License sharing refers to situations where two or more users regularly use a single username and password to log into and use a software application. CMMS companies and information security professionals work hard to secure digital assets; account sharing can undo all that. It's much harder to keep track of accounts when they are shared. Here are several reasons not to share CMMS user accounts:

1. Data security risks

The sharing of login credentials increases the risk of illicit account use. For example, disgruntled employees can access those shared technicians' accounts after they leave the company. They could open the CMMS software at home and delete or alter the data. It may go unnoticed for months, and figuring out what happened and who's at fault is very challenging.

2. Increased vulnerability to hackers

When you share accounts and passwords among multiple people, you create more vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit. Using stolen and compromised passwords is the number one method hackers use to find their way into protected systems.  

3. Challenging to allocate the work

Account sharing makes it difficult to assign work orders and delegate tasks between different people in the CMMS.

4. Tough to hold individuals to account

Holding individuals accountable for the work when they share user accounts is more challenging. One employee could be doing most of the heavy lifting while another is doing the bare minimum.

5. Difficult to attribute the work 

Say equipment breaks down, and you can see that the "technician 2" account addressed that repair. You can see from the repair steps that the technician needs more training. Alternatively, the technician did an incredible job and deserved some praise. Unless they typed their name into the work order, it would be like a witch hunt trying to track down who did it. Multiply that effort for every work order that needs a follow-up, and you can see how inefficient sharing accounts can be.

6. Tricky to reassign the work

If a technician calls in sick, it's tricky to see what work they were assigned so it can be allocated to someone else.

7. Regular login changes will confuse and frustrate

You must change the shared account password whenever an employee leaves the company or when you are suspicious of a security breach. You have to distribute the new password to all the technicians using it. If you miss someone, it will cause frustration when they cannot access the CMMS. In addition, constant changing of credentials will confuse the technicians.

8. Not extracting the full value from the CMMS

Many of the features and functions in the CMMS are designed and work best for individual users. If accounts are shared, much of the functionality is less effective. For example, work order planners, reports by user, and system notifications.

9. Audit and regulatory compliance

The regulatory bodies in many industries stipulate that individuals must sign off the work in their name. For example, in airline maintenance, the technician must sign off the work, which their supervisor must review and sign off. That way, there is full accountability and traceability. Sharing user accounts makes staying compliant impossible.

The bottom line

Zoidii recommends every user gets a separate login to access the CMMS. Assign everyone a separate account in their name, and remember to deactivate the user account when the individual leaves the company.