Warmtebedrijf Rotterdam: residual heat, heating network, and thousands of assets

Warmtebedrijf Rotterdam (WBR), now part of Vattenfall, supplies district heating based on residual heat from industry in the Rotterdam port area. They manage the entire area required for this in IBM Maximo: functional lines, pipelines, and installations that together form the heating network. This involves a few thousand asset components, spread across multiple locations, including all associated maintenance plans and contracts.

A stable Maximo environment as a starting point

Since 2019, WBR has been working with a stable IBM Maximo environment that has been running smoothly for years. The setup was established in collaboration with Gemba and MaxGrip: MaxGrip mapped the asset structure and maintenance plans, and Gemba fully configured Maximo, including field service processes, work orders, and dashboards.

The environment ran in an IBM-managed SaaS model. IBM took care of the platform, the database, and the patching. When that model was phased out and IBM MAS became available as a future-proof successor, a switch became logical.

The best solution? IBM MAS Manage in Gemba Cloud

Gemba started with an analysis: which licenses did WBR use, what was needed in the new situation, and which technical basis was appropriate? This analysis led to a clear choice: an IBM MAS Manage environment within Gemba Cloud, in which hosting, licenses, and technical management come together, and Gemba Managed Services provide periodic security and functional patching.

A streamlined migration: from test environment to half-day go-live

The migration followed a clear rhythm. First, Gemba set up an out-of-the-box IBM MAS Manage test environment. Meanwhile, a controlled copy of the database was requested from IBM, as the old environment was fully managed by IBM.

As soon as the backup was in, the technical upgrade began. The complete Maximo setup was transferred one-to-one to IBM MAS. This was followed by two test rounds: first internally, then by WBR itself. Both tests showed no deviations; the new environment worked directly as expected, without surprises or rework.

With that confidence, the production environment was built. At the agreed time, the old environment was frozen and the switch took place. The lift-and-shift took only half a day. After that, WBR was able to continue working directly in a fully operational IBM MAS environment on Gemba Cloud.

Lessons learned regarding focus, expectations, and timing of data

The migration of WBR went smoothly and predictably. What can your organization take away from this if you switch to IBM MAS yourself? This trajectory shows a number of practical lessons that can be applied directly:

• Keep the scope tight. Do not include any points for improvement or optimizations during the migration. This keeps the trajectory clear and feasible.
• Actively manage expectations. Make it clear in advance what you do and do not deliver. This prevents delays, noise, and discussion.
• Migrate first, optimize later. Resist the temptation to include improvements “quickly”. By switching completely first, you prevent an upgrade from turning into a redesign project.
• Ensure the correct data is available on time. When a supplier manages the environment, schedule the controlled delivery of the database well in advance. This prevents bottlenecks later in the process.

Want to discuss the best solution for your switch to IBM MAS? Contact Gerben ter Horst, via +31 (0)6 14 57 21 19 or g.terhorst@gemba.nl.