The Mistake Everyone Makes
I have watched hundreds of people get introduced to Maximo over 20 years. The ones who struggle the most are the ones who try to learn all of it. Maximo is enormous. It covers work management, asset management, preventive maintenance, inventory, procurement, contracts, service requests, safety, calibration, transportation, and more. Nobody uses all of it. Nobody needs to.
The people who get productive fast are the ones who figure out which five or six applications their role touches, learn those screens well, and ignore everything else until they need it. That is the approach this article takes. I am going to orient you to the platform, help you learn the terminology, point you to the community and resources that are actually worth your time, and tell you where to start based on what you do every day.
What Maximo Actually Is
Maximo is IBM's enterprise asset management (EAM) application. Organizations use it to track physical assets (equipment, facilities, fleet, infrastructure), plan and schedule maintenance work against those assets, manage the parts and materials needed to do the work, and measure how well all of that is going.
The platform has been around since the 1990s. If your site is running Maximo 7.6, you are on the version that dominated the market for over a decade. If your site is on MAS 8 or MAS 9, you are on the newer Maximo Application Suite, which runs Maximo inside a containerized cloud platform.
Here is the thing that confuses most new users: MAS is not a different product. MAS (Maximo Application Suite) is the platform. Maximo Manage is the application inside it that does everything the old Maximo 7.6 did. When someone says "we're on MAS," they mean the platform changed. The core application you use day to day, the screens, the fields, the workflow, is largely the same.
MAS also includes optional modules that your organization may or may not use: Monitor (IoT sensor data), Health (asset health scoring), Predict (failure prediction), and Visual Inspection (AI-based visual checks). Most organizations spend 90 percent of their time in Manage. If someone mentions Monitor or Predict, those are add-on capabilities, not something you need to worry about on day one.
The licensing model changed with MAS. Instead of named user licenses, MAS uses AppPoints, which are consumed based on what applications each user can access. If your organization is mid-migration or talking about AppPoints, the MAS migration and licensing overview explains what that means in plain language.
The Terminology That Trips Everyone Up
Maximo has its own vocabulary. Some of it overlaps with what you already know from other systems or from general maintenance practice, and some of it does not. Here are the terms that cause the most confusion in the first 90 days.
| What You Might Call It | What Maximo Calls It | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment | Asset | Everything that gets maintained is an Asset record. Assets live in a hierarchy under Locations. |
| Building or area | Location | Locations are the physical places where assets sit. Locations have their own hierarchy separate from assets. |
| Ticket or task | Work Order | All maintenance work flows through work orders. They have types (corrective, PM, emergency) and statuses that control what can happen next. |
| Help desk request | Service Request | Service Requests are how non-maintenance users ask for work. They get reviewed and converted into Work Orders by a planner or dispatcher. |
| Scheduled maintenance | Preventive Maintenance (PM) | PMs are templates that generate work orders on a frequency (time-based) or meter reading (condition-based). The PM record is the template. The work order is the instance. |
| Predictive maintenance | PdM | In Maximo, PdM typically means meter-based PMs or condition monitoring that triggers work. In MAS, the Predict module adds machine learning on top. |
| Work instructions | Job Plan | Job Plans define the steps, labor, materials, and tools for a task. They attach to PMs and work orders. Think of them as reusable work packages. |
| Part number | Item | Items live in the Item Master application. They track part numbers, descriptions, and specifications globally. Inventory records track where and how many of each item you have stocked. |
| Warehouse or parts room | Storeroom | Storerooms are specific locations where inventory is held. An item can be stocked in multiple storerooms with different quantities and reorder points at each. |
| Business unit or division | Site and Organization | Organizations are the top-level container (usually a company or large division). Sites are facilities within an organization. Many records are site-level, meaning they belong to one site and are not visible at others unless configured for cross-site access. |
This is not exhaustive. Maximo has a deep vocabulary. But these ten terms cover the language that comes up in the first month for every role. If you understand these, you can follow conversations and read documentation without getting lost.
Where to Start Based on Your Role
Do not try to learn all of Maximo. Learn the applications your role actually uses. Here is a starting point by role.
| Your Role | Start With These Applications | KPIs Your Boss Cares About |
|---|---|---|
| Planner / Scheduler | Work Order Tracking, Job Plans, Preventive Maintenance, Assets, Scheduler (if licensed) | Planning Accuracy, Schedule Compliance, PM Compliance |
| Maintenance Manager | Work Order Tracking, Preventive Maintenance, Reports/KPIs, Labor | Reactive Work %, PM Compliance, MTBF, Wrench Time |
| Inventory / Storeroom | Inventory, Item Master, Storerooms, Purchase Requisitions, Receiving | Inventory Turns, Stockout Rate, Dead Stock % |
| Technician / Supervisor | Work Order Tracking (web or Maximo Mobile), Labor Reporting | Work Order Aging, Wrench Time, First Time Fix Rate |
| Admin / Product Owner | Security Groups, Users, Cron Tasks, Workflow, System Properties, Integration Framework | System uptime, user adoption, data quality, AppPoint consumption |
Pick your row. Learn those two or three primary applications well enough to navigate them without help. Then branch out. A planner who knows Work Order Tracking, Job Plans, and PM inside and out is far more effective than a planner who has skimmed 15 applications and mastered none.
The KPIs column matters because those are the numbers your leadership will ask you about. Every KPI listed here has a free calculator on this site. The PM Compliance Calculator, Inventory Turns Calculator, Reactive Work Calculator, and the rest are all at brockindustries.io/tools. Run your numbers before someone asks you for them.
Where the Community Lives
The Maximo community is active, helpful, and scattered across a dozen platforms. Here is where to invest your time and what each resource is good for.
Communities and Reference Sites
| Resource | What It Is Good For |
|---|---|
| IBM Asset & Facilities Management Community | Official IBM community. Groups, discussions, product support updates, release announcements, and IBM events. Start here for official information. |
| MORE (Maximo Online Resources and Education) | One-stop shop for Maximo expertise and online events. Full of valuable how-to content. Requires a free account to access. |
| Maximo Secrets | Deep technical reference site. Even IBM experts use it. If you need to understand how something works under the hood, check here. |
| IBM IDEAS Portal | Where you submit, vote on, and track product enhancement requests. If Maximo is missing something you need, this is where that feedback goes. |
YouTube Channels Worth Watching
| Channel | What You Will Find |
|---|---|
| Maximo Matt | Practitioner-focused walkthroughs and how-tos. Clear, practical, no fluff. |
| Lacey | Maximo configuration and admin topics explained clearly. |
| IBM IoT | Official IBM channel covering MAS features, product announcements, and demos. |
| Projetech | Maximo hosting and services provider. Good technical content on administration and configuration. |
Conferences and User Groups
The best way to learn Maximo beyond your own site is to attend a user group or conference. You will see how other organizations solve the same problems you have, and you will meet the people who can help when you get stuck.
The big annual events are MaximoWorld / IMC (the largest Maximo conference, run by ReliabilityWeb) and MUWG (Maximo Users Working Group). Both draw practitioners from across industries and include hands-on sessions, not just presentations.
Regional user groups meet more frequently and are excellent for networking: GOMAXIMO, Canadian MUG, Las Vegas MUG, PAC MUG, Southwest MUG, Northeast MUG, and West Mountain MUG, among others. Find the one closest to you and show up.
For industry standards and professional development in maintenance and reliability, SMRP (Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals) is the professional body. Their certifications (CMRP, CMRT) are well-recognized in the industry and complement Maximo-specific knowledge with broader maintenance management principles.
How IBM Support Works (The Short Version)
If you are a planner, technician, or maintenance manager, you probably will not need to contact IBM directly. Your Maximo administrator or product owner handles that. But it helps to know the system exists and how it works, because at some point someone will mention "opening a case with IBM."
IBM support cases are opened through the IBM Support Community portal online (fastest method) or by calling 800-426-7378. You need an IBM Customer Number to open a case. That number is tied to your organization's support contract, not to you personally.
Cases have severity levels (1 through 4) that determine response times. Severity 1 is a production-down emergency. Severity 4 is a question or minor issue. Most cases start at Severity 3 or 4.
If you feel IBM is not meeting its commitments on a case, there is a formal escalation path: explain the business impact, raise the severity, ask for the case owner's manager, request a Duty Manager, and if needed, request a Critical Situation (CritSit) through your IBM account team. The full process is documented in IBM's Support Handbook.
If you are the person responsible for managing your organization's relationship with IBM Support, take the Introduction to the IBM Support Community training. It walks through the portal, case management, and how to get the most out of the support process. Also bookmark Fix Central for patches and fixes, and IBM Training for the formal course catalog and certifications.
What to Do This Week
Five things. In this order.
1. Find out who your Maximo admin is. This is the person who controls your access, your security groups, and your configuration. They are your first call when something is not working the way you expect. Get their name and contact information before you need it.
2. Learn your two or three core applications. Open the role table above. Find your row. Open those applications in Maximo and spend 30 minutes clicking through the tabs, fields, and menu options. Do not try to do real work yet. Just get comfortable with the layout and navigation.
3. Create your IBM.com account. Even if you never open a support case, the IBM.com account gives you access to the community forums, the IDEAS portal, documentation, and training resources. Set it up now at ibm.com/mysupport so it is ready when you need it.
4. Join one community. Pick one: the IBM Asset & Facilities Management Community for official content, or MORE for practitioner-driven content. Read a few recent threads. You will start recognizing the questions that come up repeatedly, and that tells you what matters.
5. Bookmark this page and run your numbers. This page links to the community resources, the KPI calculators, and the role-specific content that will build out over time. The calculators at brockindustries.io/tools let you measure where your organization stands on the KPIs that matter for your role. Knowing your baseline before anyone asks for it puts you ahead of most people in your first month.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Maximo and MAS?
Maximo is IBM's enterprise asset management application. MAS (Maximo Application Suite) is the platform that Maximo now runs inside. Think of MAS as the container and Maximo Manage as the application you actually use day to day. MAS also includes optional modules like Monitor, Health, Predict, and Visual Inspection, but most organizations spend 90 percent of their time in Manage. If your site is still on Maximo 7.6, the interface and core applications are largely the same. The transition to MAS changes the infrastructure and licensing model more than it changes what you see on screen.
Do I need IBM certifications to use Maximo?
No. IBM certifications validate that you can pass IBM's exam on the product. They do not determine whether you can do your job in Maximo. Certifications are valuable for consultants and administrators who need to demonstrate platform knowledge to clients or employers. If you are a planner, technician, inventory manager, or maintenance manager, your time is better spent learning the five or six applications your role actually touches than studying for a certification exam.
How do I get help when I am stuck in Maximo?
Start with your internal Maximo administrator. They know your configuration, your security groups, and your business rules. For broader questions, the IBM Asset and Facilities Management Community, Maximo Secrets, and the MORE community are the best practitioner resources. For platform defects or product issues, IBM Support handles cases through the online Support Community portal at ibm.com/mysupport or by phone at 800-426-7378. You need your IBM Customer Number to open a case.
What should I learn first as a new Maximo user?
Learn the applications your role uses, not the entire system. Planners should start with Work Order Tracking, Job Plans, and Preventive Maintenance. Technicians should start with Work Order Tracking and Labor Reporting. Inventory staff should start with the Inventory and Item Master applications. Maintenance managers should start with Work Order Tracking and the reporting tools. Pick the two or three applications you will open every day and get comfortable navigating them before you branch out.
Quick Maximo questions are always free. Reach out on LinkedIn. I never charge for chatting.