Whether you run an apartment complex or a nuclear power plant, work order management is one of the most crucial aspects of any maintenance management software. It streamlines the process of getting maintenance done and centralizes key communications into a single platform everyone can use. But how do you choose a work order management system? We’re here to break down the steps and help you find the best work order management solution for your business.
What Is Work Order Management?
Work order management (WOM) refers to the process of managing work orders that need to be performed. This can range from IT specialists completing customer service tickets to construction workers finishing items on a jobsite checklist. WOM systems facilitate and streamline the processes that work orders go through from creation to completion.
Benefits of WOM
With WOM software, managers can track and manage work orders from a central dashboard. This negates the need to bounce between email, Excel 
spreadsheets and any other software you might use in the process of managing your work orders. This saves minutes or hours of employee time a day, which adds up in the long run.
Managers can assign role-based access to the WOM system, which allows them to control what level of user has access to each step in the work order process. For example, you might want only clients to be able to create work orders, and only admins to be able to mark them closed. This prevents falsified work order creation and ensures oversight in work completion and quality.
With work order management, users can standardize work order submissions. This saves technicians time in understanding what is expected of them and makes customer service actions much easier to address. WOM also offers real-time updates on maintenance tasks so users can know right away when a key asset is back online.
How Do I Choose a WOM System?
WOM comes in a range of packages. It can be a standalone system that only offers work order features, or it can come as a module in a maintenance/asset management system or an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software system. There are several factors to keep in mind to determine which is best for you:
When to Choose WOM
You can get a standalone WOM system if you have minimal or specific needs. For example, if you only need a system to complete property maintenance, you may not want the more robust features offered by the other options on this list. A simple WOM process can improve the operations of an SMB on a budget significantly.
When to Choose CMMS/EAM
WOM is also a key facet of computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) and enterprise asset management (EAM) systems. The other main features of these systems are maintenance, asset and inventory management, so if you don’t need any of those features, this option might be too robust for you. Choosing an EAM/CMMS is a great option for organizations looking to consolidate various tasks into a single software system or to upgrade from a standalone WOM. It comes at a range of price points to accommodate a wide variety of budgets.
When to Choose ERP
ERP is one of the most sprawling types of software there is. It delivers a wide variety of tasks in a single interface. Some of these tasks include accounting, HR, procurement, CRM and of course work order management. This type of software can be a lifesaver to a large organization trying to consolidate a range of different business software types. It may also be a good choice for a mid-market organization looking for the wide range of modules offered by ERP. For anyone looking for just work order management or WOM with a little extra, ERP will likely be too expansive (and expensive!) to practically implement.
WOM Selection Process
Once you have decided which of the above types of systems you think would be best — just a general idea is a great start — you can move on to the selection
process. We recommend creating a general requirements checklist for the tasks you would like your WOM software to help with. This will help you narrow down the solutions that best meet those requirements.
Many sites and services can offer in-depth reviews of different work order management products, so don’t hesitate to reach out to one in order to find the right system. You should create a shortlist of the top three to six platforms that look the most promising.
Contacting vendors is the next step. You can get custom price quotes to give you a realistic expectation for how much a solution will really cost you. Vendors (like FacilityONE) also usually offer free demos or trials so you can get an idea of how the system looks and feels in real life. This should allow you to narrow your search to the best fit for your business.
Do you have questions about how FacilityONE could be the perfect work order management solution for you? Contact us here or leave a question in the comments!
