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IBM MAXIMO MANAGE
Making the Case for Maximo Manage
What it takes and what it returns: a practical business case for IBM Maximo Manage, from data foundations to AI-assisted maintenance.
- What it takesFive data foundations
- What it returnsUptime, cost, inventory, compliance
- Where AI fitsMaximo Assistant and beyond
WHITEPAPER
Published October 2026
01 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Maximo Manage pays off when the foundation is right
Maintenance is one of the largest costs an asset-intensive organization can actually control. The right system turns it from a reactive expense into a managed, measurable discipline. The wrong data turns any system into an expensive filing cabinet.
IBM Maximo Manage is the system of record for physical operations: assets and locations, work orders and job plans, inventory, labor, and contracts. It is the core of IBM Maximo Application Suite (MAS), and the foundation that Maximo Monitor, Health, and Predict build on.
With MAS 9.1, released in June 2025, IBM added generative AI to that foundation. The Maximo Assistant lets users ask questions of their asset data in plain language, and Manage can now recommend work order field values and surface similar past work orders. These features are real, and they are only as good as the data underneath them.
This paper is written for the leaders who will fund and own the decision, whether you are selecting Manage for the first time, upgrading from Maximo 7.6, or already on MAS and expecting more. It covers what Manage returns, what it takes to get there, where AI fits, and how to measure progress.
01
Returns come from discipline
Downtime, cost, and inventory gains come from how Manage is used: planned work, complete records, and consistent codes.
02
AI runs on your data
Assistant answers, recommendations, health scores, and predictions all draw on the history captured in Manage.
03
Measure before you invest
A baseline of your own KPIs turns the business case from a vendor promise into a plan you can track.
02 THE CHALLENGE
Why maintenance needs a system of record
The pressures on maintenance organizations are not new, but they are getting harder to manage with spreadsheets, aging systems, and knowledge that lives in people’s heads.
82%
of asset failures appear random, so calendar-based maintenance alone cannot prevent them.
30%
of the total workforce is retiring, taking undocumented know-how with them.
99%
of data collected from sensor-enabled assets goes unused.
Figures as cited by IBM in its Maximo Manage client presentation.
Reactive work crowds out planned work
When breakdowns set the schedule, preventive maintenance slips, overtime grows, and the cycle repeats.
Costs you cannot see, you cannot control
Without complete work order history, true cost by asset, site, or failure mode is guesswork.
Knowledge walks out the door
Experienced technicians retire. If their know-how is not captured in job plans and failure history, it is gone.
Audits and safety depend on records
Regulators and insurers expect evidence: inspections completed, permits issued, procedures followed.
03 WHAT MAXIMO MANAGE DOES
One system for assets, work, and materials
Maximo Manage covers the full maintenance lifecycle, from knowing what you own to planning, executing, and learning from every job.
| Capability | What it does | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 01Asset and location management | Asset registry, location hierarchies, classifications, meters, and specifications. | A trusted inventory of what you own and where it is |
| 02Work management | Work orders, job plans, preventive maintenance, scheduling, and dispatching. | More planned work, less firefighting |
| 03Inventory and procurement | Storerooms, reorder points, purchasing, and vendor management. | The right part on hand without excess stock |
| 04Labor and contracts | Crafts, qualifications, labor reporting, and service contracts. | Productive crews and accountable contractors |
| 05Reliability and compliance | Failure reporting, reliability strategies, inspections, and audit trails. | Evidence for regulators and insight for engineers |
| 06Mobile work execution | Maximo Mobile puts work orders, inspections, and history in technicians’ hands. | Better data captured at the point of work |
The center of Maximo Application Suite
Manage is the hub the rest of the suite depends on. Maximo Monitor watches equipment in real time, Health scores asset condition, Predict forecasts failures, and Asset Investment Planning models repair-or-replace scenarios. Each of them reads from the asset, work, and failure history that Manage holds. MAS uses AppPoints licensing, so capacity can shift across applications as needs change, and it can be deployed as SaaS or on Red Hat OpenShift.
04 WHAT IT RETURNS
Five returns to build into your business case
The value of Manage shows up in a small number of places. Their size depends on your operation. How to measure them does not.
| Return | How Manage delivers it | What to measure |
|---|---|---|
| Less unplanned downtime | Preventive and condition-based maintenance, driven by asset criticality and failure history. | Unplanned downtime hours, MTBF, PM compliance |
| Lower maintenance cost | A shift from reactive to planned work, standard job plans, and better scheduling. | Planned vs. reactive work, maintenance cost per asset, overtime |
| Leaner, more reliable inventory | Reorder points, critical-spares strategy, and usage history tied to work orders. | Inventory value, stockouts, obsolete stock |
| Compliance and safety assurance | Inspections, permits, procedures, and a complete audit trail on every asset. | Overdue inspections, audit findings, safety incidents |
| Smarter capital decisions | Full cost and condition history per asset, feeding Health scoring and investment planning. | Repair-vs-replace accuracy, asset health scores, deferred backlog |
05 WHAT IT TAKES
Five data foundations that make Manage pay off
Software does not create returns on its own. These five foundations are what separate a Manage system that drives decisions from one that only records them.
| Foundation | What good looks like | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| 01Asset hierarchy and classifications | Every asset sits in a clear location hierarchy with consistent classifications and attributes. | Cost roll-ups, health scoring, and reports you can trust |
| 02Failure reporting | Failure class, problem, cause, and remedy codes recorded consistently at work order closure. | Reliability analysis, prediction models, and AI recommendations |
| 03Standard job plans and PMs | Job plans with tasks, labor, materials, and safety steps; PMs matched to asset criticality. | Planned work, consistent quality, and captured know-how |
| 04Complete work order closure | Actual labor, materials, downtime, and dates recorded on every job. | True cost of ownership, MTBF, and MTTR |
| 05Asset criticality | Assets ranked by safety, production, environmental, and cost impact. | Smarter prioritization, PM depth, and spares strategy |
People and process hold it together
- Clear data ownership. Someone owns each code set, hierarchy, and standard, and reviews it regularly.
- Standard data entry. Uniform naming, codes, and closure rules across sites and crews.
- Training and feedback. Technicians understand why the data matters, and see it used.
06 WHERE AI FITS
AI runs on your Manage data
IBM has built AI into Maximo Application Suite. Each capability is useful, and each one depends on the foundations in the previous section.
| AI capability | What it does | What it depends on |
|---|---|---|
| Maximo Assistant | Generative AI chat, powered by IBM watsonx, that answers plain-language questions about asset data, such as which work orders lack job plans or costs by site. | Complete, consistent records across assets and work orders |
| AI-recommended field values | Suggests values on work orders as they are created or closed. | Accurate history to learn from, including failure codes |
| Similar work orders | Surfaces comparable past jobs so planners and technicians can reuse what worked. | Descriptive, well-closed work orders |
| Health and Predict | Scores asset condition and forecasts likely failures. | Asset hierarchy, failure history, meter and sensor data |
| Asset Investment Planning | Models and compares investment scenarios across cost, risk, and performance. | Reliable cost, condition, and criticality data |
07 THE PATH FORWARD
From reactive to predictive, one stage at a time
Most organizations move through four stages. Each stage depends on the data captured in the one before it, which is why skipping straight to prediction rarely works.
Stage 1
Reactive
Work is driven by breakdowns. Records are incomplete.
Manage data neededBasic asset list and work orders
Stage 2
Planned
PMs and job plans drive most work. Costs are visible.
Manage data neededHierarchy, job plans, complete closure
Stage 3
Condition-based
Meters and sensors trigger work when needed.
Manage data neededCriticality, meters, Monitor integration
Stage 4
Predictive
Health scores and forecasts guide decisions.
Manage data neededConsistent failure history and sensor data
Quick wins: first 90 days
- Baseline core KPIs: PM compliance, planned vs. reactive, backlog.
- Make failure codes required at work order closure.
- Rank your top 10% of assets by criticality.
- Build job plans for the most frequent jobs.
Structural fixes: 6 to 12 months
- Clean and standardize the asset and location hierarchy.
- Rationalize failure code sets across sites.
- Align PM frequency and depth to criticality.
- Connect meters and sensors, then pilot Health or Predict.
08 READINESS SCORECARD
How ready is your Manage foundation?
Score one point for each statement that is true today. Your score shows how much of Manage’s return, and its AI value, you are positioned to capture.
0/ 10
8–10
AI-ready
Your foundation can support Health, Predict, and AI features. Focus on scaling them.
4–7
Solid start
Close the gaps in failure reporting and closure before investing in advanced analytics.
0–3
Foundation first
Start with quick wins. They pay back on their own and make every later step possible.
09 WHY SMS
Maximo expertise, measured in outcomes
Strategic Maintenance Solutions has helped organizations get more from IBM Maximo since 1999. We start with your maintenance outcomes, then configure the system and the data to deliver them.
25+
Years of expertise
1,000+
Successful projects
F1000
Client base
2
Continents
- IBM Platinum Partner. Deep experience across Maximo Manage and the full Maximo Application Suite.
- From data to reliability. We combine Maximo implementation with predictive maintenance field services and IoT monitoring, so the path from Manage to prediction is one program.
- Industry depth. Oil and gas, life sciences, healthcare, aerospace, and facilities management, with offices in North America and Europe.
YOUR NEXT STEP
Request a Maximo Manage Data Health Check
A focused review that turns this paper into a plan for your organization:
- Assessment of your Manage data against the five foundations
- A KPI baseline for downtime, maintenance cost, and inventory
- Prioritized quick wins and structural fixes
- A readiness view for Maximo Health, Predict, and AI features
- A roadmap and budget range for the next 12 months
sales@sms-inc.net · +1 207-854-9400 · www.sms-inc.net
SOURCES
IBM, “What’s new in Maximo Manage 9.1” (IBM Documentation); IBM Newsroom, Maximo Application Suite 9.1 announcement (June 25, 2025); IBM, Maximo Application Suite Manage client presentation (statistics in section 02). Capabilities reflect IBM publications as of October 2026 and may change. IBM, Maximo, watsonx, and IBM Maximo Application Suite are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Red Hat and OpenShift are trademarks of Red Hat, Inc.