Perspectives from Optimal's engineers and consultants on reliability strategy, maintenance data, asset accounting, software governance and the evolving practice of physical asset management.
Original research from Optimal's Director, published for open industry access. Four papers grounding GARPI™ in both practical necessity and scholarly theory.
Asset management maturity assessments measure conformance, not performance. GARPI™ measures both – revealing the gap that matters.
Read WhitepaperStandards and APM platforms are engines designed to shape behaviour. But engines only work under the right conditions. This paper introduces the performativity gap – and why measuring both sides of it changes everything.
Read WhitepaperAsset-intensive industries benchmark financial performance with precision but benchmark asset management capability with anecdote and assumption. This paper identifies the structural gap in global asset management benchmarking and introduces GARPI™ — Optimal's independent, ISO 55001-aligned index measuring eight dimensions of asset performance management with a five-tier maturity classification. It makes the case that a standardised global benchmark is not merely useful but overdue, with measurable consequences for investment decisions, regulatory oversight and professional development.
Download WhitepaperDrawing on Callonian performativity theory and a 27-month ethnographic study within a major oil and gas company, this paper identifies a structural gap between what standards like ISO 55001 measure — management system conformance — and what actually determines operational outcomes: the everyday performances of organisational participants. The paper introduces the concept of the "performativity gap" and positions GARPI™ as the first instrument specifically designed to bridge it, measuring both what assets deliver and how organisations are structured to sustain that delivery across eight weighted dimensions on a repeatable annual cycle.
Download WhitepaperAsset management maturity assessments measure conformance, not performance. GARPI™ measures both – revealing the gap that matters.
Optimal publishes practical thinking on asset management, reliability and software governance. If you'd like to speak with the team behind the articles, we'd welcome a conversation.
Whether you have a specific challenge you're working through or want to understand how Optimal can support your organisation across reliability, asset accounting, data management or software governance – our team is available across three offices.