Item: IBM Maximo Application Suite
Rating: 9
Author: Nivin George

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our organization implements IBM Maximo Products and solutions for clients throughout the region and others. The significant problems that IBM Maximo addresses and solves for our clients are related to Asset Management, Maintenance, Monitoring, Procurement, and Financial transactions. Most clients seek to implement IBM Maximo because of its ease of use and level of configuration and customization capabilities built within the system to cater to any business needs. Companies that require to procure, deploy, manage and maintain their assets in the oil and gas industry or utilities have the best use with IBM Maximo due to its Out-of-Box capabilities that provide industry-specific solutions, all in one Enterprise Asset Management Solution.

Pros and Cons

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

IBM Maximo Mobile solutions need to be considered as an area that needs improvement, with limited resources and very challenging to implement, this feature would be a best fit that many clients would like to see done and deployed differently
The Licensing scheme is not easy to understand
Reporting and Business Intelligence solutions provided are pretty much the same as previous versions and outdated

Most Important Features

Asset Management
Work Centers
IBM Maximo Cloud deployment

Return on Investment

A Significant improvement in Tracking and Managing Assets with a History of PM Work Orders, Asset transfers, and maintenance costs linked to procurement and inventory usage
Record accurate labor work hours with proper people management while not missing any schedules and appointments
With the Cost Management and Budgeting application, it has allowed budget controllers to make timely and proper decisions in preparing budgets, booking costs, track commitments and over commitments, and make deliverable forecasts

Alternatives Considered

SAP ERP and Infor ERP

Complementing IBM Maximo as compared to other ERP software in the market is the ease of use with a user-friendly web-based interface and improved skin that makes navigation and moving within applications easy. Powerful and robust applications such as Work Orders, Assets, Inventory Usage, and Budget Monitoring allows recording data and monitoring the business using Key Performace Indicators and Business Intelligence Reporting. The software can be implemented quicker and easier than other applications and with the cloud offering IBM Maximo has, going live has not been this easy.

Key Insights

Do you think IBM Maximo Application Suite delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with IBM Maximo Application Suite's feature set?

Yes

Did IBM Maximo Application Suite live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of IBM Maximo Application Suite go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy IBM Maximo Application Suite again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Oracle eBusiness Suite, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Dynamics 365

Likelihood to Recommend

IBM Maximo is best suited in the OIl&Gas industry, Utilities, and Transportation. With the industry add-ons offering with IBM Maximo, many Out-of-Box solutions that come with the product and add-ons are well-equipped to help engineers and technicians in the field to record, manage and maintain their assets, work and data. Work Orders, Assets, Preventive Maintenance, Job Plans, Safety, Failure Reporting, and Inventory are the heavily used applications by users and the reason why IBM Maximo is best suited to deliver their needs. The software may not be a recommendation for Small and Medium Businesses having limited assets or fleets to manage and maintain. Clients come with enquires on financials and payroll software where IBM Maximo is less likely to be recommended.

Users and Roles

150 - Engineers, Managers, Procurement buyers, technicians and accountants

Support Headcount Required

3 - IBM Maximo support is performed by certified and experienced Consultants and Developers who have both Technical and Functional skills.

Business Processes Supported

Asset Management and Monitoring
Preventive Maintenance and Forecasting
Work Management

Innovative Uses

IBM Maximo was configured using the Contracts and Transportation add-on for financial reporting IFRS16
The Oil and Gas Add-on was configured to record drilling data and well information
IBM Maximo Linear assets were used to record and manage Rig Moves from one well to the other

Future Planned Uses

Expand IBM Maximo to Mobile solutions for Technicians and field workers
Configure IBM Maximo for Project and Cost Management

Likelihood to Renew

Products Replaced

Key Differentiators

Product Features
Product Usability

Powerful features such as preventive maintenance, work order tracking, and inventory management are up to date with real-time market experience.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

I would not change the selection criteria.

Support Rating

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

IBM Maximo Application Suite Customer Support Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response	None

Premium Support

Clients have an Annual Customer Support Plan, and being a Premium IBM Business partner, we are heavily dependent on IBM and the products we support.

Bug Resolution

Yes - Yes

Exceptional Examples of IBM Maximo Application Suite Support

Very recently, a major issue was reported for one of our client upgrades and was categorized as a Severity 2 issue and was affecting the development phase. The Work Order tracking application was affected due to a faulty installation and produced a known issue. The problem was reported to IBM, who requested the client details, nature, and details of the IBM Maximo environment. The support staff quickly recommended applying the latest Fix pack for the HSE add-on that resolves the problem. The support team's recommendation worked, and they followed up with us to check if the fix helped resolve the issue.

The One EAM Solution - IBM Maximo

Overall Satisfaction with IBM Maximo Application Suite