Archived News & Events

It has been a busy week for Vetasi, across the world, at some key Maximo events!

​We started the week in Nice, as sponsors of the annual European Airport Summit. We took part in many interesting debates and shared our expertise on topics such as the latest Maximo and IoT roadmap.

Vetasi continues its expansion with the addition of 3 new graduates to its UK team. The graduates will be based in our Bristol office and will complete a number of placements during their training programme to give them a rounded knowledge of the business.

As a valued service provider to the three leading UK airport operators, we’re pleased to announce our sponsorship of IBM’s 6th European Maximo Airport Summit. Taking place between 13-14th November 2017, the annual event is being hosted by Nice Airport.

The Maximo Airport Summit is open to all organisations that manage infrastructure at airports, including air-side and land-side facilities, operational systems such as baggage handling and security, transit and fleet at no cost.

Vetasi continues its rapid growth in Europe with a new branch in Spain, making Vetasi one of the largest service providers of IBM Maximo in Spain.

The team, led by industry veterans Sharon Kepcia and José Inestal, will have its headquarters in Madrid and together with their team will bring Vetasi’s clients a combined experience of more than 150 years with Maximo, as well as specialists in Industry 4.0 and BIM.

Vetasi, in partnership with Gaussian, was a partner at the annual Mainstream Conference which took place from 9-11 October 2017 at the Maslow Hotel in Sandton.  We had a display which was visited by over 50 attendees and we have secured a number of positive leads to follow up. 

Vetasi's own Gavin Barbier was a speaker during a deep dive session discussing "Effective Asset Management - a Blueprint for creating outcomes aligned to objectives".  His session was extremely well attended.  Further to this, Gavin also acted as MC and timekeeper in his assigned room.

Vetasi had the pleasure of hosting the first in a series of roundtables this week, aimed at assisting Utilities (with an initial focus on UK Water companies) in sharing best practice on how to maximise the use of Maximo.

We were privileged to welcome Terry Saunders, Worldwide Utilities Industry Leader,  IBM Watson IoT and Stan Smith, Architecture and Design Manager, Maximo from the USA as our key speakers for the event.

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Keith Mokoape as a Non-Executive Director to the board of Vetasi South Africa Holdings.

Keith has held a number of senior positions including Head of the Drought Relief Programme of the Independent Development Trust, and Director of Corporate Affairs for Nampak, SA's largest packaging company. In 1998, he formed a black empowerment consortium, Katleho Linkages.

Keith brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to Vetasi South Africa holdings and we are privileged to welcome him to the team.

Vetasi Central Eastern Europe (CEE) is expanding into new markets - this month we signed the contract with Ukrainian IT-Integrator LLC  for the implementation of  IBM Control Desk for JSB Ukrgasbank. The project is scheduled for a year, and the implementation covers Request Fulfilment, Service Catalogue, Incident Management and Service Level Management (SLA).

Vetasi has now gone live with Maximo at South Deep Goldmine in South Africa. South Deep is one of the most mechanised deep level gold mines in the world.

Maximo is now rolled out to all trackless mining and earth moving machines in the mine and will be rolling out to the surface plant and other parts of the mine within the coming months. Maximo produces daily reports and real time dashboards on equipment utilization and availability.

Following the successful upgrade to the latest Maximo Asset Management system integrated with IBM MobileFirst Foundation by Vetasi, South East Water is reporting a marked increase in satisfaction in the two Service Incentive Mechanism (SIM) surveys performed since the new solution went live.

Dhiraj Sood, Operations System Manager at South East Water comments;

We are pleased to share that Vetasi has once again achieved IBM Gold Partner status, under the new and more stringent criteria introduced last year. In addition, Vetasi has also received an 'Expert' level competency achievement, a designation for Business Partners who have the deepest level of capabilities and can provide the highest value delivery capability for their solution area. 

Vetasi has opened a new office in Botswana, responding to the increased demands for our expertise in the region.

Trevor Roberts, MD Africa says ‘The focus of the new office will be on the development in plant master data and planned maintenance optimization. We already have a small team established with a view to growing that team over the coming months. Various asset management consulting projects are already being undertaken from the office.’

Vetasi is excited to be the only IBM business partner exhibiting and showcasing IBM technology, Maximo and Tririga, at the forthcoming Facilities Show 2017. With over 300 exhibitors and more than 11000 visitors it is set to be a great show. We will be on stand R1105 and would be delighted if you would like to join us on one of the days from 20-22 June 2017 in London Excel, you can register here.

On the 2^nd of March, some of the team from Vetasi Poland took part in a conference “Service Desk fit for a Digital Economy”.

Our client, National Bank of Poland shared with the participants of the conference the experiences and achievements of the Service Desk implementation (based on IBM Smart Cloud Control Desk). The presenter underlined the key role of Vetasi Poland in the successful implementation process.

Our resident IBM Cloud Champion and Maximo support guru, Mark Robbins, will be hosting a webinar on how to make Maximo BIRT reports easier to support.

We are excited to share that Vetasi's Mark Robbins has been named IBM Champion for Cloud 2017! Mark is just one of only 124 champions across the world.

The IBM Champion program recognizes innovative thought leaders in the technical community – and rewards these contributors by amplifying their voice and increasing their sphere of influence. An IBM Champion is an IT professional, business leader, developer, or educator who influences and mentors others to help them make best use of IBM software, solutions, and services.

Enterprise Asset Management consultancy Vetasi has strengthened its customer services team with the appointment of Engagement Manager, Andy Burrell.

Mark Robbins is Vetasi’s support lead, working with customers using IBM Maximo Asset Management and IBM Control Desk. Mark liaises with the IBM Support and the Maximo development team, he specialises in the Maximo back-end and log analysis while providing deep technical advice to support colleagues.

Mark also gives formal training courses on highly technical areas of Maximo and Websphere. With his breadth of expertise and knowledge, Mark has started a blog which will highlight some interesting support cases and pull back the curtain to show how parts of Maximo work.

We are pleased to announce that Jaroslaw Lukasiewicz from Vetasi will be co-presenting with Bartosz Sorocynski from PGK ltd at the IBM 'Continuing Engineering for the Internet of Things Summit'.

Congratulations to our clients Heathrow Airport for winning the BIFM award for new product or service 2016. Vetasi is delighted to have supported our partners, Capgemini on this project with the interface of the award winning 'Spot and Report' app and IBM Maximo. The 'Spot and Report' app allows the end user to scan the asset's barcode to correctly identigy the asset, attach photos of the fault, and add any additional information. The engineering team is then notified of the fault and a technician is dispatched.

We are pleased to announce that we are diamond sponsors of the forthcoming European Airport Summit. This annual event will be taking place on 3-4th October 2016 and is specifically for airports and associated suppliers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa that manage assets at airports, including airside and landside facilities.

Computer Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) experts, Vetasi, has replaced Salisbury Group’s four legacy systems with a brand new solution using IBM Maximo and workforce management software Cognito iQ work force solution.

Called APEX, the system provides a single platform that Salisbury say will lead to greater cost efficiencies, allowing for faster reporting, proactive maintenance, and support cost savings. 

NJW Limited and Vetasi have joined forces to become the UK’s largest service providers of IBM Maximo and IBM TRIRIGA solutions. This strategic partnership brings together proven expertise across property and facilities management industries.

Over the past 20 years Maximo has evolved from a niche Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) into an Enterprise-wide Asset Management solution.  As part of this evolution, many Maximo implementations have been used to mop up a large number of standalone legacy systems.  One of my recent projects replaced 61 legacy systems with a single Maximo instance and the customer is still finding new applications to replace within the Maximo umbrella.

Vetasi's Mark Robbins will be explaining how Maximo users can make their core Maximo/Control desk product easier to support on Tuesday 17 May from 5-6pm (BST). This Maximo User Group webinar will include practical tips based on genuine helpdesk calls/experience, which can save time and money for system administrators, including:

Congratulations to our clients, Affinity Water, on becoming finalists in several awards categories at the Water Industry Achievement Awards 2016. The winners will be announced at the prestigious gala dinner celebration at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole on the 17 May.

We’re pleased to announce that we’ll be exhibiting at the Facilities Show – the world’s largest dedicated facilities management event – from 21-23 June.

Following the success of Mark Robbins’ webinar on making Maximo integrations easier to support, a free replay is now available: https://www.imwuc.org/p/do/sd/sid=3049 (please note that you must be a member of the IBM Middleware User Community to access the link).

The hour long webinar includes practical tips based on genuine helpdesk calls/experience, which can save time and money for system administrators, such as:

Vetasi's Mark Robbins will be explaining how Maximo users can make their core Maximo/Control desk product easier to support on Tuesday 17 May from 5-6pm (BST).

This Maximo User Group webinar will include practical tips based on genuine helpdesk calls/experience, which can save time and money for system administrators, including:

Enterprise and Asset Management consultancy Vetasi has boosted its business development team with the recruitment of New Business Account Executive, Nick Ageridis.

The 39-year-old, who is a qualified chemical engineer, has more than 15 years’ experience in the water and utilities sectors and joins from Aerzen Machines, a specialist manufacturer to the water and gas markets, where he was Process Manager.  Prior to that, Nick held a number of senior process engineering roles with Worley Parsons and Australian companies, Zinifex, Gutteridge, Haskins and Davies.

Vetasi's Mark Robbins will be explaining how Maximo users can make their integrations easier to support at a free webinar on Friday 12 February from 4-5pm (GMT).  The Maximo User Group webinar will include practical tips based on genuine helpdesk calls/experience, which can save time and money for system administrators, and will cover areas including:

This is the first of a series of articles intended to give insight and create discussion about some of the challenges and opportunities involved in adopting ISO 55000 and how to support it with Maximo.

In this article we are trying to answer the question “What Information Systems are needed to support ISO55000”? First, let’s define what we mean by an information system.

What is a System? ISO55000 uses the word “system” in at least three different contexts and I’ve described where Maximo fits inside each.

Nick Waller, Engagement Manager at Vetasi, writes in the first of a series of articles about the challenges and opportunities involved in adopting ISO 55000 and how to support it with Maximo.

Asset and maintenance management experts Vetasi have teamed up with Code Development, the creators of leading technology for the testing of Maximo EAM, after selecting MaxTAF as its strategic Quality Assurance technology.

“Our goal is to perform full regression testing every single day, across all of our active projects. We simply can't do that without automation.” said James Prior, Managing Director of Vetasi. 

Asset and maintenance management experts Vetasi have teamed up with Code Development, the creators of leading technology for the testing of Maximo EAM, after selecting MaxTAF as its strategic Quality Assurance technology.

“Our goal is to perform full regression testing every single day, across all of our active projects. We simply can't do that without automation.” said James Prior, Managing Director of Vetasi. 

The Premier Cloud & Mobile Conference takes place at MGM Grand & Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV from 21st to 25th February 2016. IBMinterconnect will include presentations from around the globe on best practice in asset management through Maximo, as well as technical clinics, practical demonstrations and lots of networking opportunities.

Find out more at: https://www.ibm.com/cloud-computing/us/en/interconnect/

Join us at the Facilities Show this year for the world's largest dedicated facilities management event, which is taking place at ExCel London from 21-23 June. 

Vetasi celebrated at Bowood Spa and Golf Resort again this year, it's a wonderful venue and we had a fantastic evening. We wish all our clients, partners and friends a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for a happy new year!

Christmas is just around the corner so instead of sending paper cards this year we have put those funds to better use by making a donation to the Europe Refugee Crisis Appeal. Hundreds of thousands of people have arrived in Europe this year as they flee conflict, violence and persecution. They have endured dreadful journeys, taking great risks. They urgently need food, water and medical care.

Vetasi are looking to recruit a Senior Consultant in the Electrical Utilities industry and a Senior Consultant in the Rail Industry. please see our Job Vacancies page for further the details. If you are looking to join an ambitious, fast-growing company at the leading edge of Asset Management Consultancy, please get in touch on 08434 610061 or contact enquiries@vetasi.com.
 

Join us for a free seminar, hosted by IBM and Intel, to discuss best practice and innovation within asset lifecycle management and predictive maintenance.  The event, which is being held in London on Monday 9^th November, will offer an introduction to IBM’s Predictive Maintenance and Quality (PMQ) software and how it’s been optimised through the Internet of Things (IoT) to create a cutting edge solution.

Congratulations to our clients Heathrow, whose achievements were recognised at this month’s BIFM Awards.  The event saw the team win two categories, with Alan Russell being named as Facilities Manager of the Year and Terminal 2 Engineering and Facilities winning the Impact on Customer Experience award.  The team were also highly commended in the Learning and Career Development category.

For more information on this year’s winners, please visit: http://www.bifmawards.org/2015-winners/.

The Maximo UK & Ireland User Group will be hosting its next meeting on 1st December at IBM Southbank.

The User Group supports the UK and Ireland Maximo community by organising group meetings to discuss best practices and share experience and knowledge.  Launched in 2008, The Maximo UK and Ireland User Group is one of the fastest growing in the IBM User Community with nearly 400 members and organises meetings every six months.

Vetasi's Mark Robbins gave a presentation on Making IBM Maximo Asset Management or IBM Control Desk system easier to support at the recent Maximo User Group Meeting. He discusses reducing time spent on resetting passwords, Initial start center performance, Logs and the best way to manage them and Reducing fault diagnostic times for errors.

Join us for a free seminar, hosted by IBM and Intel, to discuss best practice and innovation within asset lifecycle management and predictive maintenance.  The event, which is being held in London on Monday 9^th November, will offer an introduction to IBM’s Predictive Maintenance and Quality (PMQ) software and how it’s been optimised through the Internet of Things (IoT) to create a cutting edge solution.

We’re pleased to announce our joint sponsorship of IBM’s fourth Maximo Airport Summit alongside Capgemini.

Taking place between 7th - 8th October 2015, the annual event is being hosted by Heathrow Airport, whose asset management solution is provided by Capgemini in partnership with Vetasi, using IBM Maximo.

Enterprise and Asset Management consultancy Vetasi has boosted its client services team with the appointment of Engagement Manager, Nick Waller.

IBM is hosting an executive briefing on The Internet of Things – from hype to insight on Wednesday 23^rd September, which promises to offer a fascinating insight into how your organisation could harness the power of the Internet of Things (the integrated fabric of sensors, devices, data connections, processes and people).

Ten years ago today Vetasi was launched by Managing Director, James Prior. Then known as JF Prior Consulting, the company began life as a kitchen table start-up, but quickly expanded to become the largest independent Maximo solutions house in Europe, with offices in the UK, Poland, and South Africa.

Earlier this year, Vetasi was voted as one of the London Stock Exchange’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2015, based on its recent turnover growth which reached £7.22m (YE 2014).   

Mark Robbins, Vetasi’s Technical Design Authority, will be headlining a one-off Virtual User Group this summer on ‘How to make your Maximo system easier to support’.

The date for the webinar event, which is being hosted by the Maximo User Group UK and Ireland, is still to be confirmed, so watch this space!

It was glorious sunshine for Vetasi’s annual company get together last week, where staff were treated to an afternoon out on the water, dragon boat racing. We all thoroughly enjoyed the event, hosted by South Cerney Outdoor, and are relieved to report there were no capsizes, however, several members of the team still managed to get a good soaking!

In a recent survey 63% of businesses said they’d been audited by at least one software vendor for licence compliance over the past 12 months (Source IDC Media).  Furthermore, more than a third of these respondents had paid more than £200,000 for audit settlements and penalties.

Work, asset and maintenance management experts Vetasi, in partnership with workforce management solution providers Cognito, are to launch a new Computer-Aided Facility Management Solution (CAFM) solution at the Facilities Show on 16-18th June at London’s Excel.

The leading-edge solution, called APEX, brings together IBM Maximo and Maximo Service Provider, with Cognito’s workforce management solution: Fieldforce IQ with SmartWorker, and is the result of a three-year collaboration between Vetasi and Cognito.

Eric Chiu, Director at Fisher IT Asset Consulting, summarises trends in IBM license audit compliance which are putting more onus on users of systems, like Maximo, to keep clear and accurate records of their software use.

Joe Goodwin, Customer Support Manager, explains how Maximo users can reduce their exposure to IBM license audits and potentially save up to 50% on new license fees at the same time.

There’s almost a month to go until Vetasi will be at The Facilities Show 2015!  Come and see us on stand P1250a for demos of our new Computer Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) solution using IBM Maximo and our Property Portfolio Management solution, TRIRIGA.

We’d be delighted if you could join us for the Maximo UK & Ireland User Group  on Tuesday 21 April, where BAe Systems will be demonstrating their new Maximo application, which supports the Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) programmes of its customers, including the Royal Navy and Network Rail.

Asset and maintenance management experts Vetasi Ltd (Vetasi) have been identified as one of London Stock Exchange’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain. 

The 2015 report is a celebration of the UK’s fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium sized businesses.  To be included in the list, companies needed to show consistent revenue growth over the past four years and significantly outperform their industry peers.

Join us at the Facilities Show this year for the world's largest dedicated facilities management event, which is taking place at ExCel London from 16-18 June. 

The Maximo UK & Ireland User Group will be hosting its next meeting on Tuesday 21st April at IBM Southbank.

The User Group supports the UK and Ireland Maximo community by organising group meetings to discuss best practices and share experience and knowledge.  Launched in 2008, The Maximo UK and Ireland User Group is one of the fastest growing in the IBM User Community with nearly 400 members and organises meetings every six months.

IBM’s fourth European Maximo Airport Summit will be taking place at Heathrow Airport, London, UK between 7th - 8th October 2015.

This annual event is specifically for airports and associated suppliers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa that manage assets at airports, including airside and landside facilities.

It was great to meet so many of you at our sponsored BIFM Capturing and Managing FM Data Training Day on Friday.  Although there was little to see of the solar eclipse, the event itself did not disappoint.  There was a jam packed seminar, with presentations on Work & Enterprise Asset Management from Vetasi’s Neil Dewing and Antony Collett of Intergral, along with a rugby inspired look at mobile workforce management software from Michael Cross of Vetasi partners Cognito.  Other presentations included BIM/Soft Landings and customer satisfaction & benchmarking.

Vetasi has published this year's first EAM bi-annual newsletter, covering topical industry news and whitepapers, as well as updates from the #Vetasi team, click here to view the online version.

The PolMaintenance Congress, a strategic partner of Vetasi sp. z o.o., is organising it's 10th meeting at Hotel Airport Okęcie, Warsaw on the 20th to 21st May 2015. This is the biggest event dedicated to maintenance issues in Poland and invites maintenance specialists from different industries at all levels. Attendees will include top management professionals as well as maintenance managers responsible for maintenance processes.

To register: http://www.kongres-sur.pl/rejestracja.html

Our clients, Rachel Dunn and Andy Miller of Heathrow Airport, will be presenting on the Maximo 7.5 Upgrade at this year’s @IBMInterConnect. This Upgrade was completed in 2014 by @Vetasi, working alongside Capgemini, and is considered to be one of the most successful IT system implementations in the airport’s history.

Maximo V7.6 finally arrived in December offering several key new improvements on previous releases. Whilst we are encouraging customers to plan to upgrade their systems to this latest version, those on V7.1 should take particular note as this will cease to be supported by IBM from April 2015 and this date is fast approaching!

So what’s new in V7.6?

This latest generation of Maximo software expands on previous versions to offer users a better look and feel, enhanced navigation, along with improved performance and reporting capabilities.

Last year our team completed a major project to implement an integrated work and asset management platform for East Coast, using IBM Maximo.  We are delighted to announce that a detailed case study about this project, entitled ‘Keeping maintenance and procurement on track with first-class asset management’, has just been published by IBM.  This features in-depth analysis of the implementation itself, how Vetasi’s project team performed, as well as the impact that the technology has had on East Coast’s operations, and its plans for the future.

Last year Vetasi's Mark Robbins presented an update on the RFE process and active RFEs at the #TUCMaximo User Group meeting.

The slides for this presentation are available to download and explain the RFE process, as well as giving an overview of the most active RFEs at the time of the User Group meeting.  They also include tips about the best way to ensure that an RFE is easy for IBM to agree to.

These slides are available here:

Vetasi have been selected by Affinity Water, the UK's largest water-only supplier, to install a new Enterprise Asset Management platform, using IBM Maximo…

Mark Robbins reviews the new features of IBM Maximo V7.6 and explains why users on V7.1 should take particular note, as the end of support for this version is fast approaching…

Asset and maintenance management experts Vetasi Ltd (Vetasi) have been selected by Affinity Water, the UK’s largest water-only supplier, to install a new Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) platform, using IBM Maximo.

The 13-month long project will involve the replacement of multiple legacy systems for the management of work on distributed assets across the Affinity Water estate. 

The new system will utilise Maximo for Utilities, along with Maximo Service Provider and Scheduler, and IBM’s latest solution for mobile work management, Maximo Anywhere. 

Vetasi has teamed up with the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) to sponsor its forthcoming South West Region Quarterly Training Day on Friday 20th March.   With the theme of Capturing and Managing FM Data, this day-long event will feature expert presentations, workshops and demonstrations of the latest innovations in CAFM software for the FM industry, as well as an overview of the forthcoming BIM legislation, including what its implications are and how FM companies can start planning for it.

Vetasi is pleased to announce its sponsorship of the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) and its forthcoming South West Region Quarterly Training Day on Friday 20 March.  With the theme of Capturing and Managing FM Data, this day-long event will feature expert presentations and demonstrations of the latest innovations in CAFM software for the FM industry, as well as an overview of the forthcoming BIM legislation, including what its implications are and how FM companies can start planning for it.

November’s Maximo User Group was yet another successful event.  Follow the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQBO3QhoJlg to watch Mark Robbins’ presentation on IBM’s Requests for Enhancements (RFE) programme and Maximo Support.  Mark covers some interesting points and explains the programme and how Vetasi are involved.  

Vetasi started their Christmas celebrations in Bath last weekend and a festive time was had all round. We wish all our clients, partners and friends a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas is just around the corner so instead of sending paper cards this year we have put those funds to better use by making a donation to the Ebola Crisis Appeal #StopTheSpread.

The unyielding spread of Ebola in West Africa is having far reaching affects not only on the regions affected but by all those countries that have come to the aid of those suffering. This terrible disease is causing sky high mortality rates which is shattering communities, and destroying people’s ability to support themselves.

Pulse, IBM’s global conference for Tivoli, will be taking place in Las Vegas from February 22-26. This must attend event for Maximo users, which is now being run as part of IBM’s premier Cloud and Mobile conference, IBMinterconnect, and will include presentations from around the globe on best practice in asset management through Maximo, as well as technical clinics, practical demonstrations and lots of networking opportunities.   

To find out more, please visit: http://www-01.ibm.com/software/events/interconnect/

Maximo has been around for nearly thirty years and accounting systems for somewhat longer. The integration between Maximo and your Accounting system used to be thought of as an advanced technique, now it is becoming increasingly a standard requirement.

There are a number of clear benefits to be gained by performing this integration. These include:

Maximo has been around for nearly thirty years and accounting systems for somewhat longer. The integration between Maximo and your Accounting system used to be thought of as an advanced technique, now it is becoming increasingly a standard requirement...

We are pleased to announce that Mark Robbins, our Technical Design Authority, will be speaking about IBM’s Request for Enhancement (RFE) process and Maximo support at next week’s #Maximo User Group.

The meeting, which is taking place on November 26 from 9:00am to 3:30pm at IBM Southbank, is a forum for Maximo users to discuss best practices and share experience and knowledge of Maximo.

Next year, Pulse, IBM’s global conference for Tivoli, will be taking place in Las Vegas from February 22-26. This must attend event for #Maximo users, which is now being run as part of IBM’s premier Cloud and Mobile conference, #IBMinterconnect, and will include presentations from around the globe on best practice in asset management through Maximo, as well as technical clinics, practical demonstrations and lots of networking opportunities.   

#Maximouki – an official #IBM survey, organised by the Maximo User Group, is now open to all Maximo users.  The aim is to give the Group an insight into the current Maximo user base, alongside their existing implementations.  It should only take a few mouse clicks to complete the survey, which is anonymous, and the results will be shared at the next User Group meeting in November.

We are delighted to team up with our clients to announce the formation of a new Maximo focussed interest group for the water industry.  The group will include Affinity Water, South East Water, and South Staffordshire Water, alongside other companies with an interest in the water industry, such as Kier MG. 

The Maximo UK & Ireland User Group will be hosting its next meeting on Wednesday 26 November at IBM Southbank.

The User Group supports the UK and Ireland Maximo community by organising group meetings to discuss best practices and share experience and knowledge.  Launched in 2008, The Maximo UK and Ireland User Group is one of the fastest growing in the IBM User Community with nearly 400 members and organises meetings every six months.

We are proud to announce Vetasi’s sponsorship of IBM’s third Maximo Airport Summit, which will be taking place at ANA, Aeroportos de Portugal in Lisbon, between 8-9 October 2014.

This annual event is specifically for airports and associated suppliers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa that manage infrastructure at airports, including air-side and land-side facilities and operational systems, such as baggage handling and security, transit and fleet.

If you’re a CIO or you meet with senior IT professionals on a regular basis, you will know that cloud computing gets a regular slot in your company’s IT strategy meetings. It is changing the way that companies are able to deliver services and within virtually every sector, cloud computing and big data analytics is changing the focus of IT expenditure and core deliverables.

We are delighted to announce that Mark Robbins, our Technical Design Authority, has influenced an important change to IBM’s Request for Enhancement (RFE) process.

During a recent Maximo User Group forum, Mark requested that the length of time that a rejected RFE can be resubmitted be reduced from 18 months.  Representatives from IBM discussed his request internally and reached an agreement to reduce the time to 12 months.

The Scheduling and Dispatch capabilities of Maximo have developed gradually over recent releases.  However, after listening to existing users, IBM’s latest release of Maximo (7.5.2) has taken a huge leap forward, enabling automated scheduling and route optimisation to maximise the effectiveness of workforces even further.  

Improved Functionality

IBM’s third European Maximo Airport Summit will be taking place at ANA, Aeroportos de Portugal /Lisbon Airport – Portugal between 8-9 October 2014.

This annual event is specifically for airports and associated suppliers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa that manage assets at airports, including airside and landside facilities.

Last weekend our volunteers took part in the Race the Sun - Brecon Beacons event, this tough challenge saw our boys cycling 45 miles, climbing Pen y Fan (2,907ft) and canoeing Pontsticill Reservoir (3km), starting at sunrise and finishing by sunset - racing the sun!

Congratulations to our team members: Neil Dewing, Jon Taylor, James Prior, Laurence Vale, Bernie Kane, Pardip Bhogal, Alin Bostan and Jeff Cechinel, thanks for all the hard work they have put into training and taking part.

We are delighted to announce the creation of our new Request for Enhancement blog page - RFE Blog for IBM #Maximo - where you can get all the latest updates on Vetasi’s RFE requests for IBM Maximo, along with details of how you can join our campaigns to get the features you need into Maximo!

What is Request for Enhancement?

With Cloud users reporting average cost savings of 21%, James Prior looks at the many factors to consider when reviewing your Cloud strategy and sourcing solutions for IBM’s Enterprise Asset Management application Maximo…

#facshow - there’s less than a week to go until @Facilities_Show!  Come and see us on stand P1250 for live demos of IBM’s Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software platform #Maximo and Property Portfolio Management solution, TRIRIGA.

There’s another opportunity to catch Rachel Dunn’s presentation on Heathrow Airport’s Maximo Mobile implementation at a virtual AFM Maximo Global User Group meeting on Tuesday 24 June 2014, from 5-7pm (W Europe standard time). 

Rachel, who is Heathrow’s Maximo Development Manager, will give an in-depth insight into the challenges of integrating Mobile into the complexoperating environment of one of the world’s busiest airports. 

#Maximouki – there’s another opportunity to catch Rachel Dunn’s presentation on #Heathrow Airport’s Maximo Mobile implementation at a virtual AFM Maximo Global User Group meeting on Tuesday 24 June 2014, from 5-7pm (W Europe standard time).  Rachel, who is Heathrow’s Maximo Development Manager, will give an in-depth insight into the challenges of integrating Mobile into the complex operating environment of one of the world’s busiest airports. 

Asset and maintenance management experts Vetasi Ltd (Vetasi) have gone live with a major project to implement an integrated work and asset management platform for train operator East Coast.

The 18-month long project involved replacing East Coast’s two legacy systems, RAVERS and IMACS, with IBM Maximo 7.5, together with the Maximo Transportation Industry Solution.   

This new system forms a crucial part of East Coast’s Project Eagle - a major IT investment to help improve the performance and reliability of its trains.

#Maximouki – it was a full house at the Maximo User Group last week, with some very interesting presentations, including Rachel Dunn of Heathrow Airport on implementing Maximo v7.5 and Maximo Mobile, as well as how Ireland's Bord Gáis Networks have tested their Maximo implementation using MaxTAF.  If you didn't attend, but are interested in getting copies of the presentations, please e-mail enquiries@vetasi.com.

Look forward to seeing you at the next User Group inthe autumn!

Around 95% of major Maximo implementations in the Middle East use Maximo for Inventory Control.  A veteran of many of these projects, Tony Turner, explores why, despite its many benefits, Inventory Control is seldom used in UK projects...

I have been working with Maximo for the past 20 years and spent 12 of those years implementing Maximo in the Middle East. During that period, we carried out some of the largest and most successful Maximo implementations anywhere in the world.

#Maximouki -we’re delighted to be presenting alongside our clients Capgemini and Heathrow Airport at the next Maximo UK & Ireland User Group on Wednesday 14May. 

Our Polish team has just published a new Enterprise Asset Management white paper, which addresses the challenges that maintenance departments face when trying to get IT support.   This free white paper explores why an EAM system is important for maintenance teams and what factors companies should consider when choosing a system as a separate platform, or as an additional module of an existing ERP system.

For your free copy, please click on the link below or email sales@vetasi.com.

FREE webcast hosted by Vetasi’s team in Poland, in partnership with Arrow, Forum Press and IBM

Wednesday, May 21st 2014, 11:00 CET

Vetasi Enhances its #Maximo Mobile Solution with #IBM Worklight 

According to Gartner, mobile application development projects for smartphones and tablets will outnumber native PC projects by a ratio of 4:1 by 2015. At Vetasi we’ve seen evidence of this trend first-hand with more and more customers enhancing their Maximo platforms using the latest mobile solutions.

Introducing IBM Worklight   

Vetasi South Africa has published a new #EAM whitepaper, which addresses the challenges that Local Governments face when improving service delivery and how these can be overcome through strategic asset management solutions, such as IBM Maximo. This free white paper illustrates how a unified management of assets can empower Municipalities to make more informed decisions about resource allocation and utilisation, through improved results tracking.

For your free copy, please click on the link below, or email sales@vetasi.com.

Join us at the Facilities Show this year for the world's largest dedicated facilities management event, which is taking place at ExCel London from 17-19 June. 

The first of our bi-annual EAM newsletters has just been published, covering topical industry news and whitepapers, as well as updates from the Vetasi team http://www.vetasi.com/news-events/newsletters. 

We’re delighted to announce the launch of a new Rapid Response Team dedicated to the fast turnaround of smaller scale Maximo assignments.

Each member of this multi-disciplined team is highly experienced in smaller project implementations and will be available to our customers at short notice on standalone assignments, or short-term tasks.

The Maximo UK & Ireland User Group will be hosting its next meeting on Wednesday 14 May at IBM Southbank from 9am-3.30pm.

The User Group supports the UK and Ireland Maximo community by organising group meetings to discuss best practices and share experience and knowledge.  Launched in 2008, The Maximo UK and Ireland User Group is one of the fastest growing in the IBM User Community with nearly 400 members and organises meetings every six months.

I have been working with Maximo for the past 20 years and spent 12 of those years implementing Maximo in the Middle East. During that period, we carried out some of the largest and most successful Maximo implementations anywhere in the world.

According to Gartner, mobile application development projects for smartphones and tablets will outnumber native PC projects by a ratio of 4:1 by 2015. At Vetasi we’ve seen evidence of this trend first-hand with more and more customers enhancing their Maximo platforms using the latest mobile solutions.

The Scheduling and Dispatch capabilities of Maximo have developed gradually over recent releases. However, after listening to existing users, IBM’s latest release of Maximo (7.5.2) has taken a huge leap forward, enabling automated scheduling and route optimisation to maximise the effectiveness of workforces even further.

On behalf of everyone at Vetasi, I’m pleased to announce the launch of a new Rapid Response Team dedicated to the fast turnaround of smaller scale Maximo assignments.

Every member of this multi-disciplined team is highly experienced in smaller project implementations and, from this month onwards, they will be available to all our customers at short notice on standalone assignments, or short-term tasks.

DISCOVERY Limited, one of South Africa’s leading organisations, has selected #IBM Business Partner and Integrated Workplace Management expert Vetasi Africa (Vetasi) to implement the IBM TRIRIGA solution.

The Group will use TRIRIGA, an Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) solution, to manage all of its real estate infrastructure and related functions.  This includes the Lease Management, Project Management, Operations and Maintenance Management and Sustainability of Discovery’s head office and regional offices at just under 100,000m², as well as future requirements.

We are pleased to announce that our Enterprise #ibm Maximo Software as a Service (SaaS) solution has attained approval for registration on the UK G-Cloud 4 Programme.

The G-Cloud Programme is a cross-Government initiative led by the Ministry of Justice and supported by the Home Office, under the direction of the Chief Information Officer Delivery Board, as part of the Government ICT Strategy.

In the spirit of giving, instead of sending paper cards this year we have made a donation to Action for Medical Research- http://www.action.org.uk/sponsor/kicksomevetassy.

Next year we are entering two teams for the Race the Sun Brecon Beacons Challenge, taking place in June 2014, to raise money for this worthy cause.  This gruelling challenge involves cycling 45 miles, climbing Pen y Fan (2,907ft) and canoeing Pontsticill Reservoir (3km), starting at sunrise and finishing by sunset - racing the sun!

Maximo has been highlighted as the leading asset management solution in the latest Gartner reports, Magic Quadrant for Power Generation Enterprise Asset Management Software and Magic Quadrant for Delivery Utility Enterprise Asset Management.

The reports which ranked Maximo against other EAM systems, including IFS, Infor  and Mainsaver, found Maximo to be the market leader for the power generation and utility industries in terms of its functionality, customer experience and the fit to purpose.

It’s not long now until Pulse 2014 – IBM’s three-day long, annual event showcasing the latest developments in cloud, security, asset management, and smarter infrastructure.

The Las Vegas conference at the MGM Grand will feature visionary keynote speakers, leading edge education, and a solution expo featuring hundreds of products and services that can help you leverage cloud as a growth engine for a smarter enterprise.

For more information, or to register visit the IBM Pulse 2014 website.

#Maximouki - a really good turnout at the Maximo User Group yesterday, with some very interesting presentations from David Gasdia of IBM, Stephen Bond of Network Rail and Martin Giel of South East Water, amongst others.  If you didn't attend, but are interested in getting copies of the presentations, please e-mail enquiries@vetasi.com.

Look forward to seeing you at the next User Group in April!

We’re delighted to welcome our 70th Maximo Consultant, Michal Jankowski, who is also the 7th member of staff to join our Eastern and Central European division in Poland.

Vetasi has been the largest Maximo consultancy team in the UK, Europe and Africa since 2008; however, recent contract wins and the opening of our third office in Poland earlier this year have led to a doubling of staff numbers over the past 18 months.

Given that IBM support for all versions of Maximo V6.x. was withdrawn last month and the End of Support for V7.1 has just been announced, you may be considering a Maximo Upgrade. 

After 30 September fixes, patches, and telephone support will no longer be provided by IBM for all versions of Maximo V6.x.  However, Vetasi will continue to provide application support to customers who have a Vetasi Application Support agreement.

On behalf of the Maximo User Group Africa (MxUGA), we’d like to thank everyone who attended Pulse 2013.  The event was a great success with inspiring presentations from companies at the forefront of asset management, as well as stimulating debates and workshops.  For those of you who’d like copies of the conference power points, videos, and photographs, please visit the presentations area of our website: http://www.vetasi.com/news-events/presentations.

IBM has already withdrawn support for earlier versions of Maximo up to version 6.1.  Maximo 6.2 will reach End of Support on 30 September 2013. 

The End of Support (EOS) for Maximo version 7.1 has also been announced by IBM and will be effective from 30 April 2015.

After 30 September, fixes, patches and telephone support will no longer be provided by IBM for all versions of Maximo v 6.x.  However, Vetasi will continue to provide application support to customers who have a Vetasi Application Support agreement.

The Maximo UK & Ireland User Group will be hosting its next meeting on Wednesday 20 November at IBM Southbank from 9am-3.15pm.

The User Group supports the UK and Ireland Maximo community by organising group meetings to discuss best practices and share experience and knowledge.  Launched in 2008, The Maximo UK and Ireland User Group is one of the fastest growing in the IBM User Community with nearly 400 members and organises meetings every six months.

IBM and Maximo User Group Africa (MxUGA) have announced Pulse 2013 - a complimentary two day seminar taking place on 10-11 September. 

The event will offer delegates the chance to learn how organisations could benefit from increasingly Smarter Infrastructure. Representatives from all major industries, including utilities, municipalities, mining, manufacturing and facilities, will be in attendance.

IBM and Maximo User Group Africa (MxUGA) have announced Pulse 2013 - a complimentary two day seminar taking place between 10-11 September. 

The event will offer delegates the chance to learn how organisations could benefit from increasingly Smarter Infrastructure. Representatives from all major industries, including utilities, municipalities, mining, manufacturing and facilities, will be in attendance.

Enterprise and Asset Management consultancy Vetasi has boosted its South African team with the appointment of Sales and Marketing Director, Steve Botha.

The 41-year-old, who is a specialist in IT Service Management and TRIRIGA, joins from IBM where he headed up a successful sales team as Business Unit Leader for IBM Tivoli.  Prior to that, Steve held a number of senior roles at IT Service Management specialist Axios Systems, pharmaceuticals company Pfizer, and document management software solutions company Opentext.

Vetasi’s Central and Eastern European office is delighted to announce its sponsorship of the 3rd national IT for Transportation conference.   The three day event, which is being held from 12-14 June 2013 in Jachranka, Poland,  is expected to attract 150 attendees from the IT services market and transportation industry.

Vetasi’s Central and Eastern European office is delighted to announce its sponsorship of the 3rd national IT for Transportation conference.   The three day event, which is being held from 12-14 June 2013 in Jachranka Poland, is expected to attract 150 attendees from the IT services market and transportation industry.

If you have an interest in rail industry asset management, we’d be delighted if you could join us for the forthcoming Maximo Rail Industry Summit on Tuesday 4 June 2013 in La Gaude, near Nice, France. 

Following the success of last year’s summit, the event is due to be attended by more than 100 asset management specialists from across the rail industry and will include sessions to facilitate information sharing on the latest Maximo implementations, lessons learned, and plans for the future.

It was great to see so many of you at the Facilities Show earlier this month.  The exhibition was a great success and our team met with many FM executives and service providers to demo our Maximo and TRIRIGA solutions and share money saving advice on boosting asset performance.

If you didn’t manage to make the Show, but are interested in talking to a member of the team and receiving our FM Enterprise Asset Management solutions sales pack, please don’t hesitate to get in touch by e-mailing sales@vetasi.com, or calling us on 08434 610061. 

Trevor Roberts, the Director of Vetasi SA, is a guest speaker at the forthcoming Africa Water Distribution Systems conference, with a presentation on Enhancing Distribution Asset Management.

The conference will address many interesting topics, including how an innovative risk-based approach to managing water infrastructure can help deal with current ageing infrastructure challenges, as well as how to source appropriate Water Management Technologies to ensure optimisation within water distribution systems.

Join us at the Facilities Show 2013 from 14-16 May 2013.  As well as live demos of our Enterprise Asset Management platform Maximo and Integrated Workplace Management (IWMS) solution, TRIRIGA, our industry experts will be offering free, money saving advice on boosting the performance of FM assets and global property portfolios.

Join us at African Utility Week at Stand G02 from 14-15 May 2013.  Entry is free – simply register at http://www.african-utility-week.com/Registrations?code=ET9O_vetasi.

For further details, please contact Wendy Scott on +27 (0) 12 348 4617, or e-mail wendy.scott@vetasi.com.

Enterprise work and asset management experts Vetasi Ltd (Vetasi) has boosted its international network with the opening of a new office for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

Asset and maintenance management experts Vetasi Ltd (Vetasi) have gone live with a major project to install a single work and asset management platform for South Staffs Water (SSW), as part of an enterprise solution for South Staffordshire Plc, covering both above and below ground work streams.

A big thank you to all the 107 delegates who attended our Drakenstein process presentation at the AMEU Good Hope Branch meeting last Friday.  It was great to see so many of you there and we welcome any feedback you have. 

Vetasi (Pty) Limited, a premier IBM Business Partner in the UK and South Africa, has been awarded the Drakenstein Municipality ED contract 12/2012 by the Council's Bid Adjudication Committee for the Department of Electricity for the supply and delivery of a computerised asset management system.  As part of this contract Vetasi will also provide a service desk, project planning and scheduling, as well as mobile and enhanced reporting capabilities.

We’re delighted to announce the opening of our new corporate headquarters in Aztec West, Bristol. 

Venue: IBM Auditorium, IBM Park - Block C1, Ground Floor, 70 Rivonia Road, Sandhurst, Johannesburg

Time: 09h00
Registration cut-off date is Monday, 12 November 2012.

Vetasi is proud to announce that one of our Clients – South East Water - has been shortlisted for the Utility Industry Achievement Awards 2012 in the category of IT Initiative of the Year category for 2012.

ClickSoftware for IBM Maximo extends the power of IBM’s leading Enterprise Asset Management platform by integrating strategic and tactical tools for complete management, control, and visibility of your mobile workforce.

Vetasi chosen to provide new engineering maintenance management system

Train operator East Coast has appointed asset and maintenance management experts Vetasi as its chosen supplier to provide a new system to improve the performance of its trains.

The appointment of Vetasi to implement a new engineering maintenance management system represents a £1.5 million investment by East Coast in its depots.

Vetasi today made claim to be the most certified IBM Maximo business partner with permanent offices in Africa. “Based on our calculation the Vetasi Africa Maximo team is now the largest, most certified and experienced permanent team of Maximo professionals in Africa” Trevor Roberts the Managing Director for Vetasi Arica announced.

Hear visionary & strategic CIO Ian Cox propose why differentiation matters in the service industry, why the usual approaches to differentiation do not work and what real and effective differentiation looks like. And quiz Ian, along with an experienced panel of FM professionals, on how this can work in the real world. Ian's full profile is available here.

Time: 5.30pm

In the first quarter of 2012 Vetasi Africa became the first and only IBM business partner in Africa to receive the prestigious IBM AAA Accredited Rating and the IBM Premier Business Partner award for IBM Maximo.

15 April 2012

Vetasi AFRICA today announced various appointments in its IBM Maximo reseller, implementation and support provider business.

Presentation covering Maintaining Rolling Stock and Meeting Business Objectives in the Rail Industry as of March 2012:

• IBM Pulse Bombardier

Click here to view the Maximo Upgrade at Hulamin news item

Perenco Wytch Farm upgrade has completed – Jonathan wanted to single out Jerome and Andrew for specific praise – a few data glitches did not detract from the fact that the application was upgraded and threw out only one defect during UAT.  Outstanding job from all the team.

May Gurney Training – we have received extremely complimentary words regarding the training performed this month at May Gurney by Jim and Peter.  Well done guys.

Update from the latest Maximo User Group held at the Coin St Neighbourhood Centre, London on the 29thSeptember.

There was a strong turnout of Vetasi clients in attendance at the latest MUG – which proved to be one of the most informative and interesting events to date.  Attendance on the day was in fact up on the projected numbers with in excess of 100 attendees.

The Maximo User Group - Thursday 29th September 2011

Following the success of last year's event, we are delighted to be able to announce the date for the next seminar on Work Planning and Scheduling. We have the pleasure of hosting a true specialist in Planning and Scheduling with Maximo, Jean Charbonneau, ing. who is flying over from Canada just for the event. If you are responsible for turnaround or shutdown planning, or interested in refining your scheduling techniques, this course is a must !

Topics covered are :

Tony Ransley retires from Vetasi

Tony Ransley has officially retired from Vetasi, however that won’t be the last you see of him : he’s determined to keep his hand in the consulting world so we envisage involving him in various assignments in UK & Africa where we can use his skills (and where there’s a golf course to hand).

Vetasi Help IBM in Their Bid for Prestigious Award.
IBM are making big waves in the IT industry with their "Smarter Planet" initiative. Vetasi contribute to the environmental benefits of smarter working with the services it provides to it's Maximo clients, in particular, Nexus, the management company of the public transport infrastructure in Tyne and Wear.

Vetasi Limited joins the Esri Partner Network (EPN)

Esri and Vetasi, having worked together for a number of years on several successful Maximo/Esri Spatial projects, have announced the confirmation of a more formal working relationship.

Managing Your Assets: real-time visibility with real-time benefits!

Critical asset management can have an enormous impact on a company's bottom line. That is why organisations around the world are seeking to improve operational efficiencies, safety and asset utilisation while reducing risks and costs. 

Water Utilities Management Solution

There was a great turnout at the “Maximise your Maximo” Oil & Gas User seminar on Wednesday 1^st June, hosted by Vetasi, Barrachd and Appetite.

Over 40 local Aberdeen Oil & Gas professionals attended the event which provided information and advice for organisations currently involved or potentially interested in the Asset Management solution, Maximo Oil & Gas.

As an Esri Partner, Vetasi were pleased to be invited to present at this years Esri UK Conference in London, contributing to the Private Sector Insight track.

Smarter Buildings Executive Briefing

May 17th & 18th May 2011
Montpellier, France

Vetasi are pleased to be hosting an interactive seminar for Asset Professionals within the UK Water Industry. We have the pleasure of hosting a variety of specialists in EAM for the event and have included a summary of the topics that will be covered:

Date: March 22nd 9am – 1pm. Availability for afternoon meetings TBC on request

Location: Water UK – Dartmouth Room, One Queen Anne’s Gate, Westminster, SW1H 9BT

Agenda - Please arrive on time as we have a lot to cover in the time available

Vetasi (IBM's largest European Maximo partner), Barrachd (Cognos Consultancy & Re-seller) and Appetite (Training and Data Management Company) are pleased to jointly host a Aberdeen Oil & Gas Maximo User Conference on the 1st June 2011 at Holiday Inn, Westhill, Aberdeen, Scotland.

Frank Baker, Director of Vetasi, recently attended the IBM Pulse event in Las Vegas and the following is his feedback and experiences: 

Following on from Pulse 2011 in Las Vegas last week, IBM has annnounced that it will be hosting, once again, the successful UKI Pulse Comes to You event in London. 

Frank Baker, Operations Director at Vetasi, will be co-presenting a session with South East Water (SEW) at this year's Pulse conference.

Two and a half days packed with sessions to make your mobile deployment perform better, connect with colleagues and experts and explore the possibilities that advances in technology and hardware offer.

Enabling maintenance of complex asset structures -presented by Paul Taylor, Vetasi

Maintaining their physical assets is crucial to customer delivery and the financial health of water companies.

Please make sure you register for the meeting and book this date in your diaries and register for the event at www.tivoli-ug.org.

Frank Baker, Operations Director at Vetasi, will be co-presenting a session with South East Water (SEW) at this year's Pulse conference.

Vetasi are pleased to announce we have been selected as a finalist for the 2010 "Best of the Best" Profesional Services Maturity Benchmark award.

The Board of Directors at Vetasi are pleased to announce the appointment of Tony Turner as Projects Director.  He brings with him over 35 years of industry experience and 18 years of Maximo implementation experience.

The Board of Directors of Vetasi are pleased to announce the appointment of Frank Baker as a Director of Vetasi, he will be assuming the role as Operations Director from this summer.

Vetasi is pleased to announce that IBM has published on its website the latest Maximo case study, Vetasi's successful Maximo implementation at Nexus, Passenger Transport Executive for Tyne and Wear.

SME Cloud

An effective Asset Management strategy is important to a wide variety of businesses. Whether you are a manufacturer, a facilities or fleet management service provider, there’s a real need to keep accurate records on all day-to-day activities.

The team within Vetasi are heavily engaged across the FM Industry through relationships, Association memberships and academic bodies all asking similar questions; ‘What does the future hold for the FM Industry’ and how will advances in technology impact our decisions.

Our observations and interactions have led us to draw the following key conclusions relative to this specific question:

The Board of Directors at Vetasi welcomes as Operations Director for Vetasi Africa.  Bouke will add  tremendous depth to our African operations with  25 years of engineering experience which includes 12 years of Maximo engagements on all levels.

Bouke will be responsible for services sales and project management of Vetasi projects in  Africa.