SRO Solutions Technical Director Bill Wallace named IBM Champion

SRO Solutions SDU Product Owner and Technical Lead Bill Wallace was named IBM Champion 2021 in recognition of his efforts to support IBM Maximo clients undergoing system upgrades and cloud migrations.

The prestigious IBM Champions programme was established in 2008 to recognise and reward the contributions of innovative thought leaders in the global technical community. This year’s panel sifted through more than 2,000 nominations before selecting its 2021 Champions. Bill was one of just four UK technical specialists selected in his area of expertise – Watson Internet of Things (IoT).

Bill joined SRO Solutions straight from university in 2008 after securing a First-Class Honours degree in internet computing. Just a year later, following an approach from IBM, he developed the SRO Data Utility Solution (SDU). Today, organisations across the world using IBM’s Maximo Enterprise Asset Management Software rely on the SDU tool to reduce downtime during Maximo upgrades and data migration processes.

SDU has been used by some of the largest Maximo clients in the world with great success. Bill’s portfolio of clients spans many industry sectors including entertainment parks, utilities, oil and gas, and automotive. Companies including, Tennessee Valley Authority, Southern Company, Oncor, Duke Energy, DP World and lately, American Axle & Manufacturing, have all relied on SDU to support upgrades and migrations.

Bill said:

“The entry for this year’s awards was really a spur of the moment thing so it was a real surprise to get the news. I’m aware of how many people apply to join the programme each year so to have been selected is an incredible feeling and an achievement I’m very proud of. The reaction from colleagues in the industry has been incredible, with lots of people reaching out to offer congratulations.”

Bill, who supports both in-house IT teams and other Maximo business partners worldwide, also regularly participates in webinars and demos in a bid to share knowledge and expertise, and increase awareness of SDU’s potential.

He added:

“The essence of my role at SRO Solutions is to bring SDU to Maximo users to make the upgrade and data migration processes stress-free. Upgrades can be a cause of concern for many businesses who can’t afford any downtime, have a small support team or need to mitigate the disruption to their operations. With the SDU tool, they can tap into a new standard for Maximo upgrades or transitioning their systems into the cloud.

“Becoming an IBM Champion opens up an array of opportunities to engage with other 2021 Champions across the world, share knowledge and experience, and make my own contribution to the community.” 

Tony Lackey, Managing Director at SRO Solutions says:

"Congratulations on receiving this great accolade! We are extremely proud to have our first IBM Champion in the SRO ranks. Bill has done an outstanding job developing SDU and helping Maximo business to conduct the usually dreaded upgrade of their system with zero impact on their everyday operations. The SDU toolkit is being constantly developed to expand its capabilities beyond upgrades and cloud migrations."

Discover more about the IBM Champions programme: https://developer.ibm.com/champions/