ASEAN Maximo User Group

ASEAN Maximo User Group

A forum for Maximo Users in ASEAN to get together to discuss their particular Maximo implementation and usage experiences in a supportive and knowledge sharing environment.

 View Only

The Importance of MUGs

By Helen Fisher posted Tue May 02, 2017 12:45 AM

  

So often we have heard, “Why should we bother sending anyone to a Maximo User Group Meeting?” or “What can we possibly gain from going to that Meeting?” or “What is in it for me?” 

Let's take a quick look at the incredible benefits of becoming part of the larger Maximo community, giving to that community, and gaining knowledge from that community.

There is a large network of Maximo User Groups (MUGs - our affectionate term) out there for every flavour of Maximo you can imagine, and on regional and national scales. Our group, the ASEAN Maximo User Group, is for all Maximo Users in the Southeast Asian Nations. And don't be put off by the addition of a few IBMers, Business Partners, or sponsors. 

These members provide some very important things to the Maximo User Community, probably the most important of which is the funding for the group to hold a meeting. They are also there to provide answers to the difficult questions and show you what great things they can add to the Maximo mix. Seriously though, it is a chance for you (the Maximo User) to speak to Maximo Experts in a non-threatening, non-sales environment.

Top 5 Reasons to Go to a MUG Meeting

  1. The chance to meet Maximo Users from other companies. If you attend a meeting, don't just mingle with your colleagues and people you already know. During the networking and group sessions, participate! Talk to the presenters about their presentations, find out how they did a specific thing in Maximo, ask how they tackled their biggest problem. Just by talking with others, you will build up new relationships with them. You can email them after the conference and even pay a site visit. Most people are proud of their Maximo achievements and want to share the value with you.
  2. Learn something new that you can immediately bring back to your company. Most users go along to learn, either to solve an issue that they are experiencing or to bring back some clever ideas that they had not yet thought about. The knowledge shared by industry leaders and SMEs should more than justify any cost associated with attending. 
  3.  Become a Maximo hero! Get your company and your name out there! You can raise the profile of your organisation in the Maximo Community in several ways. Don't be afraid to present. None of the presenters are professional speakers, but they are sharing their knowledge, their story and giving to the community. Once you have done one presentation, the next one will be simple! Another way to raise your profile is to volunteer to be on the MUG steering committee. Organising conferences and user group meetings takes a bit of work and helping getting things organised can be very rewarding.
  4. Get out of your normal routine. Getting out of the office to attend a conference is very rewarding intellectually and spiritually. It is great to get away form the Maintenance Schedules, Outage Planning, Support Backlog for a single day. Shake things up a bit, go meet new people, listen to some great Maximo war stories, talk to some experts; and come back to the office revitalised. Companies should know that sending employees to conferences is a great way of educating and improving the morale of their staff.
  5. See a different part of the country and learn that no matter the industry or the product version, the Maximo journey of every customer echoes your own journey. For example, they all struggle with technical upgrades, and Customisation is a cuss word in most companies. But they are all venturing to take advantage of the huge investment IBM has made to continuously improve the product. IBM usually present their roadmap at MUGs to tell you what’s coming in the next year, they will demonstrate the latest and greatest analytics, and they will quite often provide free certification testing at some user group meetings. Through your participation in a MUG, you could even be invited to be a part of special focus groups with IBM, BETA testing new features and having input into the future releases of certain industry solutions.

So keep your eyes peeled for our first ASEAN Maximo User Group Meeting! We hope to arrange this for October time in Singapore and appreciate your support. 

1 comment
1 view

Permalink

Comments

Tue May 02, 2017 03:51 AM

Great insights!

Helen, I can say that running a few of the groups in Australia was both rewarding and challenging.

It's often hard to garner support from users. It seems that everyone is busy in their day job and find precious little time to attend or present. However, as the title suggests, it is a Maximo USER Group, and that means by very definition there have to be users. Otherwise, we'd call it a Maximo Sponsor Group! The point being that the users that do take the time to attend are rewarded, and those that take the time to present are seen as leaders. These people attract others to what they have done - whether it is good or bad, right or wrong. It doesn't really matter - having the courage to stand up and say, "hey, we gave it a crack but we would probably do it differently if we had our time again" is showing leadership and courage - and that attracts others to your cause. After all, it is about sharing lessons and helping others not make the same mistakes.

After 22 years in Maximo, I am still learning new things about the product every day. It is very broad now (compared to V3.0A where I started) and very deep. There are plenty of Add-On products, each requiring some mastery, so there is no way anyone can have the full breadth and depth of knowledge across the portfolio. Hence the need to share our experience and reach out to others that may have gone down the path before.

One thing I've noticed is that when it comes to Maximo is everyone is willing to share experiences when you sit down and talk to them. We are literally all in the same boat together, so why not row in the same direction?

I'm looking forward to the first ASEAN MUG Meeting and meeting all the users.  And yes, I will be presenting for those of you that attend, and believe you me, I am no expert presenter!