 🤓

10 - Price / budget 💸

It is important to set your budget before starting out with CMMS software. Make sure your future CMMS matches that budget and is not overly expensive for what you actually need. At Smart Sailors, we offer a subscription at €250 per month, or €500 for the full feature set. We also have a completely free plan that gives you access to 60% of the CMMS functionality. 

If you would like to book a meeting, click here: https://help.smartsailors.net/fr/articles/5403125-comment-creer-un-compte-sur-smart-sailors