Initial Assessment

The most effective means of defining the information systems to support the asset management program is by completing a thorough needs analysis or project evaluation. The needs analysis aims to:

• Determine the asset groups involved, their approximate number and valuation
• Identify the condition of the assets
• Determine the specific information needs required for the assets
• Determine the corporate organization's needs for financial and technical data
• Determine the business unit, regional unit and asset groups needs
• Determine the workforce needs for each of the asset groups
• Determine the ultimate system configuration to meet existing needs and perceived future needs
• Complete an audit of the existing systems and determine the most viable means to get from the existing systems to the proposed systems
• Determine the sources of data and the resources required to collect this data and enter it into the proposed systems
• Determine the total resources required in terms of software, hardware, data collection, and implementation
• Determine the potential benefits resulting from the asset management systems
• Determine a suitable program based on cost/benefit priorities for the implementation of the systems
• Establish a suitable time frame based on the organization's capability to finance the program.