IBM Updates Key Maximo Offerings

Holistic asset management yields a better business outcome

Tivoli Beat - A weekly IBM service management perspective. The IBM Maximo family of solutions has redefined asset management in the enterprise sector... and recently, the argument for Maximo just got even stronger. This month, IBM brought several Maximo solutions up to version 7.1.1, including much-requested new features and functions specifically to satisfy customer demand.

For enterprise-class organizations, these enhancements couldn't have come at a better time. The central challenge of asset management is easy to describe—generating the highest possible business value from all assets throughout the organization—but it’s very difficult to achieve. This often comes as a consequence of a silo-centric approach; when assets are managed solely in the context of specific domains, instead of the total business context of the organization, the result will often be shorter asset lifetime, diminished asset flexibility, a faster replacement cycle and added costs of many kinds.

IBM Maximo represents a fundamentally different approach. The Maximo shared data repository of asset information spans all assets, in all domains, including both traditional business assets and IT assets. And to capitalize on this repository, Maximo also includes a unified business process engine used to carry out all necessary management functions.

Essentially, this holistic, end-to-end approach means that via Maximo, organizations can obtain complete asset management at every stage in the asset lifecycle, all under a single pane of glass. And given this shared, holistic platform, executing proven best practices is rendered a much simpler job. Maximo solutions improve the overall return on asset investment, increase the performance levels of asset-dependent services, decrease costs and proactively mitigate diverse business risks of many types.

Recently, IBM rolled out new versions of several members of the Maximo family, bringing them up to version 7.1.1. Collectively, these additions reflect IBM's ongoing commitment to update its offerings to align as closely as possible with customers' changing needs.

Different asset management solutions for different industries

One excellent example of this commitment in practice: updated industry-specific Maximo solutions.

Just as asset management implies different things in different domains, or different organizations, so too it implies different things in different industries. For this reason, four industry-specific Maximo solutions have been enhanced to address complexities associated with those industries.

IBM Maximo for Nuclear Power

Nuclear power plants clearly involve a special set of business circumstances and a special class of assets. Operational performance and regulation compliance are more than just mission-critical in this case; they are mission-critical for the host community as well. Exceptionally stringent asset monitoring and management are required at all times to ensure goals are met while also minimizing risks.

IBM Maximo for Nuclear Power 7.1.1 therefore includes enhanced configuration management (to better reflect asset history and status) and corrective actions (should technical problems manifest). Together, these improvements create more business value for nuclear power plants by driving up operational performance and simplifying regulation compliance.

IBM Maximo for Oil and Gas

The oil and gas sector similarly has specialized needs. For instance, the diverse array of mechanical assets used in oil and gas, constantly subjected to operational stress, translates into a unique maintenance challenge for these organizations. Keeping assets in fit-for-work condition at all times is essential to an overall business return on investment. Degraded asset performance, or outright failures, can easily result in diminished revenues, brand strength and ultimately the business bottom line.

Addressing these and other complexities is IBM Maximo for Oil and Gas 7.1.1. This update expands asset integrity management and integrated operations to help ensure that assets perform in accordance with both business targets and industry best practices. With Maximo for Oil and Gas 7.1.1, organizations get improved control of critical functions, can conduct new risk analyses and can leverage operator logs to generate business intelligence. Also included: integration between this solution and the IBM Chemicals and Petroleum Integrated Information Framework, which helps to increase production and facilitates global operations generally.

IBM Maximo for Transportation

Transportation assets imply a third special class of challenges. Fleets of cars, trucks and buses, for example, will not only change in asset status, but asset location—multiplying the difficulties involved in replacing failed parts, and introducing the possibility of operationally expensive road calls when issues develop between sites.

IBM Maximo for Transportation can help via specialized new features. Among others are features to determine equipment status, import meter data, generate maintenance alerts, address fuel tank management and facilitate outside repair orders. And new with version 7.1.1: support for the railway rolling stock that comprise trains—a literal form of end-to-end asset management.

IBM Maximo for Utilities

For utilities providers, IBM Maximo for Utilities is a tailored fit to their needs. For instance, earlier versions of this offering allowed utilities providers to improve productivity by creating compatible unit estimates (CUEs) that contained specified information pertaining to different tasks (such as the materials, time required, and tools). These estimates, collected in a library, could in turn be leveraged to create central business intelligence needed for effective asset management—for example, by better illustrating the overall costs and frequency of tasks spanning different asset classes.

In version 7.1.1, IBM Maximo for Utilities extends this functionality through CUE Perform Acceptance, to certify approval and project fulfillment. Usability has also been enhanced through improved CUE focus issues and a refined user interface.

Visualize geographic relationships and get superior configuration management

One updated element of the Maximo family likely to appeal to organizations in wholly different industries is IBM Maximo Spatial Asset Management.

This offering targets organizations that have assets in widely-distributed environments, and which seek to better manage those assets by better understanding the geographical relationships involved. The military, for instance, has a vast array of asset types deployed at different locations. Visualizing where they are with respect to each other is central to moving them (when required) in order to respond to unpredictable circumstances with optimized strategies that make best use of those assets.

New to Maximo Spatial Asset Management 7.1.1 is improved visibility and a simplified flow for linking work (project) management and geographic information systems (GIS), designed to integrate information about aging assets and legacy IT systems into multiple work management environments. The generally improved user experience includes additional visual actions and improvements to service addresses, and work orders and service requests can also be automatically created and located.

Another updated Maximo offering with cross-industry appeal is IBM Maximo Asset Configuration Manager. As assets change over time in different ways—through the introduction of new or revised components, among other ways—it remains critical for the organization to remain apprised of those changes. Maximo Asset Configuration Manager keeps organizations in the loop both with respect to the current configurations of assets and also the complete history of changes.

With version 7.1.1 of Maximo Asset Configuration Manager, IBM introduces new Service Lifecycle Management (SLM) capabilities pertaining to aerospace, aircraft, and rail assets. Organizations in these sectors will benefit from simplified regulation compliance and improved work safety, as well as more accurate asset information, increased asset lifecycles, and decreased maintenance costs.