Talking CMMS Maintenance and Asset Management with Gary Jones of ELECO

Gary Jones, Senior Sales Manager at Eleco (PMAC & Shire), draws on 30 years in the CMMS/EAM world to explain why so many digital maintenance projects fail.Main points:Most organizations buy on “shiny thing syndrome” and emotional pain points instead of clear, quantified business outcomes.Buyers rarely prepare properly — they lack documented requirements and don’t involve all stakeholders before talking to vendors.Overbuying is far more common than underbuying. Companies end up with complicated systems they never fully use.Honest maintenance maturity assessment is critical. Match the tool to where you actually are, not where a salesperson says you should be in five years.Implementation and change management are just as important as selection. Poor preparation in the buying phase usually leads to poor adoption later.Relying on a single champion is risky. Successful projects need multiple champions across departments.The industry is slowly shifting from treating CMMS as a compliance checkbox to using it for real operational value, but the skilled trades shortage remains a major ongoing concern.Bottom line from Gary:The software is rarely the real problem. People, process, preparation, and culture decide whether a CMMS succeeds or becomes another expensive failure.