Guide

Questions to ask a Maximo partner in an RFP

The questions that filter serious IBM Maximo partners from the rest, written for the procurement, IT and asset-management leads running the evaluation.

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A Maximo RFP is a filter. The point of the questions is not to gather data; it is to surface signal about who can really do the work. This guide gives you the questions that, in our experience, separate serious partners from the rest.

You can lift these directly into your RFP. We have been on the receiving end of enough of them to know which ones surface real delivery capability.

IBM relationship

  1. What is your IBM partnership tier and how long have you held it?
  2. Are you an authorised IBM Maximo Application Suite reseller? For which geographies?
  3. Which MAS specialisations and validated solutions do you hold?
  4. How are you visible in the IBM Partner Plus directory and IBM Partner Finder for Maximo?
  5. Provide three named IBM contacts (sales or technical) who would speak to your delivery quality.

Delivery model

  1. Name the senior consultants and architects who will work on this engagement. Provide CVs.
  2. What proportion of the team will be senior versus junior? Define your terms.
  3. Will the team named in the proposal be the team on the project? How is that protected?
  4. Where will the team be based, and what is your on-site / remote / hybrid policy?
  5. What is your subcontractor policy, and how much of this engagement is likely to be subcontracted?

Implementation methodology

  1. Walk us through how you sequence MAS Manage, Mobile, Monitor, Predict and Health on a new estate.
  2. How do you sequence asset hierarchy, classification and master data design with respect to configuration?
  3. What is your default position on customisation versus configuration? Where is the line?
  4. How do you align failure-class taxonomy and equipment hierarchy to ISO 14224 (or equivalent for our sector)?
  5. How do you approach data migration, and how do you handle reconciliation and rollback?
  6. What does your hypercare model look like in week one and in month three?

Integration

  1. List the integrations you have delivered between Maximo and SAP / Oracle ERP / GIS / SCADA / OT / mobile / scheduling / document management.
  2. How do you handle integration retest through MAS upgrades?
  3. What is your default integration architecture: middleware, message broker, point-to-point, MAS-native?

Hosting and support

  1. Do you operate managed hosting for IBM Maximo Application Suite? At what scale (number of estates, geographies)?
  2. Provide an SLA template and describe a recent incident, including timeline and resolution path.
  3. Can application support be bundled with hosting under one accountability?
  4. What is your approach to change management on hosted estates?
  5. How do you handle DR testing, and how often?

Upgrade and lifecycle

  1. How many Maximo to MAS upgrades have you delivered? Provide a sample list.
  2. What is your fastest-quoted Maximo to MAS upgrade timeline, and what was the scope?
  3. What happens to our customisations through a future MAS upgrade?
  4. How do you stay current with IBM’s MAS roadmap, and how is that reflected in your delivery patterns?

Commercials

  1. What is your fixed-price model and what falls outside it?
  2. Provide rate cards for senior architect, lead consultant, senior consultant, consultant, developer.
  3. How do you commit to A-team retention through the life of the engagement?
  4. Provide hosting and support pricing alongside implementation, on a five-year horizon.

References

  1. Provide three reference clients in adjacent sectors. We will call them.
  2. Provide one reference client where the engagement was difficult, and explain how it was handled.
  3. Provide one reference client where you took over from another supplier, and one where another supplier took over from you.

Quality of answers

The differentiator is rarely a single answer. It is the pattern across the answers. Strong partners give specific, named, dated, traceable answers. Weak partners give general, hedging, marketing-grade answers. You will know the difference within the first ten responses.

Where MaxIron fits

We answer all of the above with named teams, dated references, and clear boundaries on scope. If you are running an RFP, we are happy to participate, and we will say when we are not the right fit.

Where this guide leads

The pages below are the delivery side of the decision this guide covers.

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Reference, then estate

A guide has to generalise. Your estate does not. The next useful hour is the one that finds where the general case breaks down for you.

The delivery side of this decision sits on IBM Maximo partner (UK and Ireland).

Test this against your own estate

Thirty minutes with a senior MaxIron engineer: where the general case in this guide breaks down for your estate. Delivery for this decision sits on IBM Maximo partner (UK and Ireland).

Bring this to the call

  • Your current Maximo or MAS version, and the database behind it.
  • The integration list, even if it is out of date.
  • Any date already promised internally, and who promised it.
Book a 30-minute review See IBM Maximo partner (UK and Ireland)