By Mark Eiseman, CEO GBS US Ltd.
After building a fantastic relationship with management, colleagues and clients within GBS as a Senior Esri Technical Consultant, I was required to move back to the United States in early 2020, due to immigration issues outside my control. At the time, it seemed I would be unlikely to find another organization like GBS that was as passionate and committed to seeing their clients succeed with their Esri and GIS goals. I had truly enjoyed working within GBS, so I decided it was worth leveraging my strong relationships with both the GBS and GBS Korea team, along with my MBA in Strategic Management. From that, GBS USA (Geographic Business Solutions US Ltd.) was established in February of 2020.
GBS USA is actively working with both the GBS NZ and GBS Korea offices, providing support and project consulting for our existing and potential clients. We have been actively working on ArcGIS Enterprise upgrades, strategic reviews and implementations, proofs of concepts, and consulting.
While continuing to support projects and clients in both offices during the first couple months of its inception, GBS USA went on to secure its first contract with IACX Rock Creek; providing GIS strategy, implementation, and support. The services that GBS USA provide IACX include ongoing GIS administration and management services for their Azure-based implementation of the latest ArcGIS Enterprise, GIS special projects execution, supplemental resourcing, and strategic and operational consulting for the GIS department.
Our first GIS project with IACX successfully migrated legacy pipeline and asset data (received during an acquisition) from PODS into the ArcGIS Utility Network Foundation. GBS Korea staff collaborated with GBS USA to provide IACX with an efficient migration, much to the benefit of IACX. From there, the project has evolved into a more advanced gas pipeline management system, with continued improvement and added value for the client and their business.
As the GBS USA office continues to grow, we will be focusing on continuing to provide high-level support, managed services, offsite administration, strategic reviews, and consulting for existing clients. GBS USA will continue to liaise with US companies and organisations looking to improve the value GIS provides to their businesses.
Though 2020 was very challenging both personally and financially for many, we are very excited and grateful to report that the progress of GBS USA exceeded our expectations. We are looking forward to 2021 and continuing to provide our clients with great GIS services and projects.