Smartware Group
Perfect Blend of Powerful Functionality and Simplicity

Be it a manufacturing facility, hospital, or data center, maintenance professionals are great at fixing things, “but they are not necessarily adept at navigating complex software,” opines Paul Lachance, President and CTO, Smartware Group. “Just because a technician works for major companies, such as Yahoo or RagingWire, does not mean elaborate software can be just thrust upon them. Ease-of-use is highly important. We want to give our customers more wrench time, not more computer time,” states Lachance. Smartware Group’s Bigfoot Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) effectively manages an organization’s maintenance needs and increases workforce productivity.

We want to give our customers more wrench time, and not more computer time

Given the data center industry’s rapid growth, the capital expenditure of a data center is enormous. “The number of equipment to be maintained per square foot in a data center relative to a manufacturing facility is significantly higher,” says Lachance. Some companies are slow in realizing the importance of having well-maintained assets and the impact a CMMS implementation can have on their bottom lines. “It is far less expensive to have a properly-maintained organization than to increase in size and capacity because of a poor maintenance plan,” he adds. As the usage of sensors in data centers continues to increase, Smartware Group consolidates data from these sensors and enables companies to trigger more accurate actions for preventive as well as corrective maintenance. “We work with truckloads of data to present insights that translate to better running assets and prolonged asset longevity,” says Lachance.

Being one of the early organizations to provide cloud-based CMMS, Smartware Group quickly recognized the power of new browser technology in 2010 and redesigned their software to fully utilize the potential of latest development tools. “We take the tried-and-true CMMS core functionality and adapt it to current devices, like tablets and browsers,” remarks Lachance. Smartware Group places pride in not only paying close attention to technology trends, but also in providing a strong emphasis on listening to users. “Our customers give us some of the best ideas of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of our software,” he adds.

When one of Smartware Group’s large customers, with 90 facilities around the country and thousands of users, needed a way to ensure that their technicians were reading the safety material prior to performing critical tasks, it paved the way for a new Bigfoot add-on module. During this collaborative project, Smartware Group came up with the crucial Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) module that is now bundled in with Bigfoot CMMS Enterprise+. “A CMMS with expanded-reporting capabilities makes it easier for maintenance professionals to operate safely while complying with Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations. This helps companies avoid the hidden costs of non-compliance,” states Lachance.

Over 10,000 users worldwide rely on Bigfoot CMMS today. “We use Bigfoot CMMS to schedule our maintenance hours. By automating the schedule, we can perform planned maintenance tasks during regular work hours. That keeps our clients up and running while we save money,” says Chris Thames, Senior Director of Critical Facilities Operations at RagingWire—a designer, builder, and operator of over 1,000,000 square feet of data center space.

Moreover, realizing that complex systems are not everyone’s cup of tea, Lachance ensures that Bigfoot is elegant, simple and easy to implement. The company provides interfaces like OPC Interface for smart building automation, single sign-on Active Directory, and Web Services Tool Kit to deliver the best of both worlds—powerful functionality and simplicity for a quick ROI—hence the Bigfoot tagline, “Quick to Learn for Quick Results™.”

Moving forward, Smartware Group will continue to focus on what they do best: deliver advanced functionality in a user-friendly system. “We will always be looking to innovate where we can and continue to create powerful yet simple software,” asserts Lachance.