How Prestonwood Baptist Transformed Their Production Operations Using Beam
Prestonwood one of the largest churches in America, adopted Beam’s Asset Intelligence Platform to own, operate and maintain its growing asset inventory in one easy-to-use interface.
When growing quickly it’s hard to slow down for even a second to evaluate your operations infrastructure. In the fall of 2023 this is the situation that Prestonwood Baptist Church found itself in, as attendance had grown year over year, so too did their inventory of technology assets. Their old asset management system– Excel sheets, handwritten notes, emails, and even plain old human memory– couldn’t keep up. Invariably, things fell through the cracks— maintenance was missed, assets got lost, and issues were forgotten until it was too late. Asset management was becoming a liability to the worship experience. To address these issues, they adopted Beam’s Asset Intelligence Platform. With Beam, Prestonwood has all the tools it needs to own, operate and maintain its growing asset inventory in one easy-to-use interface. The end result: Prestonwood’s team can now spend less time worrying about the state of their assets and more time doing what they do best, providing a memorable worship experience to their congregation.
The Challenge
Founded in 1977, Prestonwood has grown to be one of the largest churches in America, crossing the 43,000-member mark in 2019. They hold worship services in both English and Spanish out of their two campuses in Plano and Prosper, Texas supplemented by online live streams of the events.The church averages 17,000 in-person attendees per week for their worship services. Suffice it to say, this is not your average church operation.
Running worship at this scale is an asset-intensive endeavor. To provide members with a memorable experience, Prestonwood spares no expense, operating thousands of assets from microphones to LED screens to lighting systems. Before Beam, Prestonwood did not have a central platform to manage all aspects of their worship production technology. As the inventory grew and became more complex, their current workflows were slowing them down. "We were juggling so many different systems and methods just to keep track of everything," says Bryan Bailey, Director of Media at Prestonwood. "It was only a matter of time before something important slipped through the cracks."
The fragmented approach to asset management made it difficult to maintain consistency and accuracy. Critical information needed to properly upkeep and operate equipment was scattered across teams and systems. Invariably, this led to missed maintenance, lost assets, and unresolved issues. Team members spent more time tracking down information than addressing the needs of their congregation. "It felt like we were constantly in firefighting mode, dealing with issues that could have been prevented with better oversight," Bailey adds.
The Switch to Beam
Switching to Beam has transformed Prestonwood’s asset management process. Beam’s Asset Intelligence Platform offers a comprehensive solution for Prestonwood’s needs, consolidating all asset management, service management, and asset scheduling workflows under one roof. Having everything in one place not only simplifies Prestonwood’s software stack, it makes it operationally easier for teams to coordinate with one another because they’re on the same page, literally and figuratively.
Additionally, with all workflows managed in one place, the underlying data produced by these workflows is automatically integrated. Put simply, Beam has created a single source of truth for all asset-related information. This is useful as workflows are often interdependent. For example, when troubleshooting a service ticket, team members have access to the historical asset data they need to make informed decisions. They can quickly see how, when, and by whom the asset was used last, providing valuable context, thereby speeding up resolution times.
Finally, Beam’s product matching algorithm automatically enhances asset listings by pulling updates from manufacturers. This includes documentation, firmware/software/security updates, warranty status, and lifecycle status, ensuring that Prestonwood has everything they need to keep their assets up to date. "The real-time access to manufacturer data has streamlined our maintenance processes," notes Bailey. "Our team can now focus on what they do best—keeping our worship services running smoothly."
With Beam, Prestonwood has achieved a level of operational efficiency and asset visibility that was previously unattainable. The church can now manage its growing inventory with confidence, ensuring that all assets are well-maintained and ready for use whenever needed. "Beam has revolutionized the way we manage our assets," concludes Bailey. "We’re now operating at a higher level of efficiency and reliability than ever before."
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