July 15, 2008

GSH Director takes up prestigious role

IBM has invited GSH Group plc's Maxwell Segal to chair the new Maximo UK User Group. Maximo is one of the world's leading asset management systems across many sectors including oil and gas, energy and utilities, transportation, facilities and industrial.

Maximo's UK users across all market sectors have not had an independent forum and voice and the Group is a major development for IBM and UK Maximo users alike. The Group will act as a valuable resource of help and information, and an influential body within the IBM Maximo community worldwide.

The appointment was announced on 11th June at the Maximo Customer Day at IBM South Bank. Maxwell, who continues to hold his position as Group Technology & Innovations Director at GSH, anticipates that the User Group will be fully operational within two months. The User Group will be independent from IBM and will give Maximo users the chance to share experiences, learn of new developments in the system and to have their say in the future direction of the system.

In his role at GSH, Maxwell works closely with customers to develop innovative technology driven solutions based around Maximo. This experience, coupled with his extensive IT background spanning 27 years, compliments the needs of IBM's evolving business and its customers.

Maxwell said: "I am delighted to be invited by IBM to chair its UK User Group. There are around 170 Maximo users in the UK and we hope to get the majority of them onboard so that the Group is representative of the whole UK Maximo community. As we enter a new phase in Maximo's development, I hope that we can help all members obtain genuine benefit from the User Group's activities."

Maxwell joined GSH as IT Director in 2001, making him responsible for developing and implementing an enterprise-wide ICT strategy, and was appointed to the role of Group Technology and Innovations Director in 2005.

Maximo V4.1 was implemented across the GSH business in the UK, Ireland and the USA in 2001. GSH is currently in the process of upgrading to V6.2 and IBM Maximo for Service Providers, which will enable it to manage client contracts more effectively through the more robust and streamlined approached to asset management that it offers, whilst developing significant customer benefits and innovation.