Maxima Strategy

"Having joined Maxima just over 4 months ago, I am now fully into the reality of running the core business operations. My initial impressions of a company with strong underlying capability and a sound financial platform offering excellent growth potential, remains.

But, common with many organisations, Maxima faces challenging trading conditions which have hindered its progress. Many projects and contracts have been delayed, reduced in size, postponed or even cancelled and decision-making processes are frequently being prolonged. Despite these issues, our customers remained loyal to our brand and we achieved many contract and project wins."

"The challenge and excitement comes now in the task of making the changes to unleash this potential, without distracting the business from achieving short term goals.
To do this, I have been unbending in my desire for simplification. I have restructured operations, refreshed market messaging and focused the collective attention on core strengths and assets.

Combining all managed service and infrastructure capability into one business practice called Support Enablement Services meant we now have the reach to service customer needs for less complexity, reduced TCO and agility.

The remaining components of the UK business have also been rationalised and now focus on three key partner aligned Business Solution Practices:

• Microsoft – Microsoft Dynamics AX and CRM combined with the Maxima developed industry solution, MAXcel, targeting the construction and energy market sectors. SharePoint targeting with the transition of Maxima owned legacy document management and distribution systems.
• SAP/Oracle – Business intelligence and performance capability into the financial services sector.
• Specialist Applications – focused on extending QAD ERP usage to large Manufacturing companies who form the bulk of the QAD UK user base. This practice also provides supporting extension services to Maxima-owned specialist solutions.

Maxima Ireland Ltd continues to develop its capability in Citrix and virtualisation. A mature business in its own right, it operates independently from the UK, and like our operations in the USA and India it will continue to receive back office support from the UK shared service functions.

The strategy has been rationalized too. Wanting to leverage our wealth of committed customers, we have remodeled our go-to-market approach:

Extension. Offering customers the opportunity to extend the life of existing technologies and provide managed migration to a new life technology.

Expansion. Providing selected industry-specific business solutions and up-selling support and enablement services.

Partnership. Providing sales support and enablement services to selected technology partners who look to us to secure, enhance and strengthen their own ability to deliver on a customer promise.

Maxima – More than just IT is a tagline that embodies both the simplicity and the depth that the new Maxima represents.

We have grown through our consistent technology service delivery for customers. I am steadfast in my belief that we really do know technology and have the customer base as testimony. But we are able to surround and support our customers with more than many players. We see ourselves as long-term supporters of our customers growth. And that means we have and will continue to adjust to market pressures and business pains affecting our customers.

Making our business easy to engage with; and our service offerings clear and relevant, is how we intend to set our course making Maxima a ‘safe harbour’ in these unprecedented and turbulent economic times."