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Most organisations we speak with have spent significant time and money implementing IBM Maximo and Oracle ERP. And yet, when we dig into how those systems are actually being used, the same pattern emerges: mountains of data, precious little insight.
The Expensive Filing Cabinet Problem
Maximo and Oracle are typically deployed to manage compliance, track assets, and keep the finance team happy. They do those jobs well. But they’re rarely used as strategic tools, sources of intelligence that can genuinely shape business decisions. Most organisations are using a fraction of what’s available to them.
We see this constantly with our clients. The data to answer their most pressing operational questions is already sitting in these systems. It just hasn’t been connected, cleaned, or surfaced in a way that makes it useful.
What’s Really Sitting in These Systems
Think about what Maximo holds: years of asset performance data, maintenance history, work order patterns, failure records, and parts consumption. Oracle, meanwhile, holds the financial picture: costs, procurement trends, supplier performance, and budget actuals. Together, these systems tell a rich story about where money is being lost and where operational risk is hiding.
According to McKinsey, organisations that properly leverage digital work order management can reduce planned downtime costs by 15-30%. IBM research shows that companies achieving full integration of asset management and financial data can reduce total maintenance spend by up to 28%. That’s not marginal improvement. That’s a meaningful shift in operational economics.
A Well-Timed Opportunity
IBM and Oracle recently announced an expanded partnership, including a new connector between Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP and the IBM Maximo Application Suite. This integration allows organisations to use built-in AI and analytics across finance, procurement, assets, and facilities in a joined-up way. It’s a signal that the market is moving, and a good prompt to ask whether you’re getting full value from what you already have.
Where We See the Biggest Wins
In our experience, there are three areas where unlocking Maximo and Oracle data delivers fast, visible returns:
Predictive maintenance: Rather than running scheduled maintenance on a calendar, organisations can use Maximo’s asset data to predict failures before they happen. Industry research suggests this approach can reduce unplanned downtime by 23-37%, which, depending on the operation, can be worth millions.
Spend and procurement intelligence: Oracle holds the financial story of your asset base. Connecting that to Maximo’s operational picture often reveals patterns not visible from either system alone: duplicate supplier relationships, inefficient parts procurement, or spend categories that look fine on a ledger but are masking operational waste.
Asset investment planning: Knowing when to repair versus replace is one of the most consequential decisions in asset-heavy industries. With the right data, that decision can be made on evidence rather than gut feel.
You Don’t Need a Transformation Programme
One thing we’re always clear about with clients: you don’t need a massive, multi-year project to start getting value from what you already have. The better approach is to pick one high-value question, such as “why is our maintenance spend rising?” or “which assets are costing us disproportionately?”, and use that as the lens to unlock the data already in Maximo and Oracle.
Start small, show the value, and build from there. In our experience, the first insight often pays for the whole programme.
If you’re running Maximo or Oracle and wondering whether you’re getting full value from the investment, we’d love to have that conversation.
