IBM Maximo

Release 6.2.1

Multisite Administrator’s Guide

Note
Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in “Notices” on page Notices-1.

First Edition (January 2007)

This edition applies to version 6, release 2, modification 1 of IBM Maximo and to all subsequent releases and
modifications until otherwise indicated in new editions.

Third-Party Technology: Certain Maximo products contain technology provided under license from third
parties, as noted in the following table:

IBM Product Third-Party Information

All Products Portions © 1996-2003 Visual Mining, Inc. Visual Mining™
NetCharts Server provided by Visual Mining, Inc.
IBM Maximo Portions © 1995-2004 Actuate Corporation.

Portions © 2005 BEA Systems, Inc. BEA WebLogic Server®

provided by BEA Systems, Inc.

Portions © 1996-2005, i-net software GmbH. J-Integra for

COM® v2.4. © 2004 Intrinsyc Software International, Inc.
Maximo Discovery MSDE Copyright © Microsoft® Corporation.

© 1998-2005 Centennial Software Limited.

IBM Maximo Asset Navigator Portions © 1993-2002 Snowbound™ Software Corporation.
RasterMaster™ Raster imaging technology provided by
Snowbound Software Corporation.
IBM Maximo Mobile Portions © 2005 DataMirror, Inc.

Portions © 2000-2005 Zaval Creative Engineering Group.

IBM Maximo Mobile SE Portions © 1996-2005 Syclo, LLC.

Open Source: Maximo contains computer software obtained from the public domain, known as "Open Source"
ownership of which is attributed as follows: Portions © 2002, Steve Souza ([email protected]). Portions ©
2000-2004, Jason Hunter & Brett McLaughlin. Portions © 2004-2005, The Apache Software Foundation
(http://www.apache.org/).

© Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 2007. All rights reserved.

US Government Users Restricted Rights - Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule
Contract with IBM Corp.
 Contents

About This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Related Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

Chapter 1: Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1

What is Multisite? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
When Do You Use Multisite?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3

Chapter 2: Multisite Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1

Data Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2

Chapter 3: Multisite Data Sharing and Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1

Data Sharing Across Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Selective Data Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Multisite Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Purchase Requisitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Purchase Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Asset Moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Work Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6

Chapter 4: Multisite Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1

Select Action Menu Items and the Levels to Which They Apply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1

Chapter 5: Strategies and Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1

Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
Two Organizations Reflecting Two Charts of Accounts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
Four Organizations With Separate Maintenance and IT Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Four Organizations Using Local Vendors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5

Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Notices-1

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2007 iii

iv IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide
 About This Guide

This section explains how this guide can help you to use IBM® Maximo®. It
also provides information about other IBM Corporation resources available to
you, such as additional documentation and support.

Audience
This guide is designed for the system administrator, network administrator,
and database manager of Maximo.

Setting up a multisite implementation of IBM Maximo involves planning and

strategizing regarding how to integrate the IBM Maximo architecture with
the structure of your business practices. This guide provides an overview of
the Maximo multisite capabilities, reviews some Multisite topics you should
think about as you set up the environment, and presents several scenarios as
examples of how Maximo can meet particular needs.

Related Documentation
For more information about IBM Maximo, refer to the following
documentation:

Document Description

IBM Maximo Finance Manager’s Describes how IBM Maximo

Guide completes financial transactions
and how to set up general ledger
accounts.

IBM Maximo Installation Guide Describes how to install and

configure the following software:

! Application server
! IBM Maximo
®
! Actuate

IBM Maximo Online Help Provides step-by-step procedures for

IBM Maximo applications.

IBM Maximo Reconciliation Module Describes how to use the IBM

Implementation Guide Maximo Reconciliation module to
reconcile the two types of
information that IBM Maximo
maintains about information
technology (IT) assets: IT asset data
and deployed asset data.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2007 v

Support

Document Description

IBM Maximo Report Administration Describes how to use Actuate to

and Development Guide design and administer IBM Maximo
reports.

IBM Maximo System Describes database configuration,

Administrator’s Guide security, and other administrative
level applications and tasks.

IBM Maximo User’s Guide Provides an overview of the IBM

Maximo end user applications. It
also describes how the IBM Maximo
applications interact with each
other.

IBM Maximo Workflow Provides information about how to

Implementation Guide use IBM Maximo to plan, design,
build, test, implement, and manage
Workflow processes.

IBM Maximo Enterprise Adapter Describes how to configure and use

System Administrator's Guide the IBM Maximo Enterprise
Adapter (MEA).

Support
IBM Maximo users with a valid Annual Customer Support Plan (ACSP) can
obtain product support online at Support Online:

support.mro.com.

Support Online includes information about product releases, software

patches, and documentation updates. To find the most current version of a
document, refer to the Knowledge Base on this site.

vi IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

Overview
1
Large businesses, government agencies, and other types of enterprises often
have multiple facilities. Some customers install a separate instance of IBM
Maximo and the Maximo database at each facility. However, these different
facilities often have common business practices or share common data, and
separate databases do not meet the needs of the business or public enterprise.

There is increasingly a need to centralize data and software management

even when an enterprise is spread over multiple locations. The IBM Maximo
multisite functionality provides large enterprises a way to standardize and
share certain kinds of data between facilities while keeping other kinds of
data, such as work management data, unique to a particular Site. The
multisite capability also allows you to selectively give users access to data at
different Sites.

What is Multisite?
A multisite environment in IBM Maximo includes the following properties:

! Users access Maximo via a Web browser—they can be at any site, not just
where Maximo is installed.

! All sites use the same Maximo database.

! All sites use the same instance of Maximo running on an application

server.

! Different sites keep certain of their operations separate, according to the

needs of their business practices and the constraints of the Maximo
architecture.

Rather than implementing multiple instances of Maximo at different sites, a

company installs Maximo once, has multiple sites access it, and still
maintains site-specific independence for certain kinds of data. For example,
different sites can run Maximo using the same application server and the
same Maximo database while keeping their work order and inventory records
separate.

The basic units of a multisite environment are Organizations and Sites. An

Enterprise can have multiple Organizations; each Organization can have
multiple Sites.

It is important to understand that Organizations and Sites are Maximo

entities designed to accommodate many different kinds of business practices.
They do not necessarily correspond to physical sites or facilities.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2007 1-1

What is Multisite?

Organizations An Organization is typically a financial entity within an enterprise in which

all financial transactions are maintained in one base currency. Each
Organization maintains its own chart of accounts, which is available to all
Sites belonging to that Organization.

In a large enterprise, multiple business functions can also be configured as

different Organizations. For example, a company can define two
Organizations: one to maintain the company’s own assets, and another to
maintain the assets of its clients.

Sites A Site is typically a facility in an Organization where work management

activities are performed. These activities include managing assets and
physical locations through preventive maintenance schedules and work
orders; managing inventory in storerooms; processing stock replenishment;
and other supply chain related activities

Because a Site is an entity you create within Maximo, it may or may not
correspond to a physical site. The following may help illustrate this:

! Two Sites might correspond to two different facilities in two different

countries.

! Two Sites might correspond to two subdivisions within the same large
facility at a single location—subdivisions you want to keep separate for
business reasons.

! Two or more facilities (physical locations) might be considered a single Site

in Maximo because they all use the same data (work orders and PMs, for
example) that Maximo treats as Site-level data.

The following figure illustrates the basic multisite concept:

Example of a Basic Multisite Configuration

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 5

Site 6

Site 7

Site 8

Organization 1 Organization 2 Organization 3

Enterprise

It is important also to know what multisite in Maximo is not. It is not

intended to duplicate the standard Organizational structure within a
company (CEO, Vice Presidents, middle management, and various other
levels generally used for reporting purposes). Reporting applications in
Maximo are all at the Enterprise level. You tailor Maximo reports to fit your

1-2 IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

 When Do You Use Multisite?

company’s reporting requirements. Furthermore, in Maximo, you can not

simply move a Site from one Organization to another. You can, however,
change reports to reflect management changes.

When Do You Use Multisite?

You might implement the Maximo multisite features for a variety of reasons.
First, you must decide whether you want to set up multiple Organizations.
Then, for each Organization, you must decide whether to set up multiple
Sites.

The following examples illustrate some typical multisite situations.

Separate Organizations ! Your enterprise has multiple legal entities, each of which maintains its
own general ledger accounts. You define each legal entity as an
Organization.

! You have multiple businesses, for example, a utilities operations and a

fleet of vehicles. The maintenance operations are independent of each
other and have their own charts of accounts. You create two
Organizations, one for the utilities and one for the fleet operations.

! You use Maximo to maintain both EAM assets and IT assets. These assets
are maintained by two different departments, each having a unique set of
general ledger accounts and cost centers. You create two Organizations,
one for EAM assets and one for IT assets.

Separate Sites You typically create multiple Sites within an Organization when you want the
work management to be separate—independent sequence of work orders,
separate assets and inventory, separate PMs, and so forth.

! You have a North American Organization with facilities in three cities,

each with independent maintenance operations. You set up three Sites
within the North American Organization.

! You have a service enterprise that maintains assets in several countries

and sites. Even though you deal in multiple currencies, you use one
general ledger system with a single base currency. You create a single
Organization and make each facility a separate Site.

! In one of your Organizations you have maintenance operations in five

facilities in five different locations, but three of the facilities use the same
inventory, work orders, and so forth. You create three Sites in Maximo,
one of which serves for the three locations that use the same inventory and
work orders.

The above examples illustrate just a few of the considerations to keep in mind
in setting up a multisite environment. What you can and cannot do in Maximo
is determined by the Maximo architecture and the way it stores data for the
various applications. The next chapter presents this information in detail.

NOTE You do not have to set up a multisite environment. If your business is

relatively small, with a single GL accounting system, and you have no specific
reason for setting up a multisite environment, then the best solution may be

Overview 1-3
When Do You Use Multisite?

to create a single Organization with a single Site, one Company Set, and one
Item Set—the minimum requirements for implementing Maximo.

1-4 IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

Multisite Architecture
2
The most significant aspect of the Maximo multisite architecture is how
Maximo stores an application’s data relative to the following four levels:

! Enterprise
! Set
! Organization
! Site

Enterprise The Enterprise level (sometimes referred to as System level) encompasses all
of Maximo. A single installation, or instance, of Maximo comprises one
Enterprise. An Enterprise can have multiple Organizations, and each
Organization can have multiple sites.

Enterprise-level data is unique for all of Maximo, which means there can only
be one record with that ID for that application across all Organizations and
sites. It also means that Enterprise-level data is available to all Organizations
and sites. For example, the People application is an Enterprise-level
application. Therefore, person records are unique at the Enterprise level and
all Organizations and sites can access them.

Set The Set level is a special category below the Enterprise level, but above the
Organization level, which allows multiple Organizations to share item data
and vendor information. The Set level includes two kinds of Sets: Item and
Company (for vendor information).

An Enterprise can have multiple Item and Company Sets. Each Organization
uses only one Company Set and one Item Set, but you can assign the same Set
to multiple Organizations, thereby allowing those Organizations to share the
item data or vendor information.

Organization Organizations and sites are the two categories you use most often in setting
up a multisite environment. They correspond to logical divisions within the
company and determine how data is shared or not shared.

An Organization contains one or more sites. If an application is at the

Organization level, then all sites within that Organization access and use the
same data from that application. For Organization-level applications,
different Organizations can maintain separate data.

For example, Chart of Accounts is an Organization-level application. Two

Organizations can each maintain independent chart of accounts systems. The
corollary is that different Organizations can use the identical GL account code
to refer to different accounts. For example, account code 2000-300-400 might
identify a tax debit account in one Organization and an expense account in
another Organization.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2007 2-1

Data Sharing

Site A Site is a division within an Organization that maintains certain kinds of

data independently from other sites. For example, Assets is a Site-level
application. The same asset number might identify a pump at one Site and a
computer at another Site. Site-level applications primarily involve work
management activities.

You can also use sites in administering security. You can give users different
rights at different sites. For example, a user with management responsibility
at one Site might need full rights to Work Order Tracking and other work
management applications at that Site. The same user might only need to view
how work is being performed at a second Site. Therefore, you grant that user
read-only access to the relevant applications at the second Site.

Data Sharing
The basic concept of data sharing in Maximo is embodied in the Maximo
Applications and Multisite Architecture table, later in this section. For each
application, you see the level at which Maximo stores the data.

! Data stored at the Site level is unique at the Site level. Depending on the
application, data may be accessible from other sites.

! Data stored at the Organization level is unique at the Organization level

and can be made available to all sites within that Organization, and in
some cases to sites in other Organizations.

! Data stored at the Set level is available to all Organizations (and their
included sites) for which the Company or Item Set has been specified.

! Data stored at the Enterprise level is unique at the Enterprise level and is
available to all Organizations and sites.

In the table, several applications show multiple levels of data storage. As

discussed later in this chapter, those applications allow you to choose the level
at which you want the data to apply.

While data may, for example, be available to all sites within an Organization,
this does not necessarily mean that users at one Site will automatically have
access to all the data. In setting up security and user privileges, an
administrator has additional flexibility in determining what data users
access. For example, an administrator specifies a default insert Site for a user
and can further specify that for that user only the records for the default
insert Site be displayed.

The table lets you view the relationships of applications within the various
modules. For example:

! All of the Administration, Configuration, Security, and Reporting

applications are at the Enterprise level (though there are options for Site
and Organization specificity within Domains).

! In the Financial module, currency codes are at the Enterprise level, but
exchange rates and GL accounts (Chart of Accounts) are all at the
Organization level. You establish currency codes for the whole Enterprise,
but each Organization maintains its own exchange rates and GL accounts.

2-2 IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

 Data Sharing

The following Maximo Applications and Multisite Architecture table shows the data storage level for each Maximo
application and several Select Action menu items. The sequence of modules and applications follows the sequence on the
Maximo Go To menu. For each application, the table specifies the level at which records are defined and at which the
records are unique. For example, the table indicates that the Assets application is a Site-level application. Therefore, assets
are defined at the Site level and the asset identifiers are unique at that level.

Maximo Applications and Multisite Architecture

Enterprise
Sets
Module / Application
Comp. Item
Org.
Site Notes
Administration

Organizations !

Classifications ! ! ! Exists at Enterprise level but can be restricted to a particular

Organization or Site.

Bulletin Board !

Communication !
Templates

Calendars !

Sets !

Work View !

Report Administration !

Deployed Assets ! All applications listed under Deployed Assets are defined at the
Enterprise level.

Reconciliation ! All applications listed under Reconciliation are defined at the Enterprise
level.

Multisite Architecture 2-3

Data Sharing

Enterprise
Sets
Module / Application
Comp. Item
Org.
Site Notes
Assets

Assets ! Though assets are defined at the Site level, a user can issue items from a
storeroom located in one Site to an asset located in another Site. The user
must have access to both sites, and the two sites must belong to the same
Organization.

Locations ! Though locations are defined at the Site level, a user can issue items from
a storeroom located in one Site to a location in another Site. The user
must have access to both sites, and the two sites must belong to the same
Organization.

Meters ! Items, assets and locations defined in Maximo can access all the meters
defined in the Meters application.

Meter Groups ! Items, assets and locations defined in Maximo can access all meter groups
defined in the Meter Groups application.

Condition Monitoring ! Condition monitoring points are defined against an asset or location and
hence are accessible only in the Site where the asset or location is defined.

Failure Codes ! The problems, causes, and remedies associated with failure codes are also
defined at the Organization level and are unique at that level.

Deployed Assets ! All applications listed under Deployed Assets are defined at the
Enterprise level.

Configuration

Workflow ! All applications listed under Workflow are defined at the Enterprise level.

Database Configuration !

Escalations !

Cron Task Setup !

2-4 IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

 Data Sharing

Enterprise
Sets
Module / Application
Comp. Item
Org.
Site Notes
E-mail Listener !
Configuration

Domains ! ! ! Domains are defined at the Enterprise level, but individual values can be
restricted to an Organization or Site.

Contracts

Purchase Contracts ! Though purchase contracts are defined at the Organization level, you
must explicitly specify the sites to which a purchase contract applies
using the Authorize Sites action. The sites must belong to the
Organization in which the contract is created or to an Organization that
uses the same Item Set and Company Set as the Organization in which
the contract is created.

Lease/Rental Contracts ! Though lease/rental contracts are defined at the Organization level, you
must explicitly specify the sites to which a lease/rental contract applies
using the Authorize Sites action. The sites must belong to the
Organization in which the contract is created or to an Organization that
uses the same Item Set and Company Set as the Organization in which
the contract is created.

Labor Rate Contracts ! Labor rate contracts are accessible to all the sites in the Organization in
which the contract was created.

Master Contracts ! Though master contracts are defined at the Organization level, you must
explicitly specify the sites to which a master contract applies using the
Authorize Sites action. The sites must belong to the Organization in
which the contract is created or to an Organization that uses the same
Item Set and Company Set as the Organization in which the contract is
created.

Multisite Architecture 2-5

Data Sharing

Enterprise
Sets
Module / Application
Comp. Item
Org.
Site Notes
Warranty Contracts ! Though warranty contracts are defined at the Organization level, you
must explicitly specify the sites to which a warranty contract applies
using the Authorize Sites action. The sites must belong to the
Organization in which the contract is created or to an Organization that
uses the same Item Set and Company Set as the Organization in which
the contract is created.

Terms and Conditions ! Terms and conditions are accessible to all sites in the Organization in
which the terms and conditions were created.

Financial

Currency Codes ! All sites and Organizations in Maximo can access the currency codes.

Exchange Rates ! Exchange rates are accessible to all sites in the Organization in which the
exchange rates were defined.

Chart of Accounts ! GL Accounts are accessible to all sites in the Organization in which the
GL accounts were defined.

Cost Management !

Integration

Integration Objects !

Integration Interfaces !

External Systems !

Inventory

Item Master ! Items are defined at the Item Set level and the identifiers are unique at
that level. An Organizations can use only one Item Set, and all sites in the
that Organization can access all the items defined in that Item Set.

2-6 IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

 Data Sharing

Enterprise
Sets
Module / Application
Comp. Item
Org.
Site Notes
Service Items ! Service Items are defined at the Item Set level and the identifiers are
unique at that level. An Organizations can use only one Item Set, and all
sites in that Organization can access all the service items defined in that
Item Set.

Tools ! Tools are defined at the Item Set level and the identifiers are unique at
that level. An Organizations can use only one Item Set, and all sites in
that Organization can access all the tools defined in that Item Set.

Stocked Tools ! Tools can be transferred from a storeroom in one Site to a storeroom in
another Site, provided the two sites belong to the same Organization or
the Organizations of the two sites use the same Item Set.

Inventory ! Items in a storeroom are defined at the Site level. Items can be
transferred from a storeroom in one Site to a storeroom in another Site,
provided the two sites belong to the same Organization or the
Organizations of the two sites use the same Item Set.

Issues and Transfers !

Condition Codes ! All condition enabled items in an Item Set can use the codes.

Storerooms !

Planning

Job Plans ! ! ! Job plans can be defined at the Enterprise level, Organization level or Site
level. When a job plan is defined at the Enterprise level, the identifier is
unique at that level and there cannot be a job plan at the Site level or the
Organization level with the same identifier.

Similarly, when a job plan is defined at the Organization level, the

identifier is unique at that level and there cannot be a job plan at the Site
level within that Organization with the same identifier.

Safety Plans !

Multisite Architecture 2-7

Data Sharing

Enterprise
Sets
Module / Application
Comp. Item
Org.
Site Notes
Routes ! Only assets and locations that belong to a route's Site can be part of that
route. Any specified job plans must either belong to the route's Site or be
at the Enterprise level.

Preventive Maintenance

Preventive Maintenance !

Master PM ! PM records from any Site can be associated with a master PM.

Purchasing

Purchase Requisitions ! You can create purchase requests (both internal and external) for
storerooms that belong to the Site in which you create the request.

When you create an internal PR, you can request items from a storeroom
belonging to a different Site than the one in which you create the PR,
provided the two sites are in the same Organization or the Organizations
for the two sites use the same Item Set.

Purchase Orders ! You can create purchase orders (both internal and external) for
storerooms that belong to the Site in which you create the purchase order.
For an external PO, you can request items for storerooms in multiple
sites, provided the PO Site and all the storeroom sites belong to the same
Organization.

When you create an internal PO, you can request items from a storeroom
belonging to a different Site than the one in which you create the PO,
provided the two sites are in the same Organization or the Organizations
for the two sites use the same Item Set.

Receiving !

Invoices !

Request for Quotations !

2-8 IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

 Data Sharing

Enterprise
Sets
Module / Application
Comp. Item
Org.
Site Notes
Companies ! Company records are defined at the Organization level. However, they are
unique at the Company Set level because a company record must exist in
the Company Master application before it can be defined for an
Organization.

Company Master ! Company master records are defined at the Company Set level and are
unique at that level.

Terms and Conditions !

Reporting

KPI Manager !

Report Administration !

Resources

People !

Person Groups ! ! ! Person group records are defined at the Enterprise level and the
identifiers are unique at that level. Person groups contain people records,
which can be restricted to a Site or an Organization.

Crafts !

Labor !

Qualifications !

Safety

Hazards ! The Precautions associated with the hazards are defined at the Site level

Precautions !

Lock Out / Tag Out !

Safety Plans !

Multisite Architecture 2-9

Data Sharing

Enterprise
Sets
Module / Application
Comp. Item
Org.
Site Notes
Security

Security Groups !

Users !

Self Service

Desktop Requisitions ! All applications listed under Desktop Requisition are defined at the Site
level.

Service Requests ! ! ! Transactions can reside at Enterprise, Organization, or Site level. This
applies to all applications listed under Service Requests.

Service Desk

Service Requests ! Service requests are defined at the Enterprise level. The requested service
can specify an asset or location that belongs to any Site. The service
request can also be handled at any Site, not just the Site specified for the
asset or location.

Incidents ! Incidents are defined at the Enterprise level. The incident can specify an
asset or location that belongs to any Site. The incident can also be
handled at any Site, not just the Site specified for the asset or location.

Problems ! Problem records are defined at the Enterprise level. The problem can
specify an asset or location that belongs to any Site. The problem can also
be handled at any Site, not just the Site specified for the asset or location.

Changes !

Releases !

Activities !

Solutions !

Ticket Templates ! Ticket templates can contain job plans that can be from any level.

2-10 IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

 Data Sharing

Enterprise
Sets
Module / Application
Comp. Item
Org.
Site Notes
Service Management

Service Level ! SLA records can be defined at the Enterprise level, Organization level or
Agreements at the Site level. The SLA identifier is unique at the Enterprise level.

Service Groups !

Work Orders

Work Order Tracking !

Labor Reporting !

Quick Reporting !

Assignment Manager !

Service Requests ! ! ! Transactions can reside at Enterprise, Organization, or Site level.

Action Items

Commodity Codes !

Conversion Values !

Tax Codes !

Units of Measurement !

Multisite Architecture 2-11

Data Sharing

2-12 IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

Multisite Data Sharing and
Transactions
3
This chapter describes how data can be shared across Organizations in a
multisite environment, including how transactions are affected by the
multisite architecture.

Data Sharing Across Organizations

You can configure a multisite implementation so that item data and vendor
information can be shared across Organizations.

Items You use the Item Master application, which stores data at the Set level, to
specify a unique ID and description for an item; to assign several properties to
the item, such as a commodity group, lot type, and whether the item is a
rotating one; and to add the item to the inventory of one or multiple Sites by
using the Add Items to Storeroom action.

When you create an item master record, it becomes part of the Item Set for the
Organization to which your default insert Site belongs. The items are unique
within the Set, and because you can assign the same Item Set to multiple
Organizations, you can use the same item definitions for all sites within those
Organizations.

Using Item Sets provides the following benefits:

! You can transfer items across Organizations.

! You can standardize your item definition so that all Organizations and the
sites they include share the same item catalog and item assembly
structure.

! The Item Master application provides an item catalog from which to set up
inventory at multiple sites.

If one or more Organizations in your Enterprise requires its own item

definition, you can create multiple Item Sets. You can assign a separate Item
Set to each Organization, or to each group of Organizations that you want to
share the same item definition.

The following figure illustrates an example of an Enterprise with three

Organizations and eight sites. Two Organizations, and their six sites, share
the same Item Set. The third Organization has its own Item Set.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2007 3-1

Data Sharing Across Organizations

Multisite Configuration With Multiple Organizations Sharing One Item Set

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 5

Site 6

Site 7

Site 8
Organization 1 Organization 2 Organization 3

Item Set 1 Item Set 2

Enterprise

Service Items and Tools Service Items and Tools records are also stored at the Item Set level. If, for
example, Item Set 1 is specified as the Item Set for Organization 1, then
service items and tools will also be unique to Set 1 and can be shared by any
Organizations that have Set 1 specified as their Item Set.

Vendors The Company Master application, in which you maintain a master list of
vendors, stores data at the Company Set level. The companies—the vendors
you do business with—are unique within the Company Set, and one or more
Organizations can share the same Set.

Using Company Sets provides the following benefits:

! You can standardize your list of approved vendors.

! You can create global contracts that can be shared by multiple

Organizations.

The relationship between the Company Master and Companies applications is

similar to, but not identical to, the relationship between the Item Master and
Inventory applications. In the Company Master application, you create a
catalog of companies and you associate individual companies with specific
Organizations using the Add Company Master to Organization action. In
the Companies application, which is at the Organization level (not Site, as
with Inventory), a user accesses the vendor information associated with their
Organization.

The Companies and Company Master records have many fields in common; a
user can edit these fields in the Companies application without changing the
values in the Company Master application. For example, while the Ship Via
field in the Company Master record might be one shipping vendor, one of the

3-2 IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

 Data Sharing Across Organizations

Organizations using that Company Set might want to specify a different

vendor.

In the Sets application, when you create a Company Set, you have the option
of selecting the Automatically Add Companies to Company Master
check box. By default, this check box is cleared, and users must enter new
companies in the Company Master application. However, if you want users to
be able to enter new companies in the Companies application, select the check
box and Maximo will automatically add a record in the Company Master
application.

You apply a Company Set to one or more Organizations. If an Organization

requires its own list of vendors and contracts, you can create a separate
Company Set for it.

The following figure illustrates an example of an Enterprise with three

Organizations and eight sites. Two Organizations, and their five sites, share
the same Company Set. The third Organization has its own Company Set

Multisite Configuration With Multiple Organizations Sharing One Company Set

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 5

Site 6

Site 7

Site 8
Organization 1 Organization 2 Organization 3

Company Set 1 Company Set 2

Enterprise

Item and Company Sets are independent of each other. The following figure
illustrates such an example. There are four Organizations and eight sites.
Organizations 1 and 2 share Item Set 1; Organizations 3 and 4 share Item Set
2. Organizations 1 and 2 each have their own Company Set. Organizations 3
and 4 share Company Set 3

Multisite Data Sharing and Transactions 3-3

Data Sharing Across Organizations

Multisite Configuration Illustrating Use of Both Item and Company Sets

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4

Site 5

Site 6

Site 7

Site 8
Organization 1 Organization 2 Organization 3 Organization 4

Company Set 1 Company Set 2 Company Set 3

Item Set 1 Item Set 2

Enterprise

Selective Data Sharing

Some applications provide you a choice of what level to store the data at, and
thereby a choice of how you want to share the data. Generally, the record
allows you to specify Organization or Site. These applications are:

! Job Plans
! Classifications
! Person Groups
! Domains

Job Plans Some enterprises require their personnel to follow standard operating
procedures when performing maintenance. If you have a centralized
engineering department that creates these operating procedures for optimal
maintenance, then you might want the sites to access a common job plan.

In Maximo, you can create Enterprise-level job plans that all Organizations
and sites can access. You can also create job plans that are Organization- or
Site-specific.

When you create Enterprise-level job plans, you also have the option of
specifying Organization- or Site-specific tasks, labor, materials, services, and
tools. Organization-specific tasks, labor, and so forth are copied only to those
work orders that are created in a Site belonging to that Organization. Site-
specific tasks, and so forth are copied only to those work orders created at that
Site.

3-4 IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

 Data Sharing Across Organizations

The option to choose Enterprise, Organization, or Site works as follows. When

you create a new job plan, you can specify an Organization, a Site, or neither.
If you specify neither, the job plan is Enterprise-level. If you specify an
Organization, the job plan is available to all sites within the Organization. If
you specify Site, the job plan is available only to that Site (Maximo
automatically enters the parent Organization in the Organization field).

NOTE If you specify a Site, the job plan can not be accessed by other sites; if you
specify an Organization, the job plan can not be accessed by other
Organizations.

Classifications By default, classification records are at the Enterprise level and can be
accessed by all Organizations and sites. However, when you add a new
classification record, you have the option of specifying an Organization or
Site—but only if the Items check box in the Use With section is not selected.
Any classification used with items must be at the Enterprise level.

You can similarly add child classifications in the Children table window. If the
parent classification is Enterprise-level, you can restrict the child
classification to an Organization or Site. But if the parent classification is
restricted to an Organization or Site, then all the children must be restricted
to the lowest level of the parent classification. For example, if the parent
classification is restricted to an Organization, a child classification can be
further restricted to a specific Site. If the parent classification is restricted to a
Site, then all the children must be restricted to that Site.

Domains The Domains application enables you to create several kinds of domains,
including value lists and crossover fields. By default, domains apply at the
Enterprise level and all sites can access them. You have the option of applying
domain values to a particular Organization or Site. The synonym domain
works differently than other domain types when you specify an Organization
or Site for a domain value:

! For a synonym domain, if you add a new value and specify an

Organization or Site, the records in that Organization or Site that access
that domain will show the new value as well as the existing Enterprise-
level values. This behavior occurs because synonym domains are already
part of Maximo and have existing business rules. You cannot add new
synonym domains, just new synonym values.

! For other domain types, once you specify an Organization or Site for one
value in a domain, records in that Organization and/or Site will no longer
have access to values in that domain that have no Organization or Site
specified. Therefore, the best practice for non-synonym domains is to
either leave the Organization and/or Site fields empty for all values in a
domain (users in all Organizations and sites can access them) or specify an
Organization and/or Site for all values in the domain (only users in the
specified Organizations and/or sites can access them).

Person Groups Person Groups apply at the Enterprise level and can be accessed by all sites,
but you can restrict individual persons in the group to particular
Organizations or sites. When you add a person to a person group, you can
specify an Organization or Site for that person. You can add multiple rows for
the same person to specify multiple sites or Organizations, but if you do, you
must use multiple sites or multiple Organizations, not both.

For information on data transfer in the Service Requests, Incidents, and

Problems applications, refer to the next section, Multisite Transactions.

Multisite Data Sharing and Transactions 3-5

Multisite Transactions

Multisite Transactions

Purchase Requisitions
You can create a purchase requisition at one Site that requests items from a
storeroom at a different Site. The storeroom Site must belong to the same
Organization as the requesting Site, or the requesting Site and the supplying
Site must belong to Organizations that share the same Item Set.

Purchase Orders
You can create an internal purchase order at one Site that requests parts from
a storeroom at a different Site. The storeroom Site must belong to the same
Organization as the requesting Site, or the requesting Site and the supplying
Site must belong to Organizations that share the same Item Set.

To facilitate centralized purchasing, Maximo allows you to create a purchase

order at one Site that requests items from a storeroom at a different Site. The
storeroom must belong to a Site that is in the same Organization as the Site in
which you create the purchase order.

Asset Moves
You can move assets from one Site to another. The destination Site can belong
to a different Organization if the asset is nonrotating.

If the asset is rotating, the Organizations for the originating and destination
sites must share the same Item Set. If the Site to which you want to move an
asset already has an asset with the same asset identifier, Maximo prompts
you to assign a new asset identifier to the asset you are moving.

Issues
You can issue an item from a storeroom in Site A, for example, to a work order
created in Site B. When performing this transaction you must have access to
both sites and the storeroom. The two sites must belong to the same
Organization.

If you need to issue an item to a Site in a different Organization, you must use
the Maximo internal transfer capability to transfer the item and then issue
the item.

Work Planning
On the Work Order Tracking Plans tab, you can specify the storeroom from
which to obtain an item. The storeroom Site can be different than the work
order Site providing that both sites belong to the same Organization and that
you have access to both sites.

3-6 IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

Multisite Options
4
In addition to creating Organizations and sites, you use the Organizations
application to set a variety of multisite options. These options primarily
specify business rules for how an application functions, but also include some
default settings and values.

If you are on the List tab in the Organizations application (no Organization
selected), the only Select Action menu item for setting options is System
Settings. To specify other options from the Select Action menu you must first
select an Organization.

Rules for how an application functions are not necessarily related to the level
at which an application stores data. An application might be Site-level in
terms of data storage, but the settings you specify for how it functions might
apply at the Organization level. For example, though Work Order Tracking is
a Site-level application in terms of data storage, the choices you make with
the Edit Rules action (under Work Order Options) apply to using Work Order
Tracking at all sites within the Organization you selected from the List tab.

The Organizations Help system describes the procedures for using each of the
Select Action menu items. This chapter describes the levels at which the
various options take effect—Enterprise, Set, Organization, or Site.

Select Action Menu Items and the Levels to Which They Apply
With the exceptions of the System Settings action and some of the
Autonumber Setup actions, all the Select Action options you set in the
Organizations application apply to either the Organization or Site level. You
can tell the level from their corresponding dialog boxes as follows:

! If the dialog box does not display a list of sites to select from, then the
settings apply at the Organization level, specifically to the Organization
you selected from the list tab. You can select a different Organization and
specify different settings. The settings apply to all sites within the selected
Organization.

! If the dialog box provides a list of sites to select from, then the settings you
specify apply only to the selected Site. The dialog box displays all the sites
for the selected Organization and you can specify different settings for
different sites.

The following table summarizes this information for all the Organizations
options.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2007 4-1

Organizations Options and the Levels to Which They Apply

Enterprise

Sets

Company Item
Select Action Menu Items
Org.

Site Notes

Word Order Options

Work Type !

Edit Rules !

Other Organization !
Options

Site Options !

Inventory Options

Inventory Defaults !

Reorder !

Inventory Costs !

Asset Options !

Drilldown Options !

PM Options !

Safety Plan Options !

Purchasing Options

PO Options !

Contract Options !

Tax Options !

PO Labor Options !

Labor Options !

SLA Options !

Workflow Options !

E-Commerce Setup !

Autonumber Setup

System Level !

Set Level ! !

Organization Level !

Site Level !

System Settings !

4-2 IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

Strategies and Scenarios
5
The preceding chapters detailed the concepts and architecture behind the
Maximo multisite feature. This chapter presents some scenarios that may
more closely reflect real-life situations with your own enterprise.

Scenarios
The following scenarios illustrate multisite environments and how you might
create sites, Organization, and Sets in Maximo to reflect the needs of the
enterprise.

Two Organizations Reflecting Two Charts of Accounts

Enterprise Configuration The relevant enterprise factors are the following:

! Your enterprise comprises two distinct business operations run from a

central location in Denver, Colorado, each with its own Chart of Accounts:
a utilities operation and a fleet of vehicles.

! The Utilities operation also has a unit in Laramie, Wyoming.

! All units use the same list of vendors.

! The utilities and fleet operations use different items and storerooms.

Maximo Configuration You accommodate your enterprise structure in Maximo as follows:

! You create two Organizations: Utilities and Fleet

! The Utilities Organization has two sites: Util-Denver and Util-Laramie.

! Utilities and Fleet use the same Company Set but separate Item Sets.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2007 5-1

Scenarios

Multisite Configuration With Two Organizations Reflecting Separate Charts of Accounts for Utilities and Fleet

Util-Laramie
Util-Denver

Flt-Denver
Sites

Organizations Utilities Fleet

Item 1 Item 2
Sets
Company 1

Enterprise

5-2 IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

 Scenarios

Four Organizations With Separate Maintenance and IT Operations

Enterprise Configuration The relevant enterprise factors are the following:

! You have production facilities in the United States and the Republic of
South Africa, each with two locations or units that maintain separate
work orders.

! In both the United States and South Africa you have separate
maintenance and IT/service desk operations, each with its own GL chart of
accounts covering both local facilities.

! You want to maintain two sets of item definitions, one for maintenance
operations and one for the IT/service desk departments.

! You also use different sets of vendors for maintenance and for IT/service
desk, and you want to be able to create global contracts so that, for
example, the South African and United States maintenance facilities can
buy from the same vendors.

Maximo Configuration You accommodate your enterprise structure in Maximo as follows:

! You define four Organizations: U.S. Maintenance, R.S.A Maintenance,

U.S. IT/service desk, and R.S.A. IT/service desk. Each covers two facilities.

! You create one maintenance Item Set to cover both maintenance

Organizations, and one IT/service desk Item Set to cover both IT/service
desk Organizations.

! Similarly, you create separate Company Sets for maintenance and IT/
service desk.

Strategies and Scenarios 5-3

Scenarios

Multisite Configuration With Four Organizations Reflecting Separate Maintenance and IT Operations

IT-Capetown
M-Capetown

IT-Baltimore
M-Baltimore

IT-Durban
M-Durban

IT-Boston
M-Boston
Sites

U.S. R.S.A. U.S. R.S.A.

Organizations
Maintenance Maintenance IT/Serv. Desk IT/Serv. Desk

Item Set Maintenance Item Set IT/Service Desk

Sets

Company Set Maintenance Company Set IT/Service Desk

Enterprise

5-4 IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

 Scenarios

Four Organizations Using Local Vendors

This scenario is the same as the previous, except that each Organization uses
separate vendor lists. For example, the maintenance operations in the United
States and South Africa each use local vendors. In Maximo you create
separate Company Sets for each Organization.

Multisite Configuration With Four Organizations Using Local Vendors

IT-Capetown
M-Capetown

IT-Baltimore
M-Baltimore

IT-Durban
M-Durban

IT-Boston
M-Boston
Sites

U.S. R.S.A. U.S. R.S.A.

Organizations
Maintenance Maintenance IT/Serv. Desk IT/Serv. Desk

Company Company Company Company

Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4

Sets

Item Set Maintenance Item Set IT/Service Desk

Enterprise

Strategies and Scenarios 5-5

Scenarios

5-6 IBM Maximo: Multisite Administrator’s Guide

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