Case Study

Con Edison Upgrades to Maximo Application Suite 8 with Highstep

15000+

Employees

3.5 million

Customers

29 months

Project Duration

7.6 to 8

Upgrade Maximo

Overview

Overview

Con Edison, one of the largest energy providers in the U.S., partnered with Highstep to lead a complex, enterprise-wide upgrade from Maximo 7.6 to the Maximo Application Suite (MAS) 8. Facing end-of-support deadlines and increasing demands for modern maintenance practices, Con Edison seized the opportunity to modernize its asset management capabilities.

This transformation enabled the efficient management of over 15,000 users, improved work management processes, and established a future-ready foundation for continued operational optimization.

conedison
The Challenge

The Challenge

Con Edison’s legacy Maximo environment lacked the agility, scalability, and integration needed to support evolving business needs. With IBM sunsetting support for 7.6, the shift to MAS 8 became urgent.

Key challenges included:

  • Managing 15,000+ users across hybrid infrastructure
  • Adopting containerization with OpenShift, a skillset Con Edison lacked
  • Maintaining security and continuity during concurrent projects
Objectives

Key Objectives

The success criteria for the MAS 8 upgrade included:

Improve system performance, availability, and scalability
Enable better integration with third-party systems
Strengthen compliance and security
Train technical teams on MAS Manage and OpenShift
Avoid disruption to end users during the transition

Highstep’s Role

Highstep led project management, infrastructure setup, data migration, documentation, and testing while coordinating closely with IBM and other vendors. We ensured security and compliance while managing sensitive systems—especially permits—during parallel projects.

Training & Enablement

Training & Enablement

Our Empower Organizational Change Management (OCM) program supported later phases by helping business units adopt MAS features through hands-on demos and business integration enablement.

The training and enablement efforts initially focused on the technical teams, enabling them to:

  • Understand MAS Manage compared to legacy Maximo
  • Build skills around OpenShift containerization and deployment
  • Take ownership of daily environment management through SOPs and guides
Milestones

Key Milestones

Planning & environment setup
Sandbox testing & phased rollout
OpenShift enablement and deployment prototypes
Final migration and go-live — completed ahead of schedule after client requested an adjusted delivery date
The Challenges

Technical Challenges & Insights

The shift to MAS 8 wasn’t just technical — it required a mindset change. The introduction of OpenShift brought new infrastructure and deployment models unfamiliar to most internal teams.

By working side-by-side with IBM, Con Edison and Highstep directly influenced MAS product enhancements and helped define new best practices for disconnected, on-premises environments.

Results

Results

Con Edison realized immediate improvements and industry-first achievements from the MAS 8 upgrade:

First utility in North America to deploy MAS 8 on-premises
First MAS disconnected implementation with no internet access
15,000+ users efficiently managed on the new platform
Direct impact on MAS product improvements in collaboration with IBM
Delivered ahead of schedule despite competing projects
Developed SOPs and operational guides for internal support teams
Ongoing post-migration support for infrastructure and daily operations
Why Highstep

Why Con Edison Choose Highstep

  • Proven expertise with Con Edison’s infrastructure and hierarchy
  • Trusted relationships with leadership and vendor partners
  • Seamless collaboration across cyber, mobility, and Maximo-related applications
  • Professional execution of a highly complex project, delivered early and securely
Con Edison
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