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IBM Maximo vs IFS Cloud Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Maximo
Ranking in Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Billing Software (4th)
IFS Cloud Platform
Ranking in Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
CRM (21st), Customer Experience Management (7th), Field Service Management (2nd), Help Desk Software (11th), ERP (13th), Activity Based Costing Software (7th), Local Government CRM (6th), IT Asset Management (10th), IT Service Management (ITSM) (10th), License Management (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) category, the mindshare of IBM Maximo is 28.7%, up from 26.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IFS Cloud Platform is 10.1%, up from 8.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)
 

Featured Reviews

Jose Pedro Muñoz - PeerSpot reviewer
A very strong and powerful tool in the market preferred by a variety of industries
I rate the technical support a seven out of ten. Three levels of support in IBM. The first one is a fixed level, while levels two and three are very good. Here, level one is not very good, as it takes time to go from level one to level two and from level two to level three. So, level one is of low capacity.
Brendan Fisher - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust, customizable, and modern
IFS is a very large and complex software, and implementation of IFS can be challenging and may lead to a difficult lengthy project. It can take between 12 and 24 months in some cases to deploy. I have found that not all clients are fully aware of how big the task is that they're undertaking when they make a decision to move to software like this. Companies need to be more aware of the complexity of an ERP implementation project and while I fully recommend moving to IFS, it is not easy and does require business change when adopting an ERP solution. New features are a difficult ask - I work across multiple industries and everyone would probably choose a different feature. Maybe BIM in Construction or Customs link-ups for importers/exporters.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Work order management and scalability enables the businesses' needs to be met."
"IBM Maximo is the best software for assets management."
"The most valuable feature is asset management maintenance as well as asset management overall."
"The most valuable features are the ability to create work orders and preventative maintenance."
"The Preventive Maintenance feature, especially in its inspection routines and KPI abilities, is valuable."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to correct maintenance."
"The most powerful features are the database and integration with CMDB."
"The incident management feature is good because it allows you to keep track of and classify issues."
"When it comes to financing, the solution has helped us to concentrate finance functions like accounting processes in one system. This includes about 70 internal entities around the world."
"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine or ten out of ten since it is an extremely scalable solution that can be used for various use cases with thousands of users."
"Some of the strengths are Enterprise Management Solutions and the series of Management solutions which is number one in Gartner's report and has been for the last five years."
"The solution overall is very versatile and flexible, especially compared to other products."
"Individual user profiles that can be configured as templates to minimize data entry."
"The most valuable features of IFS Applications in the latest version are the new user Arena interface. It's from Apps 9, but it brings more flexibility in usage, especially around different devices, such as mobile usage, which doesn't restrict you from using a computer. We are it for the HR side, and it's proving quite good. It has a new modern feel to it similar to a standard cloud application which enhances the user experience."
"What I like about IFS Applications is that it's easier to use and implement than SAP. I also like that the IFS Applications team is more flexible than the SAP team."
"The financial posting controls are quite handy. The user interface is really friendly, highly flexible, and pretty intuitive for end users."
 

Cons

"The solution is not stable. We can have one day when it is stable and another day it is not. Sometimes it crashes or becomes very slow, and there are times we are not even able to download all the databases. Without the database, we cannot work on that application. These are the small glitches, and stability issues we are facing."
"The pricing model of the solution has room for improvement as well as the after-sales support."
"It's not user-friendly. It could use shortcuts for frequently requested services."
"The interface is not very easy or user-friendly and is in need of improvement."
"Although you can create notifications with Maximo, the configuration and options could be improved."
"The standard reports that shipped with the package need to be enriched with more advanced reports, especially for the Inventory Management sections."
"I feel that the interface is a little too complicated with a large number of fields to enter."
"Vendor management needs enhancement."
"We have upgraded to the latest version right now. We have issues with the quality. We tried to enroll in their Evergreen program which was meant to help us adopt any service update or anything that the tool’s providers come up with."
"IFS Applications is not robust enough to handle high-volume transactions, so it's not suitable for larger enterprises."
"The solution needs to improve its documentation and user-friendliness."
"Ability to place approval check-points in the custom workflow, so clients can decide what they want it."
"The user interface can be improved. When you're clicking through the screens, there are some icons or symbols that really need updating and would be more useful and noticeable if they are aesthetically pleasing."
"Technical support could be improved."
"The integration is a bit complex, and post-implementation support services need to be improved. They have a service center based out of Sri Lanka. The support aspect is good, but the response time is a little slower than we anticipated. In the next release, it would be better if Warehouse Management could be improvised. They have a product line that's a data warehouse management system, but it's still premature and requires a bit of enhancement."
"IFS Applications can improve the reporting capabilities and increase the speed of feedback time in the IFS Applications. This would help with the overall performance of the solution and provide better experiences for customers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of IBM Maximo could reduce, it is expensive."
"Explore the possibility of using DB2. You will avoid the cost of SQL Server or Oracle licenses."
"The concurrent user license is much more effective in management and cost-wise, as it is more suitable for maintenance management."
"You pay for what you get. There are lots of options depending on how you would like to implement Maximo."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is low and ten is high, I rate the pricing a nine. The price is very high."
"​Explore internal processes in order to evaluate the correct number of users in each Maximo module, then evaluate the different offers of pricing and licensing.​"
"I do not know about the price of the solution. However, this has been an expensive project overall."
"IBM has changed the licensing policy. As I understand now, they are going from a complex way of licensing to a more simple way of licensing."
"The product is reasonably priced."
"Pricing is an area that could be improved. They could be more competitive."
"It is better to buy implementation services from IFS than from partners"
"Ask for all-inclusive pricing, as they are pretty flexible if you ask for custom models."
"I consider it to be a well-priced solution compared to other mid-range or high-end ERP solutions."
"IFS Applications are competitive in terms of pricing compared to other vendors, such as SAP, Oracle, and Epicor. They are generally cheaper, especially for licensing costs."
"We pay for a license to use the solution, which is not very expensive."
"There are varying license levels that you can purchase."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
34%
Energy/Utilities Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Maximo?
It can be particularly useful for power line operations, enabling linemen in the field to gather information and send it across the country as well as different parts of the world.
What needs improvement with IBM Maximo?
Though I liked it a lot, I think it was lagging a lot. It was very slow due to the lagging issues. So that was kind of frustrating, considering how slow it was while functioning. The aforementioned...
What is your primary use case for IBM Maximo?
It can be particularly useful for power line operations, enabling linemen in the field to gather information and send it across the country as well as different parts of the world. With IBM Maximo,...
What do you like most about IFS Applications?
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine or ten out of ten since it is an extremely scalable solution that can be used for various use cases with thousands of users.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IFS Applications?
The product is reasonably priced. The costs are justified by the value provided, considering the comprehensive features and minimal need for customization. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten.
What needs improvement with IFS Applications?
I am not able to recall much about batch. Documentation-wise, they need more. There is not much available online, and the documentation availability is on the lower side compared to other products,...
 

Also Known As

Maximo
IFS Applications, Assyst, IFS Cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V., DTE Energy, Swedish Match, Projetech, Fingrid, East Coast
China Airlines, Electrolux Group, Babcock, Cimcorp, Sky, Multiplex, Veolia. 
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Maximo vs. IFS Cloud Platform and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.