Phoenix Data Systems is a trusted provider of CMMS software. AIMS (Asset Information Management System), the company’s signature software, is used by tens of thousands of HTM professionals around the world. Phoenix was formed in the early days of specialized software based on the urgent need for hospitals to have a computerized maintenance work order system.
In 1984, the first AIMS was delivered to eight Michigan hospitals. Presently, AIMS is used in almost 3,000 hospitals in 22 countries and by an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 users each day.
Phoenix’ success is based on a collaborative partnership approach with our customers. Phoenix listens, builds and delivers both quality CMMS software and quality support service. The software is constantly improving with two software releases per year to satisfy customers’ wants/needs and regulatory requirements.
Phoenix Data Systems Inc. CEO/President Ben Mannisto recently shared more information about the trailblazing company.
Q: What are some advantages that your company has over the competition?
Mannisto: AIMS was specifically created by health care engineers for health care clients and has been a CMMS system explicitly dedicated to the health care industry for over 35 years. The Phoenix staff has extensive experience with CMMS software implementations, database conversions and ongoing customer support. Phoenix’ customer support satisfaction scores in the last three years have been 94% to 97%. Arguably the highest in the CMMS industry.
Q: What are some challenges that your company faced last year?
Mannisto: Our hospital customers deferred many capital projects in 2020 and early 2021. Once hospitals became less busy with COVID, the deferred business has been reinstituted and Phoenix is enjoying a backlog, the highest in the company’s history. Phoenix’ biggest challenge is to find qualified staff to support the growth.
Q: Can you please explain your company’s core competencies and unique selling points?
Mannisto: Phoenix has approached the complexity of creating a solution for small, individual hospitals to large, multi-site health systems by providing each user the ability to define their preferences for hospital count and breadth of feature and function. AIMS 3 can also interface with almost any third-party application, giving customers the freedom of customizing even further than the numerous optional components. Health care is our only business, and our extensive experience is reflected in the software’s ease of use and creative features and functions.
Q: What product or service that your company offers are you most excited about right now?
Mannisto: AIMS 3 is 35 years of hospital technician and management needs combined and optimized in a completely new rebuild of the AIMS platform. AIMS 3 makes the users experience easier and more efficient with meaningful labor savings.
A Phoenix subsidiary, Superior Analytics, provides its services to hospitals using any CMMS software. Superior can analyze an HTM department using any of the 15 identified very relative department KPIs. These metrics show a comprehensive HTM department profile indicating where the potential areas of improvements are. The hospital’s ROI for fees to do the analysis are typically 300-500%.
Q: What is on the horizon for your company?
Mannisto: We expect continued growth with the release of our AIMS 3 software and combined excitement with the services we offer through Superior Analytics. Phoenix and AIMS have numerous future activities and ideas for software expansion that will facilitate making the HTM departments more efficient, more effective and more visible as to where they are doing a good job versus where they can do better.
Q: Can you share some company success stories with our readers?
Mannisto: Customer needs are the primary force that drives the AIMS product. Phoenix will often design and implement specific solutions for our customers.
For example, a 40-hospital group determined that (a) their receipt of products to a central warehouse is important before distribution to the hospitals; and (b) the redistribution of the obsolete equipment must be warehoused to optimize a sale, relocation to another hospital, or donated.
Phoenix presently is designing a warehouse optional component to handle all of these needs and a number of other activities. The software will be a major add to the AIMS 3 software and will be phased in by the various sections of the warehouse operations over the next two years.
Q: Can you describe your company’s facility?
Mannisto: Phoenix’ corporate office is located in Southfield, Michigan. However, many of our employees enjoy flexible working conditions with the ability to work from home.
Q: Can you highlight any recent changes to your company?
Mannisto: Management commonly knows that quality work is reflective of the individuals and team experience. Because of the accelerated customer growth of AIMS 3, Phoenix has expanded our team and acquired some very able employees who have extensive experience in health care CMMS.
Q: Can you tell us more about your employees?
Mannisto: Phoenix has many key employees. However, it is important to highlight Aaron Peters, the 18-year AIMS product manager. Aaron supervised the team that designed AIMS 3 from the very beginning to its current condition. Aaron works closely with customers and is constantly improving the software through close communication and innovative thinking. AIMS 3 is being well recognized by the HTM community and Phoenix enjoys many new customers because of it.
Q: What is your company’s mission statement?
Mannisto: Phoenix’ mission is to stay current with ever changing health care needs and, where practical, stay ahead of any HTM health care requirements. This commitment to our users’ efficiency and ease of doing business is one of Phoenix’ foundational values. This has helped build Phoenix from a nominal number of customers in 1984 to roughly 3,000 hospitals presently. Phoenix cares about our users’ experience and this shows through our solid, long-term relationships with customers. The average relationship is longer than 20 years, and many of our customers began using AIMS as early as 1984. Many of those early customers have never used any other CMMS. “Choose AIMS 3 and you will never search for another CMMS”
Phoenix is committed long term to health care CMMS and nothing else.
For more information, visit goaims.com
