Better Maintenance Tracking Coming from KerberTech

Ankeny, IA – November 30, 2009 – Kerber Technology Solutions, LLC (KerberTech) has announced it is in the process of building a new web-based application for organizations to track the maintenance of their assets (vehicles and other equipment). The system is being called Maintenance Book. It is essentially a CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) focused on preventive maintenance and the tracking of service and repairs.

Maintenance Book is a customizable program that gives fleet and equipment managers a comprehensive and economical way to record and retrieve service and maintenance information. It was created to provide businesses and agencies of all types and sizes an efficient way to keep their valuable inventory in peak condition, and, as applicable, to realize a higher resale value when those capital items are retired.

The Maintenance Book concept was the winning business innovation idea at the 2009 EntreFest! entrepreneurship conference held March 5-6, 2009 in Coralville, Iowa. Maintenance Book was selected from among 51 applicants and earned KerberTech’s founder, Jake Kerber, a $10,000 market research grant from Strategic Marketing Services (SMS) to be used to develop Maintenance Book.

The market research tied to the grant was conducted this past spring and summer. A prototype version of Maintenance Book was demonstrated to maintenance managers from 134 organizations of various sizes in 6 different industries around the Midwest. A key finding from the research is that most of the organizations prefer the Maintenance Book system to what they are currently using to store and track maintenance information.

Maintenance Book will be a secure, web-based solution. Data will be stored on secured servers in a state-of-the-art facility with redundant systems (for power, cooling, etc.). All data sent between the application and users will be encrypted and password-protected.

Web-based applications are sometimes referred to as "Software as a Service", or SAAS, and are provided by Application Service Providers, or ASP's. KerberTech is an ASP and Maintenance Book will be one such system. The main difference between SAAS and a standard program is that you access it via a web browser rather than install it and run it on your own computer. Instead of buying the software outright, you essentially rent it by paying a monthly subscription fee, like paying for premium content on a magazine’s website. This is similar to paying the electric company a monthly amount for them to generate electricity for you. You then pay for only what you use. Or you agree to pay your cable or dish company a certain amount in order to have access to the channels that you want.

Benefits of a web-based (SAAS) application such as Maintenance Book:

  • Quicker to get "up and running": since there’s no software to install, you can simply register for the service on the website and start using the service almost immediately.
  • Implementation costs eliminated: no specialized hardware, no software to purchase up-front and no need to pay personnel to set it all up.
  • Free trial, typically (and with Maintenance Book): you’ll be able to try out the service for free in order to decide if it’s right for you.
  • No need to pay IT people for maintenance or upgrades.
  • No worries about maintaining backups of your data, since it resides on our secured servers and is securely backed up for you.
  • Automatic updates: as upgrades and new features become available, you’ll see them automatically the next time you log into Maintenance Book without having to do anything.
  • Maintenance Book will be priced based on your actual usage (like an electric or water bill). So you won’t be paying at a higher level, just in case you might need it.
  • Cancel any time: no contracts means you can use it for a few months and then just decide to quit if it no longer suits your needs.
  • Accessible from anywhere in the world at any time. As long as you can open a browser to the internet, you’ll be able to check on the status of your maintenance activities with Maintenance Book.

KerberTech expects the Maintenance Book system to be available to the general public sometime in the spring of 2010. Maintenance Book will be attractively priced for maintenance managers comparing available options. To be notified when it becomes available or for more information, email Jake Kerber at Jake@KerberTech.com.

About KerberTech
Kerber Technology Solutions, LLC (KerberTech) is an information technology (IT) services company specializing in custom, web-based application development. Founded in 2004, KerberTech prides itself on producing bug-free, enterprise class systems to meet all the specific needs of its business clients. KerberTech is based in Ankeny, Iowa. For more information, visit www.KerberTech.com.