3 ways to migrate and deploy IBM Maximo on AWS Cloud

A current IDC report — The Business Value of IBM Maximo — that surveyed 9 corporations with a mean of 8,500 staff, discovered that after these corporations adopted IBM Maximo, it resulted in: a enterprise profit of roughly USD 14.6 million, on common, per yr per group; 43% much less unplanned downtime per yr; and USD 8.6 million in whole tools price avoidances yearly. 

IBM Maximo® Application Suite (MAS) is a single, built-in, cloud-based utility platform for asset monitoring, administration, predictive upkeep and reliability planning. Maximo maintains high-value property with AI and analytics to optimize efficiency, lengthen asset lifecycles and cut back downtime and prices. To reap the very best advantages with most efficiency, it’s important to host the identical on a scalable infrastructure, thereby the present pattern is emigrate Maximo to cloud. On this journey, we’re seeing an elevated curiosity in migrating and deploying MAS on AWS Cloud.

The rising want for Maximo migration to AWS Cloud

Migrating to cloud helps organizations to drive the operational resiliency and reliability, on the identical time holding software program updated with minimal improve effort and infrastructure constraint. As a consequence of elevated demand of data-driven asset administration, it’s essential to mix information from completely different areas of a company, which in flip helps organizations uncover developments, make predictions and take higher knowledgeable asset administration selections.

In keeping with this pattern, final April IBM introduced end of support for all Maximo 7.6 and add-ons by September 2025. Because of this, the trail ahead for all Maximo EAM clients is to maneuver to the newest cloud-based MAS. Subsequently, Maximo migration and modernization has turn out to be much more vital for shoppers.

To additional help Maximo migration to AWS, IBM has now made out there newer containerized variations of Maximo Software Suite as a Service (MAS SaaS) on AWS Market with Deliver Your Personal License (BYOL) on AWS. MAS SaaS on AWS represents yet one more vital step in Maximo’s journey to combine its standalone purposes — like Monitor, Well being and Visible Inspection — right into a cohesive single suite of purposes.

Read more: IBM announces IBM MAS Saas

Why MAS SaaS is exclusive

MAS SaaS, a subscription-based service provided on the AWS, supplies an operational setting deployed on AWS and operated and managed on a steady foundation by IBM Website Reliability Engineering (SRE) specialists utilizing finest practices. This collaboration equips clients with an industry-leading asset administration system from IBM, supported by the dimensions, agility and cost-efficiency of AWS.

Shifting to MAS 8 is each an improve and migration when utilizing MAS SaaS. The improve is much like earlier upgrades almost about the info, however the underlying structure modifications should be achieved involving ROSA and different dependencies. The migration is much like how shoppers moved from on-premise to our earlier Maximo EAM SaaS Flex providing, however bearing in mind the variations with MAS. As a way to migrate to MAS SaaS, perpetual on-premises clients would cease paying Service & Help (S&S) and buy a SaaS subscription; on premises Subscription License clients would start a brand new SaaS subscription; and present MAS Flex and MAS Managed Service clients would start a brand new MAS SaaS subscription.

To jumpstart the migration journey, companies can design completely different migration and modernization paths beforehand, laying out potential modernization packages earlier than making the funding utilizing our proprietary IBM Consulting Cloud Accelerator (ICCA) platform.

A world power firm’s method to Maximo migration

Allow us to take a look at an instance the place IBM labored carefully with an power firm that was dealing with the next challenges:

• Longer occasions to acquire infrastructure required to help newest model of Maximo
• WebSphere being the core to Maximo had excessive availability and high-performance points 
• Information sharing challenges throughout a number of purposes attributable to lack of knowledge cloth and integration layer
• Handbook end-to-end deployment resulting in complicated setup, errors and safety

The consumer selected the most recent model — Maximo Software Suite 8 (MAS8) — because it addresses {industry} challenges reminiscent of threat of failure, rising upkeep price and sustainability and compliance laws. AWS Cloud was the popular alternative for the consumer to reap the benefits of higher deployment flexibility, scalability, excessive availability and safe structure.  

Answer method

IBM adopted the next method to speed up the power firm’s Maximo migration to AWS:

• Upgraded present Maximo utility from model 7.6.0.9 to model 7.6.1.2 utilizing Infra as a code (IaC)
• Deployed utilizing IaC offered the flexibleness of spin-up the occasion required for auto scaling. This automation helps to scale back the lead time to spin and run the brand new setting, additionally addressing latency points attributable to multi-AWS availability zone deployment
• Used AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) for information migration and schema conversion
• To attenuate the database replication (DR) infra provision and maintain the DR price decrease, IaC was used to spin the DR setting primarily based on demand. DR capabilities used to maintain information updated inside availability zone and DR area
• Addressed information sharing throughout purposes utilizing IBM Cloud Pak for Data and uniform integration layer utilizing IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

Answer elements

• Maximo Enterprise Software Administration (EAM) is predicated on a 3-tier structure with the next elements:
  • HTTP/Internet Tier and Software Tier utilizing the IBM WebSphere and HIS deployed EC2 occasion below personal subnet, to maintain utility safe.
  • Database Tier is utilizing the AWS Oracle RDS with replication allow to deal with the DR scenario, working below personal subnet.
• Digital Personal Cloud (VPC) was configured primarily based on AWS finest practices with private and non-private subnets
• Software servers and deployment supervisor had been setup for autoscaling utilizing the Auto Scaling Group  
• Maximo web-based UI decision for exterior entry utilizing the AWS Route 53 service
• Internet utility firewall (WAF) was used as a primary line of protection in opposition to net exploits
• IaC scripts on Terraform and CFT had been built-in to provision autoscaling structure

Reference Structure on AWS  

How Maximo on RedHat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA) helps shoppers

MAS 8.0 has now been containerized and out there to run particularly on RedHat OpenShift. To ease this transition for purchasers unfamiliar with working containers in manufacturing, AWS has partnered with IBM and RedHat to develop an IBM MAS on ROSA reference structure. ROSA is a fully-managed, turnkey application platform that enables corporations to deal with deploying purposes and speed up innovation by off-loading the cluster lifecycle administration to RedHat and AWS, and has now supported configuration for IBM MAS. Which means clients don’t must create, handle and preserve their very own RedHat OpenShift clusters for IBM MAS.

Maximo Migration and Working Mannequin

Prime 3 methods to speed up Maximo migration to AWS

As a way to migrate to the cloud, there are three deployment fashions out there to shoppers for working IBM MAS on AWS Cloud:

1. MAS SaaS on AWS powered by ROSA
2. MAS devoted on AWS powered by ROSA
3. Buyer-hosted ROSA