IBM MAS AppPoints give you greater flexibility to align licences for IBM MAS or older IBM Maximo versions with the way people in your organisation actually use the software. That is where the opportunity, and the risk, lies. How you configure users, the rights you assign and how long sessions remain open all directly affect your consumption.

What has changed compared with the previous licensing model?

In the old licensing model for IBM Maximo, you looked at users and licence types within a fairly fixed structure. AppPoints work differently. You have one central pool of points, and consumption depends on usage type, assigned rights and the way people interact with the environment.

Do they log in every day or only occasionally? Do they have limited rights or broad access? Do they work in the system structurally or only at specific moments? All of this influences your AppPoint consumption.

Licence management therefore connects directly to your configuration, authorisations and day-to-day use of the IBM Maximo environment. And you can actively manage it.

1. Make quick gains by starting with your timeouts

With concurrent usage, AppPoints are consumed for as long as a session is open. A user who works for ten minutes and then logs out loads your pool differently from someone who opens a work order, walks away and leaves the session open for hours. Especially with generous timeouts, consumption can creep up unnoticed.

This is particularly relevant if you have many occasional users – for example people who just need to check something, report an issue or quickly update a status. If those sessions stay open too long, they occupy AppPoints while no one is actively working. It can feel as though you need more capacity, when the room for improvement actually lies in your session settings.

Long timeouts were often introduced for convenience – fewer logins, fewer interruptions. But they also tie up points that you would rather keep available for colleagues who are actively working in the system. Looking for an easy first win? Start here. Shorter, practical timeouts can deliver quick results.

2. Don’t give every user the same label

In IBM MAS you work with authorised and concurrent users. Yet we often see entire user groups placed in the same category – everyone authorised, or everyone concurrent. It is clear, but too blunt, which unnecessarily drives up AppPoint consumption.

It is better to look at actual usage. Planners, key users, administrators and other colleagues who work in IBM MAS daily and for longer periods are usually best set up as authorised. Their usage is predictable and you can consciously reserve capacity for them.

For users who only log in occasionally the situation is different. Think of technicians who check information, employees who occasionally report a fault, or colleagues who only use the system at specific moments. In those cases concurrent usually makes more sense: you only consume AppPoints while they are actively using it.

A hybrid approach like this can deliver significant gains. The key question is simple: who needs structural capacity and who does not? Once you have a clear view, you can deploy your AppPoints far more effectively.

3. Don’t stay on IBM Maximo 7.6

Even if you are still technically on IBM Maximo 7.6, you have been assessed according to the new AppPoints model since 2024. The combination of old technology and new licensing logic raises questions about simultaneous usage, session duration, rights and peak moments.

During an audit you may need to reconstruct afterwards what users were doing, how long sessions were open and whether the assigned rights match the licence level. This takes time and can lead to discussion.

When you run on IBM MAS, your AppPoint consumption is monitored and controlled within the suite itself. You can see immediately how much you are using and where the limit lies. This makes management much easier: less retrospective calculation and more direct control over your current set-up.

The move to IBM MAS is therefore relevant not only from a functionality or platform perspective, but also for your licence management and compliance.

4. Only grant the rights that are needed

In the AppPoints model, the licence level depends not only on what someone does, but also on the rights you assign. This can easily create unnecessary overhead, especially if your IBM Maximo environment has grown and been adjusted over the years by different administrators.

This leads to security groups that were once logical but have since become too broad. Or users receive admin rights “just in case” so they can access everything. It is quickly arranged, but the effect shows up in your AppPoint consumption.

Admin rights are a good example. If you hand them out too easily, someone can immediately fall into a heavier entitlement level, even if in practice they only view work orders, handle notifications or perform a limited set of tasks.

Take a critical look at your authorisation structure. Which rights belong to this role? Which groups overlap? Which accounts are still active for people who have left the organisation, changed roles or no longer use the system? This is not a side-cleaning exercise. Security, management, licensing and costs are all directly connected.

Getting more from your AppPoints starts with a sharp configuration

AppPoints give you more room to steer, but only if your set-up is aligned with them. With well-configured timeouts, a smart division between authorised and concurrent users, the transition to IBM MAS and a tight rights structure, you will get significantly more from your licensing model.

Want to check if your AppPoints set-up is compatible with your IBM Maximo environment? Or is an audit coming up? Contact Emile van Rijn via +31 (0)6 18 42 35 31 or e.vanrijn@gemba.nl.