Maximo 7.6 end of support and end of life: what are your options?
The short answer
IBM ended base support for Maximo Asset Management 7.6.1.x on 30 September 2025. The optional one-year extended support ran to 30 September 2026, so only sustained support, with no new fixes, remains. Your realistic options are to upgrade to Maximo Application Suite 9, move to third-party support while you plan, or replace Maximo with a different EAM.
What end of support means in practice
When IBM ends base support for a release, it stops producing new fixes and security patches for it. Extended support was a paid bridge that still covered critical defects for a limited time. Sustained support, the last stage, keeps access to existing fixes and knowledge but does not cover new defects or new security issues.
The system keeps running the day support ends. What changes is your exposure: an unpatched security issue, a browser or database upgrade that breaks something, or an integration change that nobody will fix for you. For a system that holds your asset register, maintenance history and often your safety records, that risk grows every month.
Your four options after Maximo 7.6 end of support
| Option | What it gives you | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Stay on 7.6 with sustained support | Time, with no project cost today | No new fixes or security patches; risk rises with every infrastructure change |
| Third-party support | A supported bridge while you plan | It buys time but does not move you forward; plan the exit before you sign |
| Upgrade to MAS 9 | A supported Maximo with Manage, Mobile, Monitor, Health, Predict and AI services | New platform (Red Hat OpenShift), new licensing (AppPoints), and customisations to review |
| Move to a different EAM | A chance to simplify if Maximo is more than you need. See how to compare the alternatives | A full data migration and retraining; only worth it if the fit is clearly better |
Maximo 7.6 vs MAS 9: what changes
Maximo Application Suite is not just a newer version of Maximo 7.6. The core work management application is now called Manage, and it sits in a suite that also includes Monitor, Health, Predict, Visual Inspection and Mobile. Three changes matter most for planning:
- Platform. MAS runs on Red Hat OpenShift, either in your own data centre, in your cloud account, or as a managed service. Your IT team needs to be part of the plan from the start.
- Licensing. MAS is licensed through AppPoints, a shared pool of credits that users and applications draw from, instead of the per-user licences of 7.6. Model your user mix before you sign.
- Customisations. Java customisations, automation scripts, integrations and reports all need to be reviewed. Some carry over, some are better rebuilt with configuration, and some are no longer needed.
How to decide
Four questions usually settle it:
- How customised is your Maximo? Count Java classes, automation scripts and integrations. This drives migration effort more than asset count does.
- When is your licence renewal? It is often the natural deadline for the MAS commercial decision.
- How clean is your data? A migration is the cheapest moment to fix hierarchies and failure codes, and clean data is what AI features need.
- What do you want from AI? If the business expects AI on maintenance, plan the migration so the data comes out ready for it.
If you need to stay on 7.6 for a while, you can still start getting value from AI today. Perimo Asset Agents connect to Maximo 7.6 through its own APIs, so you can run agents in shadow mode while the upgrade is planned.
Dates checked against IBM support notices on 12 October 2026. Always confirm current lifecycle dates with IBM for your specific products.