Modernizing your enterprise asset management (EAM) strategy isn’t just a tech upgrade — it’s a mindset that embraces maturity:
· Cloud solutions strengthen resiliency across teams, sites, and departments.
· High-quality asset data helps your people work better together.
· Mobile gives your people the tools they need on the go.
· Artificial intelligence (AI) unlocks new levels of efficiency and insight.
Each of these innovations plays a key role in EAM maturity. As your systems modernize, so does your organization’s capacity to improve performance, gain control, and increase return on investment (ROI). Modernization and maturity aren’t separate tracks — they’re parallel paths.
In our previous blog, we looked at how organizations progress through the stages of the EAM Maturity Model. Now, we’ll show how aligning innovation and technology with implementation best practices shapes EAM maturity and its outcomes.
Keep your head in the cloud: Dream big
Here’s something most people don’t realize: EAM maturity can begin before full-scale implementation. The misconception that modernization takes years often stems from trying to tackle everything at once — or worse, selecting a rigid solution from the start.
Cloud-based EAM platforms change the game. They’re modular and scalable. And depending on your scope and goals, they can go live in 2-3 months. That means an ROI that starts delivering faster time to value.
The cloud builds resiliency across your organization. You can dream big and start small as you see fit –– perhaps with one team –– and then scale out to other sites and departments. As you connect maintenance, operations, and health, safety, and environment (HSE), you’re building a resilient system designed that can absorb disruption and reduce unplanned downtime and costs.
When you’ve made the decision to leave behind Stage 1: Reactive and reach for Stage 2: In Control on the EAM Maturity Model, this is exactly what it looks like. You’re addressing all key areas of asset performance — from maintenance to operations to HSE — on a foundation that’s flexible, scalable, and built for what’s next.
Connect the data dots for your people
Your assets are already producing plenty of data. The key is giving your people a system that can turn the data into actionable insights. A mature EAM system doesn’t just collect information; it connects the data dots, which builds a circle of collaboration. Your teams, across various departments and even multiple sites, can work better together on asset management strategies.
Your people shouldn’t be crunching the data or chasing down asset updates. That’s what your EAM system is for. When data flows freely among maintenance, operations, and HSE, you create a true circle of collaboration — one grounded in your organization’s key performance indicators (KPIs).
This is what Stage 3: Proactive looks like. Teams across departments and sites can schedule jobs, analyze failures, and share insights with assurance. “Empower to perform” isn’t just a mantra, it’s a measurable outcome. When your people have access to high-quality, integrated data, they’re now proactively planning, aligning, and improving reliability in real time.
A usable system for those seated, standing, or on the go
A truly usable EAM system isn’t something your people should have to adapt to, it’s something that adapts to you. That’s the power of configuration. Unlike costly, time-intensive customizations, configuration lets you shape your system to match your business processes, workflows, and priorities.
Usability also means your EAM solution works for everyone — whether they’re seated at a desk, standing on the plant floor, or troubleshooting out in the field. When an EAM system has a mobile feature, it’s ready for devices that most people are familiar with, such as phones and tablets. But even for those with limited computer experience, a mobile EAM is intuitive with easy user interfaces.
Reaching Stage 4: Smart means your system supports smarter decisions through built-in business intelligence, cost control, condition monitoring, and more. But it also means your people are empowered with tools that work the way they do — flexible, intuitive, and accessible on the go. As your workforce evolves, your systems should keep up, not slow you down. That’s why we provide configuration toolkits with best practices tailored to your industry.
AI is promising, and a change to be managed
When we talk about the benefits of resiliency offered by cloud –– such as a single source of truth with data quality –– this naturally leads the conversation to AI. But you can’t even start that stage of the journey until you begin with intentional change management. The best way to get the most out of your EAM solution is to make sure your people feel confident using it.
Stage 5 is called Ultimate in the EAM Maturity Model. This is where AI, in its many forms, will likely transform enterprise asset management. For example, asset life cycles will be managed with certainty as sensor-based AI can draw from data to make predictions for process optimization. Maintenance strategies can be improved using AI to analyze and interpret visual information from images or videos, which enables significant advances in areas like autonomous vehicles on the shop floor.
When it comes to long-term planning, sustainability, and financial optimization, generative AI can be a useful tool when all your data is in place. Generative AI uses natural language processing, radically enhancing how users interact with software. As a co-pilot, generative AI can help your people search for relevant data and perform analyses faster and with greater accuracy.
Customer stories: Leading with data, transforming with purpose
IFS Ultimo and MaxGrip have over 60 years of combined EAM experience. We partner to deliver a scalable, modular EAM solution that drives return on investment (ROI) within months. Together, we combine trusted advisory support with a growth-ready system to help customers leapfrog into the future with confidence.
For example, MaxGrip implemented Ultimo within 60 days at a leading container terminal on the United States west coast. The company chose Ultimo as its new EAM solution as part of its modernization program. This modernization initiative seeks to optimize throughput while minimizing negative external impacts. The results were the ability to capture high-quality data (through the robust migration process) and widespread internal adoption. The terminal improved data control and automated ERP integration to increase operational efficiency and position itself for the next phase of digital transformation in maintenance management.
In another case, MaxGrip helped Dunea optimize the use of its Ultimo EAM system. As a leading water company in the Netherlands, Dunea’s primary ambition was to streamline their operations. This was accomplished by standardizing workflows and clear agreements, particularly for field technicians using the EAM mobile version, Ultimo Go. The integration of systems better enabled data-driven decision-making, with a business intelligence dashboard offering a holistic view of maintenance activities and costs. The project also included the implementation of HSE modules, further improving operational safety and compliance.
Learn more about your asset management modernization?
Discover more details about the Ultimo EAM Maturity model, or book a demo directly!
More information about MaxGrip, who were awarded with the Ultimo Implementation Partner of the Year 2024 award, can be found here.
Frequently Asked Questions
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If your organization utilizes capital-intensive assets, IFS Ultimo's best-of-breed EAM is an invaluable tool for optimizing your asset management. Ultimo excels in manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, infrastructure and utility sectors.
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With EAM software, companies can centralize their assets, making it easier to monitor, optimize, and proactively inspect and maintain them. This helps prevent unplanned downtime, suboptimal asset performance, and supply shortages.
Latest resources
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Strategic investment focus in the United States and Canada will meet customer demand and extend IFS’s existing Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software leadership.
IFS Ultimo is thrilled to share the exciting news of Johan Made’s appointment as the new Chief Executive of IFS Ultimo. He will assume his role on 1 January 2024.
A powerful EAM solution that integrates perfectly with SAP. As a CIO, enabling the secure, efficient and sustainable flow of quality information is a must have for achieving operational excellence. That’s especially the case when it comes to enterprise asset management (EAM) and how it flows seamlessly with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
A versatile SAP-certified solution that makes maintenance management easy. Good enterprise asset management (EAM) is foundational for enabling a reliability-centered maintenance strategy that increases uptime, availability and reliability - and reduces waste and costs.
Where does your organization currently stand and how can it reach the next stage? After decades of experience in customer service, gathering feedback, and diving into research, IFS Ultimo has developed the EAM Maturity Model: a blueprint that identifies the current situation of asset management and showcases the pathway toward potential growth in their asset management level by making the most of Ultimo’s services.
We are proud to announce that IFS Ultimo has received the respected Solution Award for ‘Best Operator Driven Maintenance Solution’ at the RELIABILITY Conference in Seattle this week. Our powerful EAM solution enables more than 100k happy technicians and operators supporting 15 million assets worldwide to access and process relevant information on the spot, and ultimately work better together.
Meet Jeroen Kanis, the Partner Program Manager at IFS Ultimo.
IFS Ultimo has been making strides in expanding its partner ecosystem. Having recently appointed a new Global Channel Sales Director to further strengthen investment in this area.
Effective collaboration is a key component in further optimizing asset management strategy, reducing downtime and increasing safety in the workplace. Especially interdepartmental and cross-functional collaboration need to be of an equally high level in order to attain operational excellence. A centralized, single-source-of-truth platform like IFS Ultimo is critical in cultivating alignment towards shared goals and objectives, in order to meet all business goals.
