Understanding data management in asset management: A survey

Abstract

Data and information management systems have become a cornerstone for almost all operations of an organisation by providing quality, timely data for decision support. Information systems have progressed to cover a wide variety of asset management areas including asset registration, financial management, process scheduling and control, materials management, maintenance management, condition monitoring, risk management, reliability management, and safety management. Past studies into data management within asset management have focused on understanding why specific systems or specific data management processes are implemented in a firm. However, there has been little investigation into the broader picture of such asset management information systems and their overall data integration strategies. An exploratory, cross-sectional survey was conducted during 2007 and 2008 that explored a variety of data management issues in asset management across more than forty organisations. The survey research questions addressed practices in information system selection, data warehousing, integration, and data retention. Results show the significant adoption of information systems and data warehousing across different industries; the primary use of information systems to streamline business processes and enhance reporting; and the strong desire for improved system integration for next generation asset management information systems.