IBM Maximo Application Suite is an enterprise asset management (EAM) platform.
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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Score 7.9 out of 10
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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (formerly Dynamics NAV) is one of the ERP products in the Dynamics family.
The technology is based on the Navision product acquired by Microsoft in 2002. This product is the best-selling Microsoft ERP platform, and is often used by companies in the manufacturing and distribution verticals.
IBM Maximo Application Suite is well suited for organizations looking for an application to track their end-to-end procurement and supply chain process. It can also be used for billing services, but that would mainly be for services provided as part of a work order, not voluminous customer billing. IBM Maximo Application Suite allows us to have one application where someone from procurement can input contracts and details, someone from any various department can create a requisition and superiors can use automated workflow to approve a purchase order, and someone at an operations location can receive and store materials. Subsequently, someone in the field can submit their hours and material used and it be approved via automated workflow for an invoice to be created. Payment functionality is possible, but we did not implement this aspect of IBM Maximo Application Suite. To note, throughout the process, interfacing can be set up to send transactions to your general ledger. As far as interfacing, IBM Maximo Application Suite also offers tools and configuration to set up endpoints. We have been able to set up REST APIs and request/responses without heavy involvement from developers. This is a nice bonus if integrating with multiple applications.
It addresses well some integration and connectivity issues with other software and adapted technologies: formulation and manufacturing batching software, scanners and bar codes, inventory, financials, emailing of invoices and statement, sales and purchasing... etc. I believe it to be better suited to a medium to large company. Not as simple and seamless as we expected for migrating from another Microsoft Dynamics software product (we moved from GP to NAV). Our staff is going through a tougher time than we thought to learn some procedures. Normal growing pains?!
Delivers Out-of-Box solutions for various industries without the need for customization and configuration
Modules and Applications are well developed and linked in an orderly way, with proper documentation and help guides that allow end users to start using the system with ease
Powerful Work Management, Contracts, Inventory, and Purchasing applications and features that are a better match to other ERP applications today
Automate the creation of bills of materials for production. We can now generate a BoM from a sales order.
Organization of all data pertaining to thousands of parts, assemblies, and finished goods. Engineering and purchasing have a common portal.
We can create sales orders from quotations instead of re-entering them (this did require some bolt-on software). Less redundant work with fewer entry errors.
Accounting can provide reports based on specific criteria stored in NAV. We can pull better and more detailed intelligence.
Hard to implement. A high number of resources and manpower is necessary to implement and upgrade IBM Maximo due to its robustness and number of functionalities.
Version fragmentation. Due to the challenge imposed by a version upgrade, it is common to find systems relying on legacy versions of Maximo which might become a challenge for the support team.
Unfriendly UI. The excess of functionalities and services available might become a challenge for a starting user. Although it is possible to customize the UI to fit the exact needs of each user, it is important to map exactly what each user needs.
The version of software that we currently use isn't compatible with Windows 7, therefore we had to install it using the virtual computer under Windows XP. This created a few additional steps that the users had to go through in order to access the software which generated more calls to our IT Helpdesk.
We did research how much it would cost to upgrade the software so that we could get a version compatible with Windows 7, but the cost was way too expensive for our organization. Also, when we need to make updates or changes to the software, there are very few consultants who are familiar with the software so we are limited in who we can use for consulting services. Since we are limited in choosing consultants who can make updates and changes to the software the fees are usually really expensive for their services.
There is a .zup file that we constantly have to delete in order for the database to work properly and update. Users get a pop-up about once a week asking if they want to replace the .zup file and if the file is not deleted then the opening page for the software will not show up correctly and the database will not have the most up to date information.
The versatility, strength, and value that IBM Maximo adds to our company's asset management procedures. The platform has greatly increased operational efficiency and asset performance by streamlining jobs, automating procedures, and offering customizable solutions. Furthermore, IBM's constant assistance and updates have been crucial in meeting changing company requirements. Though there's always potential for improvement.
We've already decided to continue using this software. It is too expensive for us to upgrade so we made a workaround by using the virtual computer with Windows XP installed on it. We did research replacing this software, but it was a better financial decision to keep what we had instead
The gui screens in IBM Maximo Application Suite are not overly cluttered with options to click and navigate to new areas. That is, the display is more of a layout of fields that the user can either input data or just interpret what is on the screen. For those in IT, there is even a feature (press Alt+F1) that will show you the exact table and column of any field selected.
It has simplified all processes and reduces turnaround time for month end processes. You can easily navigate through the dashboard which is very user friendly and easily guides you to different functionalities. Duplications of Invoices is avoided because NAV rejects posting of an invoice number already in the system so you increase accuracy.
I have regularly contacted IBM Support to report issues and raise requests for issues we face during project implementations. The response from them has overall been good and to the point, and they get back to us within a day or 2 and guide us through the process of fixing it or providing an interim fix of the product
It provides one to efficiently be able to manage bookkeeping and inventory without much challenges. One can easily navigate through workflow processes while managing usages and budgets. Being able to produce reports in Word, Excel or PDF means one is able to have a working document to produce trends and graphs or produce pivot tables.
As a computerized maintenance management system i do not have experience of any other system. The only experience I have is for Maximo and it works excellent for me. I am using many modules available in Maximo and all of these modules are almost fulfilling all of my business needs.
I have personally supported all of the Dynamic family of ERP systems and made the decision to concentrate on NAV as the solution of choice. From a support and development standpoint there are few if any packages that can compare. It is not uncommon for most of the companies that I support to only call me once or twice a month after the first year. This is due to the ease of tracking down problems and errors and the ability for a developer to provide the end-user with routines that automatically correct the most basic kind of error
