Originally Published December 22, 2017
In the middle of the Midwest state of Ohio, just a bit north of center, you will find the small town of Mansfield. This small, and thriving metropolis is home to a number of great finds. Among them is one of the founders of a consulting firm with a reputation of being a “best of breed” in the core competencies of their foundation. John Bassett (https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-bassett-a23328111/) grew up in the Midwest and still calls that region home. A graduate of The Ohio State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Management Information Systems.
John began his professional career working with a loan origination/title software company, helping to develop their software solution. He then had a stint as a Novell Certified professional setting up Wide Area Networks (WANs) and Local Area Networks (LANs). This included coding for fire alarm systems that had to maintain operational integrity in the event of loss of a user interface to trigger the alarms. From there he became a network administrator for a company that ran JD Edwards software. These roles among others has now led him to being a principle owner and CTO for Global Systems Integrations, Inc., also known as GSI (www.getgsi.com).
The history of GSI is very interesting and there will be additional opportunities to get more insight into its foundation from the other two principles in other articles. From John’s perspective he started as an independent contractor in 2004 under the company label of Enterprise Solutions of Ohio. Through that experience he connected with Shawn Scanlon in 2006 to form Enterprise Solution Partners (ESP). This is where he first experienced the need to hire team members, grow a company to sustain payroll, and begin to lead people. In 2008 ESP merged with Global Systems Integrations, Inc. and the three principles have been driving a successful partnership for 9 years now.
Currently, as CTO of GSI, John has responsibilities of co-leading this company that is closer to a mid-sized organization and has been recognized twice by Inc. 5000 Magazine as a “fastest growing company” in the America. However, even now, he sees one of the greatest successful enterprise solutions of his career has little to do with an actual software implementation and is more focused on giving to and sharing with others. He was a primary catalyst in the formation of what has now become a series of free WebCasts provided by GSI that include topics around JD Edwards (functional use and administration), NetSuite, Database Administration, RapidReconciler, Cloud services, and Salesforce administration. John is quick to credit other key people in making these WebCasts a success. What he does not say (but I will), is that his leadership draws others to him and helps others around him want to see his visions come to success. That is what has been a major contributor to this solution of successful, free WebCasts.
I asked John to give me the name of one person who has had a significant, professional influence for him. He mentioned Thomas Schwab (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-schwab-7606326/) who now serves as President of Solutions and Services for Encore Technology Group. The way Thomas communicates with others in a professional setting is something that John seeks to put into practice when interacting with those around him.
Footnote:
To follow the author on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddrthomsen/
For more information on the GSI where Todd is a Sr. Client Success Manager - https://www.getgsi.com/