If you've spent any time in a Maximo implementation workshop, you've almost certainly heard the phrase:

"That's Maximo best practice."
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It is often used to justify a design decision, challenge a proposed requirement, or steer a discussion toward a preferred outcome. Yet when you ask a simple follow-up question, "What exactly makes it a best practice?", the answer is often less clear.
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As solution architects, consultants, and business stakeholders, we should occasionally pause and ask ourselves whether "best practice" is as definitive as we make it sound.
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I spent some time discussing the concept of best practice with several highly experienced professionals from across the EAM industry. What struck me was not how much agreement there was, but rather how nuanced the discussion became.
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Interestingly, the conclusions from these discussions are not unique to the EAM industry. The tension between "best practice" and "best fit" has been debated within management and organisational theory for decades, particularly through the lens of Contingency Theory, which argues that there is no single best way to organise or manage an enterprise. Instead, optimal solutions depend on the specific circumstances in which an organisation operates.

Is Best Practice Actually Definable?

The answer is both yes and no. In some disciplines, best practice is relatively objective. In others, it becomes highly contextual.

Where Best Practice Is Real

Technical disciplines often have practices that are widely accepted because they consistently produce better outcomes.
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Examples include using source control for configuration management, implementing least-privilege security principles, following secure coding standards and separating development, test, and production environments. These approaches have been proven repeatedly across thousands of projects and organisations. They reduce risk, improve maintainability, and generally lead to more predictable outcomes.
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When somebody says, "Managing Maximo configuration through controlled deployment processes is best practice," there is considerable evidence to support that claim. The same cannot always be said for business design decisions.

The Grey Area of Business Architecture

Once discussions move beyond technology and into business processes, the concept of best practice becomes much less definitive.
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Consider topics such as Asset hierarchies, Functional location structures and Work Management processes. Unlike technical standards, these decisions exist within a business context. What works exceptionally well for one organisation may be completely unsuitable for another.
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A structure that works perfectly for an electricity transmission operator may create unnecessary complexity for a pharmaceutical manufacturer. A process designed for water utilities may be inefficient in a manufacturing environment.

This is where the phrase "best practice" often starts becoming subjective.

The Three Sources of Most "Best Practices"

When somebody claims something is best practice, it often originates from one of three places.

Vendor Recommendations

Software vendors typically encourage organisations to remain as close to standard functionality as possible.
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These recommendations are usually sensible because they improve maintainability, simplify upgrades, and reduce support costs.
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However, they are not necessarily the best solution for every business scenario.

Consultant Experience

Consultants frequently develop patterns based on what has worked successfully on previous implementations.
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For example, a consultant who has delivered multiple utility-sector implementations may strongly advocate a particular hierarchy structure because it has consistently generated positive results.
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This experience is valuable. However, it is important to recognise that it is still based on a specific set of organisations, regulatory obligations, business cultures, and operating models. What worked elsewhere may not automatically be the optimal solution here.

Industry Convention

Sometimes an approach becomes labelled as best practice simply because many organisations have adopted it.
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But popularity and optimisation are not the same thing. In some cases, businesses are simply repeating historical decisions because they are familiar, accepted, or easier to justify. Widely adopted does not always mean best.

When Best Practices Collide: The Acquisition Challenge

One of the most compelling challenges to the idea of a universal "best practice" emerged during a discussion I had with an experienced EAM industry veteran from South Africa.  
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He highlighted the difficulties organisations face during mergers and acquisitions, where two successful businesses, each convinced they are following industry best practices, are required to converge on a single operating model. It is common for both organisations to believe they are following industry best practices, yet when they combine, a single set of processes, standards, and systems must ultimately emerge.
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In many cases, the acquiring organisation's ways of working become the new standard. However, this does not necessarily mean its practices are objectively better. More often, they are simply easier to standardise across the larger organisation.
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I experienced this first-hand when a service-based business I was working for was acquired by a product-focused company. Both organisations were successful, but their definitions of best practice differed significantly. The product business prioritised standardisation, repeatability, and product lifecycle management, while the service business valued flexibility, responsiveness, and customer engagement.
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Neither approach was inherently superior, each had evolved to support different business objectives.
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This highlights an important reality: what is considered best practice is often heavily influenced by context. As operating models, markets, and organisational priorities change, so too can the practices that deliver the best outcomes.
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Rather than asking, "Which organisation follows best practice?", the more valuable question is: "Which practices best support the objectives of the organisation we are trying to become?"
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Acquisitions demonstrate that successful organisations can follow very different approaches and still achieve excellent results. They also reinforce a key theme of this article: in many business scenarios, the objective is not to identify a single universal best practice, but to determine the best fit for the circumstances at hand.  

Best Practice and Best Fit Are Not the Same Thing

This is perhaps the most important distinction.

Best Practice

Best practice attempts to answer: "What generally works well for most organisations?"
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It is usually characterised by:

• Lower implementation risk

• Proven outcomes

• Easier supportability

• Easier upgrades

Best Fit

Best fit attempts to answer: "What works best for this organisation?"
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It considers:

• Business objectives

• Regulatory obligations

• Organisational maturity

• Operational processes

• User capabilities

• Long-term strategy
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A best-fit solution may align with industry practice, but it may also deliberately deviate from it.

Five Questions to Challenge Any "Best Practice"

Best for What?

No solution is best at everything.

According to Whom?

The source matters.

Under What Conditions?

Many successful practices only work because certain assumptions are true.

What Evidence Exists?

Evidence is more valuable than opinion.

Does It Fit This Organization?

Even an excellent practice can be the wrong choice.

A Better Way to Think About Design Decisions

Perhaps it is time we stop presenting "best practice" as an unquestionable truth.
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Instead, we should think in terms of:

• Recommended Practice: A proven approach with known benefits and limitations.

• Good Practice: An approach that has delivered positive outcomes elsewhere.

• Leading Practice: An emerging approach that shows promise but is not yet universally adopted.
  
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These terms acknowledge experience and evidence without claiming universal applicability. Ultimately, successful implementations are rarely those that blindly follow industry norms. They are the ones that balance proven experience with the unique needs of the organisation.

Best practice tells us what has worked before.
Best fit determines what will work here.
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And that distinction may be one of the most important decisions any Maximo implementation team makes.