IBM Maximo technologyfor business and IT agilityIBM asset and service management solutions

IBM Software March 2010

Tivoli

2 IBM Maximo technology for business and IT agility

Executive summaryIn today’s fast-paced business environment fueled by rapidtechnological advancement, leading enterprises realize that inorder to retain a competitive edge and operational excellence,they must not only have adaptable business processes, theymust have an agile IT infrastructure with the right mix ofbusiness and operations applications to support their changingbusiness landscape.

In selecting software solutions for the business, product fea-tures, adaptability and extensibility are some of the key factorsconsidered in the software evaluation. The technology behindthe product, its architecture and its ability to adapt are equallyimportant components of the decision. Product agility interms of adaptable business processes and standards-basedtechnology that align with the company’s overall IT strategy iscrucial in ensuring successful product deployment and usage.

This white paper shows how the IBM Maximo® AssetManagement software solution is the leading asset and servicemanagement software in the marketplace, through its highlyflexible business components and technology architecture.This Internet-optimized component architecture leverages keyWeb concepts, standards and technologies, helping to ensureoptimum compatibility with today’s Web-based infrastruc-tures. The Maximo software portfolio is a proven solution thatis widely deployed in large and small companies, governmentagencies and organizations today.

Contents

2 Executive summary

3 Introduction

4 Maximo technology foundation

5 User interface

Maximo Application Designer

Multilanguage support

Personalization

6 Business process automation

Maximo Escalations

Maximo Workflow

8 Security

10 Interoperability

Maximo Integration Framework

11 Summary

12 For more information

12 About Tivoli software from IBM

3IBM Software

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Figure 1: The component-based architecture of IBM Maximo softwareleverages the latest Web environments.

IntroductionLeading enterprises seeking to maintain a competitive edgeand operational excellence must be able to react to businessand technology changes by having a flexible business modeland an agile IT environment. The demands of today’sdynamic IT environment mandate having an adaptable,robust, standards-based technology foundation supporting astrategic business and operations application portfolio. Thisadaptable technology foundation is crucial to business agility.

It is not enough to base purchasing decisions solely on a ven-dor’s product packaging or features when evaluating a softwaresolution. The technology behind the product, its architectureand its ability to adapt are equally important components ofthe decision. These components form the basis of a sound ITinfrastructure. Product agility, in terms of adaptable businessprocesses and standards-based technology that aligns with thecompany’s overall IT strategy, is critical to successful productdeployment and usage.

Maximo software enables users to leverage today’s best practices in asset andservice management on a standards-basedtechnology foundation.

Superior technologies and standards help manage IT’s totalcost of ownership (TCO) by providing seamless interoperabil-ity, manageability and performance. Furthermore, these technologies and standards provide a choice among productsand vendors. They do not lock you into any single vendorplatform or application suite. Combining superior technologyvalues with an extensible collection of business values in asset

and service management, Maximo software enables users to leverage today’s best practices in asset and service manage-ment without legacy or proprietary technology constraints orlimitations.

The Maximo software portfolio is the leading asset and service management software in the marketplace. Based on keytechnologies and standards, this architecture leverages the lat-est Web concepts, standards and technologies, helping toensure optimum compatibility with today’s Web-based infrastructures.

A Maximo Web deployment scenario

4 IBM Maximo technology for business and IT agility

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Figure 2: IBM Maximo software employs a multitiered vertical applicationmodel in which the presentation, business logic and data access layers areseparate tiers.

Maximo technology foundationLeveraging the Java™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition(J2EE™) specification and the underlying J2EE frameworkcomponents, the component-based architecture of Maximosoftware enables reuse within the application, as well as inte-gration with external applications. This architecture leveragesthe latest Web standards available today. Maximo software canbe deployed on a single machine for small to midsized compa-nies, yet its scalability and performance can help meet thedemands of global, distributed enterprises with multipleorganizations and sites that operate using multiple languagesand currencies.

Maximo business processes are encapsulated into distinct,reusable horizontal components such as assets, work orders,purchase orders, and inventory. In addition, Maximo softwareis a multitiered vertical application model in which the presen-tation, business logic and database access layers are separatetiers. Keeping each tier separate limits the extent to which anyindividual component is impacted by change or replacementof another component, or by its use in a new context. Thismakes tailoring or extending Maximo functionality relativelyeasy to do, and limits the impact of change to the individualcomponents that are being modified. Maximo software isdeployed using commercially available J2EE applicationservers that provide the underlying infrastructure and servicesas defined by the J2EE standards specification. DeployingMaximo software on a J2EE compliant application server plat-form provides customers with a solution that helps protecttheir investment and provide a more solid IT foundation.

The Maximo application framework

The integration framework of Maximo software extends thetechnology into the realm of Web services and service-oriented architecture (SOA). The framework provides enterprise-level application services and business process coordination between Maximo software and other enterprisesystems or solutions, such as ERP, CRM and portals. It iscapable of generating Web services for any of the Maximobusiness components and hosting these Web services for

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Web-based Maximo screens are accessible toany supported client devices connected to theInternet.

The Maximo user interface has been intuitive and compara-tively easy to use since the early releases of Maximo software.Today’s pure Web-based Maximo screens are accessible to anysupported client devices connected to the Internet. Theyleverage the built-in capabilities and standards of the client’sInternet browser, reducing the deployment, versioning andsoftware conflicts that commonly occur on client devices run-ning legacy client/server and Web-enabled applications. Therendering of Maximo screens requires no network infrastruc-ture changes and has minimal network impact due to its

external interactions—for example, an enterprise portalrequesting performance metrics for a set of assets. These Web services are Web Services Interoperability Organization(WS-I) Basic Profile-compliant Extensible Markup Language(XML). Web services are dynamically generated based on theclient’s Maximo configuration. They are not hard coded orlimited to a set of Web services.

User interfaceThe Internet has changed the way we access information andconduct business. Today, end users access information fromwherever they are, whenever they need to. Unlike traditionalusers who were tethered to individual workstations, today’susers have access to a variety of Internet-enabled devices andwant to use the most appropriate device to get their jobs done.This includes personal computers, kiosks, mobile devices, por-tals and Internet-enabled phones.

Internet-optimized architecture. There is no legacy or emulation code in the screens. Anyone requiring access toMaximo data—employees, contractors or partners—can do sofrom anywhere, without requiring specialized client hardwareor software.

An XML-based screen framework layer greatly improves thecapabilities of Maximo screens. Maximo presentation elementsare stored as XML content. Abstracting certain presentationelements from the screens allows for dynamic screen genera-tion, better change tracking, and continuity across upgrades.Dynamically generated screens are also more adaptable to var-ious screen sizes and devices compared to proprietary screentechnologies or even pure Hypertext Markup Language(HTML) screens. These screens are more resilient acrossupgrades, further protecting your investment in Maximo software.

Maximo Application DesignerMaximo Application Designer is a built-in graphical tool thatmakes tailoring Maximo screens easier and more intuitive.Maximo screens can be more quickly configured to help meetuser needs, reflecting new or updated business processes with“drag-and-drop” ease on a graphical canvas from any Internet-enabled client. In addition to screen editing, ApplicationDesigner can be used to create custom applications and toconfigure existing applications. All of these capabilities arepossible in part due to the new XML layer of the screenframework. Application Designer leverages the XML layer totrack screen elements, formatting and upgrade transformationmappings.

6 IBM Maximo technology for business and IT agility

Maximo Start Center goes beyond staticlayouts to provide configurable contentportlets and dynamic key performance indicators.

Multilanguage supportMaximo software supports simultaneous deployment of multi-ple languages from a single running server. Maximo screenscan be dynamically loaded at run time with the appropriatelanguage sets. Users are able to switch from one supportedlanguage to another without setting up another server ormaintaining a separate set of screen pages for each of the lan-guages. All of these features can help speed up global deploy-ment, management and support while helping to reducemaintenance, administrative and upgrade headaches.

In addition, being able to support all the language needs forthe global enterprise on a single instance of Maximo softwarehelps enable enterprise-wide visibility, information sharing andbusiness intelligence. It also helps improve TCO by requiringless hardware and software and by demanding less from the IT staff.

PersonalizationMaximo Start Center supports user-managed personalizationby allowing each user to define his or her own start page.Unlike the simple personalization found in many Web appli-cations today, Maximo Start Center goes beyond static layoutsto provide configurable content portlets and dynamic key per-formance indicators (KPIs). Maximo users can add and viewtheir preferred information and KPIs more easily. Individualuser personalization can be managed by Maximo administra-tors by predefining personalization parameters for the users.Maximo administrators can define Start Center templates andselectively assign them to the users according to their roles.Users can further personalize the Start Center within thesetemplates.

Administrators and users can define content portlets that willdisplay values based on a certain set of criteria. For example, auser may want to see all of his or her group’s time cards thatwere entered in the past day. Another user may want to seecritical asset conditions and pending work orders. InteractiveKPI graphs based on user-defined criteria and set points canbe placed on the Start Center for a visual representation ofevents and conditions. For example, the user above whowanted to see the past day’s time cards may also want a graphthat will show visually the number of overdue time cards ortime cards awaiting approval in red. A variety of graph formatsand options are provided.

Business process automationOpportunities, innovations, regulations, competition andinformation are some of the key drivers for change in anenterprise. While business process improvements help stream-line business processes, new business opportunities, govern-ment regulations, competition and information technology areconstantly introducing and changing business processes in theenterprise. These constant changes introduce complexities inour ability to manage and react on the information or event ina timely manner. We need to adapt quickly to these changes

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and we need a way to have the right information pushed to usat the right time and place. Business process automation (BPA)is the concept that is associated with streamlining and manag-ing business processes and the changes associated with them.

Maximo software provides proactive BPA capabilities throughthe combination of Maximo Workflow and MaximoEscalations. These components help monitor events inMaximo software, including static data, and automate the pro-cessing of these events. Any Maximo data point, process orevent can be monitored and managed by these components.

Maximo EscalationsMaximo Escalations is a business activity monitoring (BAM)agent that is used to monitor and react to conditions inMaximo software. It can be set up to monitor any data pointfor condition applicability such as warranty expiry notifica-tions or overdue work order alerts. Its notification engine canbe set up to trigger actions or e-mails or to execute user-defined procedures. Maximo Escalations help enable proactive management of service-level agreements (SLAs),warranties and other data where the event horizon can be easily overlooked.

Maximo software provides proactive busi-ness process automation capabilities throughthe combination of Maximo Workflow andMaximo Escalation Manager.

Maximo WorkflowMaximo Workflow is a business process management (BPM)agent that defines and automates Maximo business processflows. Besides the standard predefined workflow templates,new workflows can be defined for any business process in anyMaximo application. Maximo Workflow Designer allowsadministrators and authorized users to quickly design and con-figure workflow processes on a graphical canvas from anyInternet-enabled client.

In addition to the traditional assignment-oriented processworkflows, Maximo Workflow supports assignmentless inter-active workflows. Based on the users’ input, interactive work-flows guide users through a process or an activity. That is, theworkflow helps the user to navigate through the screens bybringing up the next screen or dialog based on the context ofdata entered. This feature can dramatically reduce trainingrequirements, especially training for casual users and in areasof high turnover such as service desk.

Additional features such as the WAIT node and template-driven notification make Maximo Workflow a robust businessprocess automation engine. The WAIT node is especially use-ful in enterprise-wide collaboration with an enterprise BPMtool where a process can be passed off to another system forprocessing and then resumed when the other system indicatescompletion.

8 IBM Maximo technology for business and IT agility

SecurityDoing business in today’s connected environment requiresproviding customers, partners, service providers and employ-ees with access to information in a way that is controlled andsecure. While putting business systems on the Internet offersopportunities for increasing efficiencies and reducing costs, italso introduces risk. Applications and data must be securedfrom users who may try to gain unauthorized access to criticalapplications, sensitive data or network transmissions. Access toapplications and data must be managed appropriately based onthe types of users. That is, applications deployed over theInternet must function efficiently without compromising cor-porate security and integrity. This not only requires a robustcorporate security framework to manage access and networkcommunications, it requires the applications in the enterpriseto implement and enforce these controls and checks. Whenplaced in an Internet-connected environment, legacy applica-tions and applications that are not built on today’s technologystandards pose added risks in enforcing security, as their security implementations may not be able to decipher or protect the application from newer security threats.

A number of agencies, standards bodies and commercial enti-ties are monitoring and focusing on Internet security on anongoing basis. The results of these efforts are a number ofrobust Internet security concepts and solutions such as fire-walls, digital certificates, encryptions, directory services,Virtual Private Networks (VPN) and Public KeyInfrastructures (PKI). Today most companies have a combina-tion of these industry-standard security solutions deployed

across their enterprises. These solutions form the basis ofstrong infrastructure security for today’s Web-based comput-ing environments.

Maximo software implements sophisticated security checksand balances internally for managing user access and naviga-tion. Comprehensive user verifications, tracking, logging andauditing are provided in order to help users document theirefforts to meet strict internal or regulatory compliance, suchas the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Code ofFederal Regulations (CFR) 21 Part 11. In addition, theMaximo security framework fully leverages the J2EE applica-tion server security implementation for access and authentica-tion. J2EE security features are based on well-established andproven industry-standard security features that better supportthe security requirements of today’s complex Web-based computing environments. For example, enterprises can leverage corporate firewalls and implement digital certificatesand encryptions in securing transmission security of Maximodata. They can secure Maximo data in the database with triple DES (Data Encryption Standard) algorithm—DESede.They can simplify and streamline user access and authentication by centralizing access to Maximo software andall their applications through Lightweight Directory AccessProtocol (LDAP) and Single Sign-On (SSO).

Maximo software can help enterprises simplify and streamline user access andauthentication by centralizing access for alltheir applications.

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LDAP is an open industry standard that defines a standardmethod for accessing and updating X.500 directories over thenetwork. It has quickly become the de facto directory accessstandard for Internet user management and e-commerce solu-tions and is widely implemented for user management andaccess control.

Maximo software can be configured to authenticate and syn-chronize users and groups from third-party LDAP servers.Maximo software provides a common synchronization featurethat can retrieve user and group information from LDAPDirectory Servers where users are managed. Synchronizationwith LDAP directory systems such as the IBM Tivoli®Directory Server or the Microsoft® Active Directory can beeasily accomplished with the generic synchronization interface.

The benefits of deploying Maximo software with LDAPinclude:

● Centralized security administration, helping to reduce secu-rity policy administration and monitoring overhead by con-solidating security management in a centralized LDAPimplementation.

● Centralized user management and reporting.● Simplified regulatory compliance reporting through central-

ized data capture from regulatory compliance efforts.

Maximo software can be configured to work with third-partySSO solutions. SSO software centralizes user ID and passwordmanagement by providing robust front-end login management

and automating logins enterprise-wide. SSO is designed toreduce multiple simple (insecure) passwords to a single moresecure password. SSO increases network security by encourag-ing users to create complex passwords for each of their sys-tems and applications without having the fear of notremembering each of them. Once a user logs on through SSO,SSO manages all other logins for them.

Users already validated by the SSO solution can accessMaximo applications without having to log into the Maximoapplication again. With the Maximo application configured forSSO login, when a user attempts to access Maximo applica-tions without logging in first, the application will check to seeif the user is already signed into the SSO system, confirmingthe appropriate credentials and eliminating the need for multiple logins.

The benefits of configuring Maximo software with SSOinclude:

● Simplified user access. SSO greatly simplifies user’s access toapplications by streamlining logins and eliminating the need to remember multiple usernames, passwords and loginprocedures.

● Increased security. SSO allows the enforcement of moresophisticated user ID and password implementations with-out overburdening the users. Complex passwords and pass-word policy enforcement are vital to helping ensure strongersecurity in today’s networks.

10 IBM Maximo technology for business and IT agility

● Reduced help desk workload. As SSO simplifies the task ofuser password management, the number of user calls to thehelp desk can be reduced. IT support professionals andadministrators who spend less time resetting passwords canredirect their attention to proactive system management andsupport.

● Supported compliance efforts. A significant challenge to anyenterprise is the increasing scope of legislation such as theSarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act and the Health InsurancePortability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which areaimed in part at protecting the rights of consumers and endusers by limiting access to and the use of certain types ofdata. SSO enhances overall access security by promotingstronger front-end login authentication for the users. Whencombined with strong authentication methods such as bio-metrics, tokens or smart cards, user authentication systemscan help meet legislated security requirements.

Centralized user access and authentication simplifies andstreamlines administration requirements as well as improvingsecurity with centralized security policies and access points.

InteroperabilityIn today’s connected world, companies require systems thatenable collaboration within their enterprise and with theirpartners and customers. This collaboration requires the

integration of multiple business systems internally within theenterprise as well as externally with those of the partners andcustomers. However, without careful planning and a properintegration infrastructure, these issues can quickly becomeunmanageable and overwhelm corporate IT resources.

The Maximo interoperability frameworkprovides an integration infrastructurebased on service-oriented architecture.

Standards are the key to true interoperability in an enterprise.The advancement and rapid adoption of SOA and Web serv-ices validate the fact that enterprises need the flexibility andagility of multiple key systems that can help run their enter-prise efficiently, and an IT infrastructure that can more easilydeploy and tie these systems together.

The Maximo interoperability framework simplifies the inte-gration of Maximo software in a company’s IT environmentby providing an integration infrastructure based on service-oriented architecture and providing predefined and prebuiltintegrations for a number of business and IT scenarios.

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Maximo Integration FrameworkMaximo Integration Framework enables faster integration ofMaximo software with enterprise business systems. This is anextensible standards-based framework, with an extensivelibrary of predefined integration points, provides a completeintegration enablement environment for Maximo software.Integration can be more quickly tailored to meet specific busi-ness scenarios and can be more easily extended to supportadditional business requirements, allowing an integrationfoundation to be built more quickly and with less complexintegration procedures.

Maximo Integration Framework interacts directly with theMaximo business components, allowing the same businesslogic used by the application, including user customizations, tobe used in the integration. The Integration Framework fea-tures built-in auditing, recovery, notification and managementcapabilities, which help to ensure a more reliable, secure andscalable enterprise integration with Maximo software.

SummaryWhen evaluating a software solution, you need to select a sys-tem that supports your current business requirements and isable to adapt as your business requirements change. It is not

enough to base your decision solely on how well it solvestoday’s business problems. You need to select a solution thatwill better position your organization to take advantage ofcurrent and future technological advances while supportingyour changing business requirements.

Having a robust, standards-based IT infrastructure foundationthat is adaptable is crucial to IT and business agility.Technologies and standards such as SOA, Web services, J2EE,XML, LDAP and SSO help enterprises manage the TCO ofIT by facilitating interoperability, consistency and manageabil-ity. Furthermore, these technologies and standards providechoice among products and vendors. They do not lock you inon any single vendor platform, application suite or program-ming style. Maximo software is built on these technologiesand standards. Maximo software delivers compelling technology benefits in the areas of architecture, automationand security that can help you meet or exceed the demands oftoday’s dynamic IT environments. Combining these technology values with an extensible collection of business values enables you to leverage adaptable best practices in asset and service management without legacy or proprietarytechnology constraints or limitations.

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For more informationTo learn more about IBM Maximo software solutions, pleasecontact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner, orvisit ibm.com/tivoli/maximo

About Tivoli software from IBMTivoli software provides a set of offerings and capabilities insupport of IBM Service Management, a scalable, modularapproach used to deliver more efficient and effective servicesto your business. Helping meet the needs of any size business,Tivoli software enables you to deliver service excellence insupport of your business objectives through integration andautomation of processes, workflows and tasks. The security-rich, open standards-based Tivoli service management plat-form is complemented by proactive operational managementsolutions that provide end-to-end visibility and control. It isalso backed by world-class IBM Services, IBM Support and anactive ecosystem of IBM Business Partners. Tivoli customersand business partners can also leverage each other’s best prac-tices by participating in independently run IBM Tivoli UserGroups around the world—visit www.tivoli-ug.org