One Maximo data tool, five moods: how people actually use the Data Workbench
Nobody opens a Maximo data tool in a neutral mood. So we wrote the Data Workbench docs as journeys, one per mood.
You are curious, or in a hurry, or nervous, or cleaning up someone else’s spreadsheet at 4:40 on a Friday. The same tool has to work for all of it.
1. "Is this any good?" The evaluator
Open the Workbench. A guest workspace appears. No account, no approval.
Pick "Fix a messy asset sheet". A fictional export opens with six planted mistakes. Fix them, open Preview, read the exact request, run the rehearsal. You leave knowing whether it would have caught the problems that hurt your last load.
2. "Just get it loaded." The data loader
You own the spreadsheet. Three sources, two thousand rows, free-text statuses, a few repeated asset numbers.
Choose the plain-words setting once. The grid maps your columns, flags each red cell with the reason and what is allowed, and counts the errors down. The load order puts locations before assets so a child never arrives before its parent. Retry sends only the rows that failed.
3. "Prove it’s safe." The admin and the reviewer
Admins care about site, organisation and what reaches production. Reviewers care about whether to approve.
The admin checks scope and values against the target rules, then shares the run. The reviewer opens it read-only: what was sent, to which environment, how many rows passed. A decision from the record, not from a screenshot in an email.
4. "Show me the payload." The developer
Switch to the developer setting and the words change. Object structure names, attributes, the URL, body and hash.
Settle the shape of the request before any transport is involved, then take it into your own tests.
5. "What breaks when we upgrade?" The upgrade lead
Choose Migration. Source 7.6.1.3, target 9.2.x. The schema comparison lists removed, added and changed fields, and the readiness check scores the pair.
You load against the target rules, and the runs become the evidence pack for the cutover review.
Rehearse safely, keep your hands on the keyboard
Runs go to a built-in simulator, so you can rehearse a whole load with fictional or non-sensitive data.
The grid works like a spreadsheet. Arrows, Tab, Ctrl+arrow to jump, select a row or column, undo and redo. Press ? for the list.
Nine full journeys, step by step, with what you see at each step, are in the docs: evaluator, data loader, admin, developer, upgrade lead, partner consultant, reviewer, Excel-first analyst and platform owner. Which mood is yours?