IBM App Connect - Integrate Maximo with Google Sheet, SalesForce, and ServiceNow

While having a break between projects, I have some free time to play around with IBM’s new toy: App Connect. After several years working with Enterprise applications, I’ve got to a point where I can tell if a system is great or not after playing around with it for a short time.  Some examples of great systems or platforms I have experience with is Maximo (of course), React Native (for mobile development), and SAP. Some examples of *not so great* systems I played with include Oracle EBS, Infor SunSystems, Maximo Anywhere mobile platform.

With App Connect, I can tell this is an excellent tool after going through a few beginner tutorials. I can immediately come up with some useful use case using it to enhance Maximo by integrating it with other cloud applications. Below are two examples:

1 – Using shared Google Sheets to collect project data such as Asset register, Spare-part BOM from vendors:

An operator can create different Google Sheets then share it with EPC contractor or sub-contractor, asking them to copy/paste data from their internal design database, and the data will be sent over to Maximo automatically. This continuous data provision process will ensure a more complete and accurate asset database after the system is handed over to the operator.

2 – Linking Maximo with a Service Provider’s CRM or ticketing system to automate Service Request workflow: 

Obviously, companies have been integrating Maximo with other systems in similar scenarios for ages, but with App Connect, the implementation is so much simpler and effortless. The above scenarios took me less than 10 minutes to configure everything without writing a single line of code. For an enterprise-grade integration solution, which needs to be robust, secure, and has high performance, it will take a lot more effort than that, but surely, it will not take weeks or months using traditional methods which involve coding. This is a great news for companies that need to react fast to changing processes.

I haven’t looked into details on the cost of this solution, but with IBM’s cost model charging based on the volume of messages exchanged via App Connect. It will be relatively cheap and easy to get started. The cost will only increase as you scale up your operation. For small operators which only need to send out a few hundred tickets a month, I guess they can even get away with the free Lite plans. So this is definitely worth considering.

Hope you enjoy it.