Glossary
Clear definitions for Maximo, reliability, and asset performance concepts, grounded in outcomes.
A
AppPoints Licensing
AppPoints Licensing is a Maximo Application Suite model where shared capacity units are consumed based on application usage, allowing flexible allocation across asset management, monitoring, and analytics capabilities.
Asset
An Asset is a physical piece of equipment tracked in Maximo, including its location, structure, and history, helping organizations monitor performance and manage maintenance throughout its lifecycle.
Asset Criticality
Asset Criticality is a ranking of assets based on risk factors such as safety, production, and cost, helping prioritize maintenance, reliability efforts, and data quality focus.
Asset Health Index (AHI)
Asset Health Index is a combined score representing asset condition using performance, failure, and condition data, helping teams quickly assess overall asset health and prioritize action.
Asset Hierarchy
Asset Hierarchy is the structured arrangement of assets into parent-child relationships in Maximo, helping teams understand systems, track performance, and analyze maintenance activity effectively.
Asset Lifecycle Cost
Asset Lifecycle Cost is the total cost of owning and operating an asset from acquisition through disposal, helping organizations make better investment and maintenance decisions.
Asset Performance
Asset Performance is how effectively an asset delivers its intended outcomes over time, including availability, reliability, and cost, supported by consistent data and disciplined execution.
Asset Performance Management (APM)
Asset Performance Management is a set of capabilities that connect asset condition, risk, and performance data to decisions, helping improve reliability and optimize maintenance strategies.
B
Backlog Health
Backlog Health measures how manageable and well-prioritized maintenance work is, helping ensure critical reliability tasks can be planned and completed without excessive delay.
C
Closeout Quality
Closeout Quality is the consistency and completeness of data captured when work orders are finished, helping ensure maintenance history is reliable and usable for analysis.
Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM)
Condition-Based Maintenance is a strategy where maintenance is performed based on asset condition data, helping reduce unnecessary work and prevent failures.
Condition Monitoring
Condition Monitoring is the tracking of asset health indicators such as vibration or temperature, helping detect issues early and support predictive maintenance decisions.
Corrective Maintenance (CM)
Corrective Maintenance is work performed to restore an asset after a fault is identified, helping return equipment to normal operation and prevent further degradation.
D
Data Confidence
Data Confidence is the level of trust teams have in Maximo data accuracy and consistency, enabling decisions to be based on reliable information rather than assumptions.
Data Consistency
Data Consistency is the uniformity of how data is entered and maintained across systems and teams, helping ensure information can be compared and analyzed reliably.
Data Discipline
Data Discipline is the consistent application of standards and practices for entering and maintaining data, helping sustain long-term data quality and reliability.
Data Drift
Data Drift is the gradual decline in data quality over time due to inconsistent practices, reducing the reliability of reporting and decision-making.
Data Governance
Data Governance is the structure of standards, ownership, and processes used to maintain accurate and consistent data in Maximo over time.
Data Lineage
Data Lineage tracks where data originates, how it changes, and where it is used, helping ensure transparency and trust in data-driven decisions.
Data Quality
Data Quality is the completeness, consistency, and accuracy of data in Maximo, helping teams make better decisions about maintenance, planning, and asset performance.
Data Standard Enforcement
Data Standard Enforcement ensures defined naming, coding, and entry rules are consistently followed, helping turn data standards into reliable outcomes.
Digital Twin
Digital Twin is a virtual representation of a physical asset using real-time data, helping teams monitor performance and simulate operational scenarios.
E
Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Strategy
EAM Strategy defines how asset management practices align with business goals, helping guide maintenance, investment, and reliability decisions.
Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)
Enterprise Asset Management is a structured approach to managing physical assets from acquisition through retirement, helping optimize performance, cost, and risk.
Execution Alignment
Execution Alignment is the match between planned work and actual field execution, helping ensure data reflects reality and supports reliable decision-making.
F
Failure Code
Failure Code is a standardized way to record what failed and why, helping support consistent analysis and identification of recurring issues.
Failure Data Quality
Failure Data Quality is the accuracy and consistency of failure-related data, helping enable meaningful root cause analysis and reliability improvement.
Failure Mode
Failure Mode is the specific way an asset fails, helping teams understand failure patterns and improve maintenance strategies.
Failure Modes, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA)
FMECA is a structured method for identifying failure modes, evaluating their impact, and prioritizing actions based on risk and criticality.
H
Hierarchy Integrity
Hierarchy Integrity is the accuracy of asset relationships within a hierarchy, helping ensure maintenance data and performance insights are correctly attributed.
I
IBM Control Desk
IBM Control Desk is an IBM IT service and asset management platform that historically sat alongside Maximo before related capabilities shifted into newer suites.
Inventory Optimization
Inventory Optimization is the balancing of spare parts availability with carrying cost, helping ensure critical materials are available without overstocking.
Internet of Things (IoT)
Internet of Things is a network of connected devices and sensors that collect real-time data, helping Maximo users monitor condition and improve maintenance decisions.
IT Service Management (ITSM)
IT Service Management is a structured approach to delivering and improving IT services through defined workflows, helping manage requests, incidents, changes, and service performance.
J
Job Plan
Job Plan is a reusable Maximo template that defines the steps, labor, materials, and tools needed for a maintenance task, helping improve consistency and planning accuracy.
K
Key Risk Indicator (KRI)
Key Risk Indicator is a metric that signals increasing operational risk, helping teams identify exposure before it affects performance or reliability.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
Key Performance Indicator is a metric used to measure progress toward operational goals, helping track outcomes such as reliability, backlog, or maintenance performance.
M
Master Data Management (MDM)
Master Data Management is a governance discipline that keeps core data consistent across systems, helping organizations maintain trusted records for assets, locations, and materials.
Maximo Application Suite (MAS)
Maximo Application Suite is IBM’s modern platform for asset management and operational intelligence, bringing Maximo together with monitoring, analytics, and visual capabilities.
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
Mean Time Between Failures is the average operating time between asset failures, helping teams evaluate reliability and compare performance over time.
Mean Time To Repair (MTTR)
Mean Time To Repair is the average time needed to restore an asset after failure, helping teams assess repair efficiency and maintainability.
O
Operational Availability (Ao)
Operational Availability is the probability that an asset is ready for use when needed, helping measure the practical availability of equipment in operation.
Operational Data Alignment
Operational Data Alignment is the consistency between recorded data and actual work, helping ensure that system data reflects real operational activity.
P
Planned vs. Unplanned Work
Planned vs. Unplanned Work compares prepared maintenance with reactive work, helping teams understand how effectively work is being managed.
Planning Accuracy
Planning Accuracy is how closely planned labor, materials, and durations match actual work, helping improve scheduling efficiency and resource utilization.
Planning and Scheduling
Planning and Scheduling is the process of defining work requirements and assigning timing, helping improve execution efficiency and workforce coordination.
Preventive Maintenance (PM) Compliance
Preventive Maintenance Compliance measures whether scheduled PM work is completed as planned, helping indicate the consistency of maintenance execution.
Preventive Maintenance (PM)
Preventive Maintenance is scheduled maintenance performed at defined intervals, helping reduce the likelihood of failure and support reliable asset operation.
Predictive Analytics
Predictive Analytics uses data and models to anticipate future asset behavior, helping teams identify likely failures and plan earlier intervention.
Predictive Maintenance (PdM)
Predictive Maintenance is maintenance triggered by condition data or predicted failure risk, helping teams act before equipment performance declines.
Prescriptive Maintenance
Prescriptive Maintenance is an advanced approach that recommends specific maintenance actions based on predictive insight, helping improve timing and decision quality.
R
Reactive Work
Reactive Work is maintenance performed in response to failures, helping restore operation but often indicating opportunities to improve planning and reliability.
Reliability Strategy
Reliability Strategy defines the maintenance approach used to manage asset risk and performance, helping determine what work is done and how often.
Remaining Useful Life (RUL)
Remaining Useful Life is an estimate of how long an asset can continue operating before failure, helping prioritize maintenance and replacement decisions.
Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
Root Cause Analysis is a structured method for identifying the underlying cause of failures, helping prevent recurrence and improve reliability outcomes.
S
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
Service Level Agreement is a documented commitment to expected service performance, helping define accountability and response expectations.
Standard Job Plan
Standard Job Plan is a reusable work template that defines how a job should be completed, helping improve consistency across repeated maintenance tasks.
Standardized Failure Codes
Standardized Failure Codes are a controlled set of descriptors used to classify failure events consistently, helping improve data quality and trend analysis.
U
Usable Data
Usable Data is information that is consistent, structured, and aligned enough to support effective decision-making, analysis, and planning.
W
Work Management Consistency
Work Management Consistency is the uniform way work is planned, executed, and recorded, helping enable reliable comparison and performance tracking.
Work Management Discipline
Work Management Discipline is the set of habits and standards that make maintenance work predictable, helping improve execution quality and planning reliability.
Work Order Closeout
Work Order Closeout is the process of completing a work order with all required data, helping ensure maintenance history is accurate and usable.
Work Order Closeout Quality
Work Order Closeout Quality is how consistently teams capture the information needed when work is completed, helping maintain accurate history and analysis.
Work Order Data Quality
Work Order Data Quality is the consistency and completeness of information captured in work orders, helping improve visibility into maintenance activity and performance.
Work Order (WO)
Work Order is a structured Maximo record used to plan, execute, and document maintenance work, helping track activity, history, and accountability.
Work Type
Work Type is a Maximo classification used to categorize work orders, helping apply the right workflows and report on how maintenance resources are used.