## 3 The M\({}^{3}\)AIN4 SME Model
### STEP 2: Maintenance Management Information Practices Assessment
#### 3.2.1 The Conceptual Model Development  
The approach proposed by [PERSON] et al. [24] has been applied to develop an assessment/readiness model on the maintenance management information practices in the SME context. In the following subsection, all the phases (Figure 3) are described. **Problem definition:** The prospective application domain of the maturity model, as well as the conditions for its application and the intended benefits, must be determined before design' [24]. The use of information and, consequently, the development of more effective strategies for its management are widely accepted as being important issues for any organisation, especially for SMEs. Information is central to strategic planning, management, control, tactical planning and daily operation. The objective of a more effective information management strategy is to efficiently support these activities to ensure that the value of the information is identified and exploited to its fullest extent. Since the 1980s, considerable advances have been made in information communication and technology (ICT) and in handling electronic information. Consequently, the development and application of techniques and tools, computer-based for a given process or activity, has progressed. For the maintenance process, many information systems have been developed. As widely indicated in the literature analysis, these systems are not successfully implemented by SMEs due to their inherent characteristics; the main cause is related to the maturity level of the maintenance department. Maintenance management information practices measurement aims at providing a comprehensive representation of an SME's information infrastructure state. The identification of the present shortcomings and future fields for action using a maturity model was broadly justified by  
Figure 3: Phases for the development of maturity models proposed by [PERSON] et al. (2009) [24]. the available literature studies discussed in the first section. The assessment of the existing situation is a mandatory step to support smaller enterprises in adopting an appropriate maintenance information system. **Comparison of existing maturity models:** 'The need for the development of a new maturity model must be substantiated by a comparison with existing models. The new model may also just be an improvement of an already existing one' [24]. Maturity models that explicitly address information maintenance management practices are lacking in the literature. Instead, different maturity models have been identified that view information maintenance management as a subdomain in the maturity assessment of the maintenance process. These maturity models generally disregard the importance of the data collection and the quality of information collected for well-managed databases. There are, however, separate maturity models for IT management, and alignment of functional information systems, but these are not specifically related to the maintenance field. Moreover, it is argued that this fundamental understanding of the existing information infrastructure is critical for the effective specification and implementation of additional elements of the infrastructure to improve information management; it is also a prerequisite for the effective long-term management and development of the IS infrastructure. This issue is not well-evaluated by the existing maturity models since the scope is different. **Determination of the development strategy:** 'The most important basic strategies that can be discerned are the completely new model design, or the enhancement of an existing model (CMM); the combination of several models into a new one (CMMI); as well as the transfer of the structures (DPMM, eMM) or contents (ACMM, IS/ICT CMF) from existing models to new application domains' [24]. The comparison of the existing maturity models with the problem definition suggests a design strategy that results in a new model development.