What do you appreciate about Gemba as an employer?

“Gemba utilizes your strengths. Mine lie more in technical support than functional aspects. After secondary school, I didn’t have the opportunity to continue studying, but IT has always been a common thread in everything I’ve done. In high school, I was already taking computers apart, writing programs, and helping the system administrator. At Gemba, they look at your competencies and potential, not so much at your qualifications. When I was hired, I had to get certified in IBM Maximo within a year. I was given every opportunity to prepare for this and attend training courses.”

How long have you been working for Gemba?

“I want to get certified in IBM Maximo Application Suite to help customers make the transition to IBM’s latest asset management platform. Support for their existing IBM Maximo solution will in principle stop in 2025, so it is wise to start doing something about this. Gemba has its own IBM MAS environment and I did a project with the mobile solution within IBM MAS at one of our clients. That’s how I’m already delving into it.”

Do you spend a lot of time on-site with clients?

“At the beginning of a project, yes, but after that, a lot can be done remotely. It also depends on what the client wants. I have lived with my wife and daughter in Deventer for three years and work for a client in Roermond and one in Luxembourg, among others. I do that from home. The clients are very satisfied with how it’s going; a lot is possible via Teams. I also regularly go to the Gemba office in Wormer; it’s nice to see my colleagues.”

You call Gemba a warm bath, what do you mean by that?

“Gemba is not that big; we are about forty people. All very different types, very interesting. It feels like family: you have a bond with everyone, and you help each other. We do fun things together, such as our trip to Seville last year or online cooking workshops during COVID. I am on the staff association myself; we are now organizing a trip to Winterberg again. It is also special that every year a few people get the chance to go to Maximo World. That is a major event around the latest IBM Maximo developments, always in a different location in America. I went to Texas in 2021, very cool!”