Issue 02 - June 2012 - Sovereign

Sovereign Times
June 2012
Issue: 2
In this Issue:
Page 3:
Page 4:
Page 5:
Page 6:
A big thank you to all our suppliers
who were key in the data centre
expansion.
Web-dashboard functionality within
Sovereign’s EML solution gives the
automotive logistics industry new
visibility of its supply chain
Joanna Sedley-Burke discusses
how the increasing globalisation of
the Insurance industry will impact
infrastructure demands
Read how Sovereign has helped Red
Kite Community Housing successfully
implement a new IT infrastructure
AVOIDING DISASTER
UK businesses are increasingly aware of the need
for disaster recovery (DR) – but simply testing
DR plans more frequently misses the point. DR
is not a stand-alone activity. Companies need to
be constantly reviewing the strategy to ensure
it keeps track with business change, whilst also
exploring all options of DR models.
As Richard Barker, CEO at Sovereign Business
Integration Group explains, ubiquitous reliance
upon IT is changing attitudes; organisations should
be focusing on risk management, risk avoidance
and preventing disasters to potentially alleviate
the investment in DR.
Business as Usual
2011 was not the easiest year for businesses.
The social unrest and riots seen in many of our
major cities and the harsher than normal winter
weather were both examples of events that caused
significant operational disruption and commercial
losses for businesses.
If this was not enough to focus attention,
the increasing concern about potential terrorist
activities during the Olympics are prompting
organisations to further review their disaster
recovery and business continuity planning (DR/
BCP) strategies.
In fact, UK businesses are more confident in
their DR strategies, according to the Acronis Global
Disaster Recovery Index 2012, with confidence
growing 17%. Yet this confidence looks somewhat
misplaced: UK businesses lost an average £230,000
a year through system downtime according to
Acronis, with some companies losing access to
systems for up to ten days. And the UK slipped
to 11th place in its league table, down from 10th
place in 2011 – with Germany, the Netherlands,
Japan and Hong Kong businesses topping the table.
Despite the growing awareness of risk, the reality
is that UK disaster recovery budgets remained flat
year on year in 2011, accounting for just 11% of
IT spend. And there are huge questions to be asked
about the value organisations are attaining from
that spend.
Sovereign Business Integration Group plc
10747-Sovereign_Newspaper_June_NL.indd 1
Valuing DR
Most organisations have some kind of DR strategy
in place – with a cold, warm or hot stand by. Many
have DR regulatory requirements to meet. But
does the current DR infrastructure actually reflect
the business risks? Will it enable the organisation
to recover fast enough in the event of a disaster?
According to Acronis, 65% of companies reported
they were testing disaster recovery plans more
frequently than in the year before. But how
many are proactively questioning the value being
delivered?
DR models are evolving fast. Driven in part by
the option to exploit cloud-based data storage
and systems, organisations are increasingly asking
whether a stand-by site that is unused from one
year to the next is really a justifiable investment.
In contrast, real-time replication, virtual server
environments and Storage Area Networks make
it far easier to run two locations in tandem. Both
operate continuously to deliver business services,
but one can automatically fail-over to the other in
the event of a disaster.
This approach completely removes any concern
that the DR system is no longer recoverable due
to too many changes since the last test; that
the backup could be corrupted or take too long
to load; or that while invoking the DR plan may
work fine, actually recovering back to business as
usual will cause an array of problems. The result
is not only a real-time response to a potentially
business-threatening event but also the ability to
manage maintenance without affecting system
performance or requiring downtime.
Risk Assessment
Proactive Approach
It is, therefore, essential for organisations to
undertake a robust risk assessment. How long can
the business operate without systems running?
What cost would the business incur – from lost
sales to damaged reputation – in the event of a
disaster? How long will it take to invoke the DR site
and, critically, how long then to recover to business
as usual?
There is also more to consider within the
DR strategy than which model best suits the
organisation. The location of a secondary site
is critical; organisations need to consider the
availability of communications, and ascertain
the performance, security and experience of the
provider.
And what about internal DR responsibility?
Does the individual have the seniority required to
gain the ear of the board and demonstrate the risk
associated with system failure? And what happens
when the person in charge of DR leaves? Is there a
process in place to pass information over the next
incumbent?
Is DR a priority or is it continually postponed in
the face of imminent client projects with pressing
deadlines? And what is the situation if a disaster
occurs? The organisation has no financial come
back against an employee.
One of the benefits of getting external advice
is that many of these issues are overcome. An
independent organisation’s risk analysis typically
gains senior level commitment; whilst with a team
working continually on the DR strategy there is no
risk of lost information or the strategy failing to
evolve in line with business change.
Business reliance on IT has grown fundamentally in
recent years. Today, few businesses can operate at
all without email, Blackberry or EDMS systems. And
with growing numbers of companies opting for
VoIP, the phone system will also be compromised
in the event of a disaster, leaving organisations
completely vulnerable.
Many organisations, indeed, are making
contingency plans to use social networks such
as Twitter and Facebook to communicate with
employees in the event of a major outage; yet, at
the same time, the security team is increasingly
pushing to constrain the use of such technologies
to counter the growing trend towards business
crippling viruses believed to derive from Facebook
These issues highlight two key points. Firstly,
DR/BCP cannot be considered in isolation:
strategies must be continually evolved to ensure
they reflect both business needs and evolving
threats. Secondly, with the near ubiquitous reliance
upon IT the emphasis should be focused as
much on disaster prevention as disaster recovery.
T: +44 (0)20 8216 3333 | E: [email protected] | www.sovereign-plc.co.uk
15/06/2012 17:14
Professional Services with Peter Comyn-Noyes
Many organisations currently
face an increasing number of IT
obstacles. The IT infrastructure is
often outdated and IT upgrades
(refresh) and support continues to
be an unwelcome burden.
Here at Sovereign, we have considerable
experience and are able to offer indepth knowledge of IT Services to equip
organisations with the latest, most robust
and secure IT tailored to their individual
needs.
For organisations struggling to address
this critical issue, there is still concern
about the initial costs associated with an
IT refresh. However, with hosted services
offered on a flat rate monthly fee, over
a number of years, this initial dilemma
is eradicated and organisations can rest
assured that their IT processes and data
are in safe hands in a secure and accredited
data centre environment. This also includes
easy to manage budgets, provided by those
who appreciate their organisation’s ethos
Sovereign Business Integration Group
enables IT efficiency and service
improvements at John Whiteman & Co.
Property management company, John Whiteman & Co, has employed the IT consultancy and managed
IT services from Sovereign Business Integration Group in order to increase the efficacy of its IT
infrastructure, improve business efficiency and ultimately provide a better service to its customers.
Having seen significant growth in recent
years, John Whiteman realised its current IT
infrastructure and hardware was no longer able to
cope with the demand on the system and sought
the advice of Sovereign on potential upgrades.
Finella Wilkie, Head of Lettings and
Management, John Whiteman & Co, comments,
“Sovereign has provided us with an excellent
service. They understand the nuances of both
our industry and our individual business very
well. Following an initial health check, Sovereign
quickly identified that we had simply outgrown
our previous system. They recommended
an upgrade to our IT infrastructure to gain a
quicker, more efficient service that would more
effectively cope with the growing demand from
the business.”
The solution that Sovereign recommended
and subsequently carried out included a
corporate upgrade to Windows Office 2010 for
easier application integration and improved
productivity; new, resilient communications lines;
and the installation of the latest IBM Systems
X3400 Server, which as the main operational
server is key to the long-term support of the
business.
In addition, new monitors and screens were
installed for the ease of use of the John Whiteman
lettings team.
Finella Wilkie continues, “Although the upgrade
was a significant investment for us, as part of
the health check and due diligence process,
Sovereign was able to point out clearly where
the efficiencies would benefit our businesses;
from time savings through greater operational
efficiency, and greater resilience within the IT
infrastructure to improved customer service
because staff are not having to spend time on
internal processes.”
CASE STUDY
Crawford Solicitors
A law firm specialising in commercial and employment law outsourced
its full IT department to Sovereign Business Integration Group in order to
upgrade the IT operations in line with rapid company growth.
Prior to the contract with Sovereign, Crawford
Solicitors had an IT structure that wasn’t implemented
to full effect, leaving the organisation vulnerable to
potential weaknesses in security and performance.
Sovereign was brought in to upgrade Crawford
Solicitors’ existing IT system, enhancing security,
maintenance, assist on future strategy, speed and
most importantly offering 24 hour support.
Caroline Crawford, Founder, Crawford Solicitors
comments, “We are a small organisation and our
IT infrastructure is the lifeblood of our business.
If our IT infrastructure fails, we can’t service our
clients and, therefore, we simply cannot afford for
our systems not to be 100% secure and operational.
With the rapid growth that our organisation has
experienced since its conception in April 2005, the
need for a fast but secure and supported IT system
was great.”
As a small business, Crawford could not justify
the expense of employing a full-time IT consultant
to handle its in-house IT requirements, hence
outsourcing being the most attractive option.
Caroline continues, “It is difficult to put a figure
on the value of utilising outsourced IT as the
issues that are prevented do not bear thinking
about in terms of company down-time, loss to
productivity and such like, should Sovereign
not have been on hand when they arose. What
is clear to us though is that employing a fulltime IT consultant is just not a justifiable cost
to the business. There is no way a full-time IT
employee would be fully utilised by us, which
is another reason to the combination of factors
that led us to outsource. It is comforting to
have the reassurance of ad hoc support available
24/7, without having the overhead of employing
someone to do it, who may not be as readily
available as our Sovereign consultants.”
An additional benefit that Crawford is realising
through its now long-term contract with
Sovereign is the wide-ranging expertise and
breadth of knowledge of the consultants. Caroline
continues, “If we had an in-house IT consultant,
we’d only be able to benefit from their limited
knowledge base when it comes to their areas
of speciality and their work on our specific IT
infrastructure. By outsourcing our IT, we get a
plethora of experience from the entire cross
section of the Sovereign team who have worked
across a number of other businesses and have
varying specialities. We find that being able to
summon up that knowledge bank when we need
it and for our continued and future IT strategy is
invaluable to our business.”
Crawford also benefits from Sovereign’s
experience of working in the professional services
sector through its recommendations for ongoing
change and reviews of the current infrastructure,
based on what is working or has previously
worked in other firms.
Caroline explains, “We feel that our relationship
with Sovereign is more than just support and firefighting, they also offer consultancy based around
what they have come to know of our business and
recommend to us what we should be looking at
in order to make the way we work a little easier.
Having a relationship like this with an
outsourced agency is key to keeping us ahead
of the game when it comes to improving our
business processes and continuing to deliver a
high quality of service to our clients.”
Sovereign’s experienced
consultants can provide
a wealth of additional
experience to your
department.
2
10747-Sovereign_Newspaper_June_NL.indd 2
In addition to IT experience our consultants
have knowledge of your business sectors many having worked in those sectors before
joining Sovereign. As well as ensuring the job
gets done; they can provide guidance, new
intelligence and training for your department so
you also gain new skills.
Sovereign Business Integration Group announces
its partnership with leading print and document
management solutions supplier Danwood as part
of its Affinity+ partnership programme; an initiative
designed to offer the organisations’ mutual client’s
innovative ways to modernise their businesses,
optimise resources and reduce unnecessary costs.
Danwood is the largest independent provider of
office printing equipment, serviced consumables and
associated document management services in Europe.
Danwood provides business support services that include
consultancy, guidance and advice on print effectiveness
and cost reduction. They supply hardware and software
systems from a wide range of manufacturers for: print;
processing, storage and retrieval of documents; servicing
and maintenance of equipment and systems, and
consumables.
As part of its product independence, Danwood
established its Affinity+ partnership in 2010: an initiative
to provide its clients with solutions that complemented
Danwood’s own managed print offering.
Rob Fowler, Project Director at Danwood, explains, “In
the current economic climate, with organisations needing
to optimise resources and reduce unnecessary costs
across all business functions, the document environment
has often been referred to as ‘the last bastion of unaudited cost in the enterprise’. However, there is a great
opportunity for companies of all sizes to realise significant
benefits by investing in the unique skills, resources and
proven methodology of an external provider, which can
remove risk and offer sustainable results.”
He continues, “Sovereign’s expertise and independence
as an IT services and business solutions provider reflects
our independence and domain expertise. We frequently
come across clients who as a result of our managed print
consultancy, require or would benefit from additional
outsourced or managed IT services. We wanted to be able
to offer our clients these solutions from an organisation
that we trust, respect and enjoy working in close
partnership with.”
Joanna Sedley-Burke, Business Development Director,
Sovereign Business Integration Group, adds, “We
are excited to be taking part in Danwood’s Affinity+
Partnership programme; being able to offer our clients
additional cost savings, efficiency gains and sustainable
business solutions are core values to Sovereign. Partnering
with Danwood will play a significant part in the continued
growth of Sovereign and the service that we offer to our
clients.”
Rob Fowler concludes, “We go through a rigorous
process to choose our partners and we always try to
choose companies whose business strategies match
ours. Sovereign’s focus is service and providing the best
possible experience to their clients and this is something
that fits very well within Danwood’s business strategy.”
26
With an independent pair of eyes, we ensure
that our clients’ plans are sharpened, the
business IT objectives are clarified and aligned
with your business processes. We work in
partnership with our clients, enabling you to
focus on your core business.
In summary, Sovereign takes away any ongoing IT problems, e.g. technical, upgrades,
staffing, integration, communications etc.
This allows organisations to focus on their
front office activity, which is becoming
increasingly essential to their successful
operation and development.
Danwood partners
with Sovereign to
offer clients
expanded managed
service solution suite
JUNE
About Professional Services
and priorities, especially operational and
sensitive risk issues.
See us at...
ICAEW Practice
Conference 2012:
London
26th June 2012
www.icaew.com
Sovereign Business Integration Group plc
15/06/2012 17:18
Data Centre with Kevin Doran
With the new data centre built and running,
following a highly successful launch on 24th May, we
can offer a concurrently maintainable solution, a full
set of services and a data centre that will be fit for
purpose for many years.
Our data centre is extremely
accessible
and
hospitable
which provides clients with
the reassurance that we have
everything to hand. We have
expertise on site, our operations
on site and clients are able to visit
us and see where we are storing
their data. These are all essential
qualities of a modern data centre
and by using new technology
and the adaptations in terms
of design, our data centre will
become a future proofing
investment for clients.
We received fantastic feedback
from those who attended the
launch. Mark Murphy, Group
Data Centre expansion
We would like to say a big thank you
to all our suppliers who were key in the
data centre expansion. We couldn’t have
done it without them and they have been
a pleasure to work with. There are large
teams within each company who have
supported us and we would like to thank:
• All Trade Contractors
• Bathgate Flooring
• Case Security
• Challow Design
• Comfort Controls
• GEA Denco
• Gemini Fire Management
• GRE Construction
• Metric Interior Designs
• Prism Power
• Rapid Office Systems
• Rittal
• The Window Factory
• Whittaker Prestige Architects
Technical Director of Excell Group
commented, “Sovereign’s data
centre was conceived, designed
and built from a technician’s
point of view: they thought
about what clients needed and
worked backwards. It is a great
achievement.”
R-365 enhances
mid-market
outsourced
service offering
with Sovereign
Data Connect
R-365, the cloud / hosting division of
Recarta IT, has signed an agreement
with Sovereign Data Connect
(SDC), part of Sovereign Business
Integration Group, that will see the
specialist provider of outsourced
IBM business solutions to the midmarket use SDC’s secure data centre
as the primary data centre for its
Colocation services.
Through the partnership with SDC, R-365 will be
able to offer its clients a cost-effective and high
quality outsourced solution that is designed to
remove many of its clients’ current barriers to
Cloud services, including cost, skills shortages and
lack of a high quality, secure data centre.
Jeremy Willson, Director, R-365, explains,
“R-365 is a specialist in providing mid-market
companies with Cloud solutions for their IBM
infrastructure. In recent years, we have identified
that many organisations are struggling to properly
understand and use Cloud services, an issue that
has arisen mainly due to the fact that many have
their own data centres, which can frequently be
sub-optimally scoped and managed.”
He continues, “In addition, our customers have
typically not invested a lot in disaster recovery
and are now realising its significance. Through this
partnership with Sovereign Data Connect, we are
able to solve both issues at the same time.”
Through the partnership, R-365 aims to further
educate its clients in the benefits achievable
through investing in Cloud services and present
them with a compelling reason to do so.
“Approximately 60% of our average client’s IT
budget currently goes on hardware. Cloud services,
when properly executed and managed, take away
a lot of the problems at less cost than they could
ever imagine,” Willson states.
About Sovereign Data Connect
With our data centre services, Sovereign
provides the computer systems that we
run and maintain on your behalf.
We deliver data centre
services in our Metro Point
Data Centre, a secure facility
close to London, which can
be a primary facility or a
disaster recovery site in the
T: +44 (0)20 8216 3333 | E: [email protected] | www.sovereign-plc.co.uk
10747-Sovereign_Newspaper_June_NL.indd 3
event of critical problems
experienced at your business
premises. The primary hosted
service benefit is maintaining
the system, keeping it secure
and backed up is Sovereign’s
responsibility – your business
continues to utilise the
system, without the need for
physical space for your own
staff to support it.
3
15/06/2012 17:14
Supply Chain & Logistics with Stuart Jones
It is evident from recent industry events and
conferences at which Sovereign’s Supply Chain &
Logistics division has been present, that visibility in
the supply chain is a fundamental issue that is crying
out for a solution. For years, OEMs have seen vehicles
manufactured in their plants only to lose visibility of
them as soon as they are released.
Q&A
Q1. What do you consider to be the main issue for
the finished vehicle supply chain market today?
Historically, the finished vehicle supply chain in the
automotive industry has suffered a lack of real-time
information passing between OEMs and logistics
service providers (LSPs).What is needed is an automatic
system from which to feed information to and from
the OEMs and LSPs; whether that is one system or full
integration of multiple systems. This would negate the
need for information to be passed manually from one
supplier to another, giving real-time information that
is unaffected by human intervention that can play a
part in error or unnecessary delays.
Additionally, every part of the supply chain is
looking to reduce costs and deliver vehicles at the
optimum price. We have heard of statements such as
optimising and maximising and this is all very well and
good; however, until OEMs and LSPs have complete
visibility of the supply chain in real-time, they will
struggle to optimise and maximise. ROI is key – until
the industry has this level of visibility, their hands are
effectively tied. A clear, open and timely picture of
where vehicles sit at any one time enables all parties
to provide clearer timescales to the dealer who can, in
turn, pass this service on to the consumer.
with Stuart Jones
Business Development Manager
Logistics and Supply Chain
Sovereign Business Integration Group
so the LSP can invoice their clients immediately.
Other key functions that a solution should include are
claims handling, automated load build and mileage
optimisation tools.
Overall, one central database with controlled
access according to permission levels (for people and
organisations) can give a 360 degree, real-time picture
of where any vehicle sits from minute to minute.
Dashboards should also be used to provide a quick
complete overview of the situation giving the bigger
picture.
Choosing the right solution for the business is
paramount. Investment is not cheap, particularly if
spent in the wrong area. Organisations must be clear
about the gaps in their business and review supplier
solutions that will bridge those gaps.
The industry recognises that visibility across the
supply chain needs to improve and with the economy
starting to move in a more positive direction, now is
the time to invest in the right IT systems to move
forward – systems that ‘make life easier’. Flexibility is
key. Consider all aspects of this investment to ensure
the systems that are right for the business, can scale
with the business and will bring efficiencies to the
business, all at the right price point.
Q2. How do you envisage the industry saving costs
and increasing efficiencies?
Q4. What are your views on the most recent
technology offerings?
What’s needed is accurate visibility in a real-time
format, enabling efficiency in the supply chain. During
the last year we have seen many natural disasters to
which, had there been greater visibility and the supply
chain information been supplied in real-time, we as an
industry could have responded accordingly.
Whatever the latest technology offerings are, it’s
actually all about the right IT solution for the needs of
the business and about suppliers being clear to clients
about the benefits and considerations about any
solution - cloud, virtualisation, Software as a Service
(SaaS) etc.
The industry as a whole has a need to reduce costs.
However, it is practically impossible to strive for this
without access to a fuller, shared picture of the supply
chain. This would also provide a greater understanding
of the impact any change has further down the line.
This is not necessarily saying that all information
must be shared but more that by communicating
an appropriate level of information for the purpose
required and then working together on improving it,
everyone can benefit.
The key thing with any solution is security and up
time. All business is reliant on IT, so what happen if it
goes down – whether using an in-house department
or outsourced to a supplier?
Q3. What developments should the industry be
looking out for and what should be the sector’s
main investment priorities over the course of next
year?
There are solutions whereby mobile devices can
be used throughout the delivery process, such as
monitoring arriving vehicles into compounds or
terminals, inspections and claim handling and of
course for electronic proof of delivery.
With this development, vehicles go to the dealership
and as soon as the documentation has been signed for,
the information is then captured in the central system
JUNE
27
See us at...
Automotive Supply
Chain Congress:
Oxfordshire
27th June 2012
www.automotivesupplychain.org/congress
4
10747-Sovereign_Newspaper_June_NL.indd 4
There are myriad technology choices now available
and it is key to assess the implications of virtualisation;
understand the diverse cloud computing models
and the feasibility of on-demand computing. The
opportunity to reduce capital expenditure by replacing
on premise solutions with systems located off site and
accessed via the cloud is compelling; as is the ability
to ramp up capacity requirements on demand – at the
touch of a button – to respond to peaks in business.
For companies with a far higher demand on their
businesses at key points of the year, this approach
removes the need for vast investment in infrastructure
that is essentially redundant for much of the time, but
has to be in place to manage the spikes in demand.
The off premise approach, in its many guises, from
software as a service to private cloud and public cloud,
also provides the chance to achieve a consistent,
monthly IT spend whilst also gaining access to up to
the minute technology.
The onward development of
Sovereign’s Event Management
Logistics (EML) means that it is
now available via a web-based
application which continues
to give visual representation
of the position of the car
at any stage of its logistics
journey, in real-time, to deliver
visibility throughout the supply
chain, subsequently enabling
optimum decision-making.
This is the change that the
industry is ready for. Through
the web-portal of EML, the
automotive
industry
can
increase collaboration and
visibility, provide accountability,
make informed business
decisions, optimise and plan
strategically to enable a more
efficient and effective supply
chain.
Sovereign Business
Integration Group launches
EML Visual Dashboard
Web-dashboard functionality within Sovereign’s Event Management
Logistics (EML) solution gives the automotive logistics industry the
visibility it’s been craving
Sovereign Business Integration Group has
officially launched EML Visual Dashboard; a
web-based dashboard view to optimise vehicle
management within the supply chain and
logistics industry. A development of Sovereign’s
Event Management Logistics (EML) solution,
EML Visual Dashboard presents, in real-time, full
visibility of each vehicle’s location and movement
within the supply chain at any one time. This ‘live’
status of vehicle movement allows organisations
to forecast what is expected through the supply
chain and more effectively manage vehicle
movement from plant to dealership.
Incorporating information from the entire
supply chain, EML Visual Dashboard’s visual
analysis provides an overall picture of what
is expected where and when, ensuring that
transportation vehicles are prepared accordingly,
compounds are running at the optimum capacity
and dealerships can specify exact consumer
expectation dates for delivery of their new
vehicle. EML Visual Dashboard’s web front end is
accessible via a user ID for all those involved in
the supply chain and is permission-level based to
determine user rights to stop, change or amend
any stage of the process via the dashboard.
With visuals illustrating map locations, capacity
in the compound, status of each stage and alerts
to potential issues or conflicts, users can plan
accordingly based on the information being
conveyed into one central overview.
Stuart Jones, Business Development Manager
of Sovereign’s Supply Chain and Logistics Division,
comments, “As it stands, it is virtually impossible
for each member of the supply chain to accurately
predict where their vehicles are and when they
will be through the next stage of the process. The
measure at the moment is not always accurate
and usually based on predicted number of days,
leaving the OEM with no way of optimising any
stage of the process.” He continues, “With this is
mind, we have developed EML Visual Dashboard
to provide real-time, web-based visibility of each
vehicle as it is released, tracked at each stage of
its journey.”
Sovereign’s EML Visual Dashboard tracks the
movements from manufacturer to dealership
and alerts each party to where the vehicle is at
each stage. Knowing where each vehicle is at each
stage means that each participant in the process
can better plan to take delivery as appropriate
and not only optimise the process in terms of
time, but also save costs.
Stuart Jones explains, “As alerts come through
the system to notify the user as to where the
vehicle is, the appropriate preparations can be
put in place to ensure a smooth transition onto
the next stage. For instance, instead of directing
vehicles to the compound, they can be directed
straight to the quayside and go on from there.”
Stuart Jones concludes, “The industry is craving
a tool like EML Visual Dashboard to provide the
visibility to optimise each stage of the supply
chain. The solution will reduce costs, reduce time,
streamline the process and ultimately deliver
better service to the end consumer. It is quite a
culture change but one that will deliver a reward.”
About Supply Chain & Logistics
The foundations of the Sovereign
finished vehicle supply chain
experience lie with a number
of bespoke systems developed
by manufacturers, carriers and
software houses.
This special blend of over 25 years’ sector
expertise and experience has played a key
role in the development of ‘EML - Event
Management Logistics’. A move to ‘Global
Manufacturing’ has dramatically extended the
supply chain for finished vehicles. Companies
face ever pressing challenges that combine
to affect efficiency and customer satisfaction,
and result in increasing
costs.
EML was developed to address and meet
the challenges of ‘Global Manufacturing’
for the finished vehicle supply chain, which
improves service, efficiency, revenue and
profitability.
Sovereign Business Integration Group plc
15/06/2012 17:14
Insurance with Mark Breen
The past couple of years have been difficult for the
Insurance sector. A combination of losses due to
natural catastrophes, poor investments and a soft
market for many classes of business has resulted in a
significant decline in profitability.
This joined to the increased
competition of other global
centres has led many executives
to rightly strengthen their focus
on underwriting and claims
management competencies as
the best way to differentiate and
demonstrate value.
Consequently, many Insurers
are exploring their options in
terms of outsourcing back-office
functions such as IT. Doing so
allows them to focus on what
they do best whilst achieving
cost savings through leveraging
the expertise of dedicated
Managed IT Services businesses.
This is where Sovereign comes
in. As a provider of bespoke and
scalable Managed IT Services to
the Insurance Sector, our clients
range from the largest carrier in
London to boutique Syndicates
and Brokers.
Building the infrastructure
for a global insurance business
The increasing globalisation of the London Insurance Market and the expansion
into the Far East and Asia is both compelling and exciting. However, it has
significant implications for the underlying infrastructure, from network availability
to demands for bandwidth. Operations need to be highly available 24x7; systems
need to be highly responsive; and they increasingly need to be centrally managed
across a number of different network providers.
This shift in requirements is coming at a time when Solvency II compliance is also placing unprecedented
demands on network and storage capacity. Organisations need not only to store vast amounts of additional
data but also run and retain the results of intensive modelling algorithms. Furthermore, to derive maximum
value from this investment beyond regulatory compliance, this new insight should also be shared across
the business and the increasing number of global offices.
As Joanna Sedley-Burke, Business Development Director, Sovereign Business Integration Group,
explains, organisations need to realise that such significant business changes cannot be considered in
isolation. Without careful assessment of current and future bandwidth requirements, and comprehensive
risk assessment of the options, insurance organisations will struggle to achieve the high availability,
responsiveness and resilience demanded in today’s global market.
Market Change
The London Insurance Market is undergoing a
period of significant change – from meeting
the demands of Solvency II compliance to the
increased globalisation that is clearly central
to on-going success. There is also a continuing
pressure to streamline processes, with Richard
Ward, CEO of Lloyd’s of London, calling for the
market to continue its modernisation and finally
drive out the reliance on paper based processes.
The result is that while insurance companies
may not be undertaking significant deployments
of major corporate underwriting and claims
management systems, most are making
fundamental changes to day to day operations
that have a significant impact on the underlying
infrastructure.
From the adoption of optimised virtualisation
to drive down cost and improve performance,
to the increasing use of workflow to streamline
processes and reduce paper and, critically, the
implications of storing the additional volumes of
data required by Solvency II, insurance companies
need to understand the escalation in demand for
infrastructure capacity.
Prioritising Activity
These factors should be used as the trigger for
a major capacity planning exercise. Compliance
requires not only the capture and storage of
vast amounts of data but the use of complex
and resource demanding modelling algorithms
to demonstrate capital adequacy. Yet while
many companies have already put in place
the basic modelling solutions and repositories
for Solvency II data storage, very few have
understood the long term implications on
infrastructure capacity and performance.
Companies coping with ever increasing
regulatory pressure and the need to streamline
processes will place significant additional
load on their server & network capacity. For
those that actually view regulatory demand
as an opportunity to leverage the additional
insight delivered by ensuing requirements to
derive business value, there are huge questions
surrounding the way the information will be
provided to offices across the globe. Will the data
be held and analysed centrally and then sent to
overseas offices? Will some offices opt to run
their own modelling solutions?
In this highly complex, increasingly global
infrastructure, the issue is not simply ramping
up bandwidth by installing a new 100Mb circuit.
Instead, insurance companies need to consider
seriously the prioritisation of traffic and how that
will affect capacity. There is an increasing desire
to provide local offices in Singapore, Hong Kong
and China with super-fast communications. This
would demand running Citrix traffic and, most
probably, giving priority over other traffic. What
is the implication for the rest of the business?
With many companies increasingly opting for
converged voice and data communications;
should that traffic always be prioritised?
Business Focus
These issues are critical and getting them wrong
could have a massively detrimental impact on
the day to day experience of users. Virtually
every initiative currently being undertaken by
the London Insurance Market will have an impact
on capacity. The challenge is to understand
business needs and appropriately allocate the
available bandwidth between, for example,
voice, Solvency II modelling applications or
essential underwriting and claims transactions.
Before embarking upon any radical business
change, organisations need to monitor the
current demands on the network, assessing not
only how much of the infrastructure is in use
but also traffic types - such as voice. Without
undertaking this benchmarking exercise, it will be
impossible to achieve any relevant or accurate
forecasting for forthcoming requirements or
prioritise traffic effectively.
There is, in addition, a critical timing issue. With
the London Olympics looming, the timeframe
T: +44 (0)20 8216 3333 | E: [email protected] | www.sovereign-plc.co.uk
10747-Sovereign_Newspaper_June_NL.indd 5
for infrastructure change is being significantly
reduced not only for organisations in the London
market but also city based data centres. While
most companies are aware that no infrastructure
work for telecommunications can be undertaken
anywhere along the Olympic route between May
and October, how many recognise that there will
be an estimated six month backlog to catch up
once the freeze on activity has been lifted?
To be frank, if an organisation has not placed an
order for new lines or capacity before the Olympic
lock down there is little chance of getting any new
infrastructure installed before March 2013. It is
therefore essential to undertake network capacity
assessment immediately. It is those organisations
that embark upon the process of monitoring
current usage of the network, assessing business
patterns to ascertain the impact on the networks,
that will have a reasonable chance of getting the
right infrastructure in place in time.
Conclusion
Of course, many within the London Insurance
Market have recognised the technology
implications associated with this degree of
change. Companies are increasingly exploring
virtualisation and the Cloud to assess the
options for delivering new classes of applications,
enabling cost effective global operations and
driving down the cost of data storage.
Few, however, have recognised the implications
of these changes on the network infrastructure;
on the bandwidth required, the need to prioritise
traffic, even the challenges associated with
managing multiple telcos across the world to
deliver a coherent global infrastructure.
Without careful network monitoring, analysis
and planning there is a very real risk that the
investment being made in virtualisation and
workflow will potentially go to waste because
there will simply not be enough capacity
to provide the reliability, availability and
performance required today. In a market facing
huge upheaval, aggressive new entrants and a
growing threat of consolidation, there can be
no justification for failure to put the building
blocks in place to safeguard the corporate
vision. Companies that are prepared to look
at infrastructure investments and plan for the
future today, are those that will be best placed to
exploit the undoubted opportunities for market
expansion.
About Insurance
Consolidation, competition and the
growing compliance and corporate
governance requirements are
regularly faced by the regulatory
insurance market.
This can lead to overhauling the way
technology is designed, implemented
and delivered; with a growing emphasis
on cost reduction and more effective
service provision. Having over 14 years’
experience supplying IT services to the
London Insurance Market, Sovereign is
committed to raising the standard of IT
services in the market.
With experienced staff from a background
of insurance operations including
underwriting, reinsurance and claims
management for insurance businesses, we
understand your business. We can drive
IT service improvement plans that will
improve business experience of
IT and provide innovative
approaches to process
improvement in the
areas of underwriting,
claims and broker management
and distribution, with
minimum risk.
5
15/06/2012 17:15
Housing with James Threapleton
On 1st April, the Homes & Communities Agency
assumed responsibility for regulating housing
providers in England. With over four million social
homes in the sector and over eight million tenants,
this new regulation requires providers to demonstrate
robust financial viability.
Combine this latest regulatory
change with on-going funding
cuts and austerity measures
and the need for focused IT
investments that deliver true
value has never been greater.
The housing sector has proven
resilient in the face of the global
financial crisis to date. However,
key to their on-going success in
the face of this new regulation
will be viability and sustainability;
this is where Sovereign can
help in driving investment in
smarter IT solutions that have
the potential to drive smarter
business practice.
Delivering Shared Services in Practice
While many organisations have explored the concept of Shared Services over the past
decade, the new demand for budget cuts – commonly 5% to 10% – has re-focused
attention. At the recent Housing Technology Conference, Sovereign Business Integration
Group hosted a seminar discussing the shared services experiences of a number of
organisations. Sovereign’s Director of Housing, James Threapleton, outlines the lessons learnt.
Shared Services Imperative
Government tax breaks on shared services, combined
with unprecedented demands for financial savings,
are prompting growing and renewed interest
amongst organisations. However, as Philip Day,
Resources Director, Thrive Homes, said, “We need
to look at ways of reducing the cost and improving
efficiency; but we have also got to look at improving
the customer experience.”
Tyron Stalberg, Associate Director, PML Group,
agreed, based on his experience with the South
Thames Gateway Control Partnership, among others.
He said there are tremendous opportunities for
bringing resources together, delivering efficiencies,
reducing costs and improving services.
So what is the way forward?
Defining Opportunities
Harneck Chilemba is Director of Finance, Tower
Hamlets Community Housing, which is currently in
consultation with Eastend Homes regarding shared
services opportunities facilitated by Sovereign as
their common IT partner. He stressed the importance
of looking beyond the obvious services to exploit the
full potential of the shared model.
One example conveyed by both Chilemba and
Peter Gibbs, Finance Director and Company
Secretary, Eastend Homes is the introduction of
Voice over IP (VoIP) telephony. The two organisations
are looking to leverage the benefits of a shared IT
provider to gain access to far more sophisticated
technology as a shared service than either
organisation could possibly have justified alone.
The opportunity for server virtualisation has also
presented the two organisations with the chance to
radically reduce costs by sharing a standby Disaster
Recovery facility.
Tony Van Veghel, Director, STG Building
Control Partnership, confirmed, “Coming together
as a Partnership created a critical mass, enabling the
Partnership to deliver a better service, with a greater
range of skill sets within one organisation.”
Conclusion
The reality for housing organisations today facing
radical demands for cost savings is that it is now
time to move beyond assessing whether or not
shared services is a viable route forward. It is time
to leverage growing market experience to determine
how to get the best from a shared services model.
Sovereign Business Integration Group helps ensure
smooth transfer for Red Kite Community Housing
Sovereign’s Housing Division manages
Red Kite’s successful IT infrastructure
transition from Wycombe District Council
Red Kite Community Housing has successfully
transferred the ownership of 6,700 homes, including
600 leasehold properties and 32 sheltered housing
schemes, from Wycombe District Council, with the
support of Sovereign Business Integration Group
who successfully managed the implementation of
the new IT infrastructure.
Sovereign has worked in close partnership with
Red Kite Community Housing’s resources team and
Wycombe District Council’s existing outsourced
supplier, to implement a completely new IT
infrastructure for Red Kite, including a new network,
new server environment, new telephony system,
upgraded housing management system, new finance
system and new website.
Sovereign managed this transfer process, with
Northgate providing all the technical services, over
a period of four months: from August 2011 to the
successful transfer date of 13th December 2011.
Neil Venables, Resources Director, Red Kite
Community Housing, explains, “Sovereign has
been like an in-house team to us; working closely
with technical suppliers to ensure that our IT
infrastructure would be delivered on time, while at
the same time driving down costs on our behalf.”
Looking forward, Sovereign continues to provide
interim IT management for Red Kite, with specific
responsibility for managing an initial 12-month
outsourced service contract, during which time
Red Kite will determine the preferred long-term
approach to delivering IT services.
Venables concludes, “Red Kite has built up an
excellent relationship with Sovereign. Not only
is Sovereign a trusted pair of hands, but they
also understand our corporate culture. Sovereign
understands that we are tenant-led, that
everything we do needs to be for the benefit of
our tenants and leaseholders and that costs need
to be managed while we strive to deliver excellent
services. The level of service Sovereign has provided
has complemented this business ethos and we
could not have delivered the successful transfer
without them.”
Jacqui Stoggall, Director of Consultancy shares her views on trends within the sector.
As the nation faces financial uncertainty and the
government implements austerity measures, social
housing organisations are coming under enormous
pressures to manage challenging budgets, increase
revenue and reduce spending. It is essential to
identify cost savings wherever possible and making
better use of IT systems can go some way to
achieving this.
In a recent seminar for social housing professionals
hosted by Sovereign Business Integration Group,
showcasing Documotive, PIMSS Data Systems
and Orbit Housing Group,
there was a clear trend in
housing associations looking towards management
systems and mobile technologies to reduce costs
and improve their customer service. Moving towards
online customer self-service and the use of mobile
technology to provide a smarter service when staff
are working remotely, can save large amounts of
time and money and improve customer service.
Indeed, housing organisations are not only looking
towards IT for efficiencies in customer service
but also for more effective services. It is clear that
organisations need to drive strategic investment in
flexible systems that link hard and soft data together,
acting as a central repository for information that can
then be disseminated off the system, easily analysed
and used to make informed decisions.
Recent statistics show there are 1.8 million
more people using the internet than in 2009. With
this evolution of the ‘always on’ lifestyle, housing
organisations must be clever about their IT
spending, understand the requirements from their
customers and assess the value of moving to online,
mobile and app-based technology.
Now is the time to focus upon future proofing IT
investments and ensuring that informed technology
choices are made.
JUNE
12-14
As the housing sector changes
yet again, success lies in putting
the management tools, the
infrastructure and the business
processes in place to drive
efficiency, robustness, flexibility
and sustainability. Smarter IT
can help providers achieve this,
and more.
See us at...
CIH: Manchester
12th-14th June 2012
www.cihhousing.com/manchester
Meet the Technical &
Applications Consultants:
Julian Freeman –
Technical Consultant
Julian brings many years of experience
working in the housing sector, with
all-round knowledge of the industry.
He is regularly called-upon by clients
and he is often retained to undertake a number of roles
on an ongoing basis after vendor selection. Julian is a
calm, thorough and positive person. He possesses great
leadership skills in motivating staff and team members and
creating a ‘can do’ ethos.
Jody Nash –
Applications Consultant
Jody has worked exclusively
on assignments with housing
organisations. Trained in Business
Objects, Jody has extensive
experience of technical implementations and working
with the business to identify reporting requirements and
developing reporting toolsets. Jody’s practical, handson experience and friendly manner allows her to work
effectively at all levels within the housing sector.
Russell Robertson –
Applications Consultant
Russell’s excellent experience of
business applications complements
his sound technical knowledge. He has
a breadth of expertise from system
procurement, full network setup, server build, business
applications installation and configuration in both the
public and private sectors. Russell is people focused and
delivers valued business benefits by drawing on his breadth
of skills to provide consultancy for the housing sector.
Jenny Shorter –
Applications Consultant
Jenny is an experienced trainer and
has been responsible for a range of
initiatives in both the public and
private sectors as well as internally
within Sovereign. Her knowledge, skills and experience
enable Jenny to successfully support the organisation
through periods of development and change. Jenny is a
qualified PRINCE2 Practitioner and has BSc (Hons) Home
Economics.
Neal Weatherley –
Applications Consultant
Neal is a highly driven Consultant
with strong analytical skills. An
enthusiastic worker who works
well with others, Neal can bring
motivation and leadership to a team. Overseeing testing
during production of bespoke applications within the IT
department, creating process maps for existing procedures
‘As Is’ and developing new business processes ‘To Be’ are
just a selection of qualities that Neal brings to the table.
About Housing
Housing organisations are faced with the continuous
challenge of improving the efficiency and consistency
of their organisations. As a solution to this, they
increasingly turn to new technology to help them
improve their services.
6
10747-Sovereign_Newspaper_June_NL.indd 6
As long-standing IT providers to clients in the social
housing sector, Sovereign makes it a priority to
keep abreast of technology developments in this
arena. By keeping our knowledge base current, we
provide IT consultancy that makes sure the services
you’re investing in are those that will indeed deliver
the efficiency they promise. Overall, Sovereign
makes sure that anything you invest in meets your
expectations of adding value to your business.
Sovereign Business Integration Group plc
15/06/2012 17:23
Recruitment with Theo Michaels
The recruitment sector is an unregulated market with the level
of professionalism and quality of service being almost bi-polar
with many agencies suffering from a negative perception tarred
by previous experiences. While recruitment suppliers are seen as
a necessary evil, if kept at arm’s length the recruitment process is
destined to fail.
But tides are a changing; clients that
embrace their recruitment suppliers
capitalise on a wealth of knowledge
and experience to the benefit of their
business. They receive quality staff,
market intelligence and have their agent
acting as diplomats for their organisation
within the job seeking market.
Sovereign Business Resources (SBR) has
built a thriving, successful business over nine
years by maintaining a high level of service
and integrity and treating our clients as
partners – not just a revenue stream. Working
with SBR as an insourced partner, rather than
as an outsourced supplier will create a working
environment that does what recruitment
should do – allow our clients to focus on what
to do with their new staff rather than spending
time looking for them.
Recruitment – Procuring the most Valuable Asset
Over the past four years organisations across the board have looked to streamline
processes and drive down operating costs, most notably by imposing far greater
control over procurement of goods and services. Yet few organisations have even
begun to address the biggest area of cost for most businesses: staff. Staff procurement
– recruitment – is poorly managed, poorly measured and highly ineffective.
This leaves the business to wade through a swathe
of CVs from individuals who may, at best, meet the
basic tick box requirements on the job description.
More often than not, once they get to the interview
stage whether or not the candidates fit the specific
job needs or culture of the business is simply down
to chance.
Bad Practice
Theo A Michaels, Managing Director, Sovereign
Business Resources, outlines the importance
of specialist recruitment agencies in improving
recruitment processes, driving down costs and
attaining the best staff for the business.
Staff Overhead
For the vast majority of UK businesses, staff costs are
the most significant annual operating expense. The
on-going reduction in staff numbers in recent years
has placed huge pressure on the business to ensure
staff are highly productive; that there is minimal
productivity dip when new staff are employed;
and that all new entrants are effective and exactly
match the requirements of the organisation.
Despite this, recruitment processes remain
anarchic. Organisations are not only failing to
gain value from their recruitment activities and
investments but, unforgivably, many are not even
measuring the quality and performance of the
recruitment process – from either an internal or
external agency perspective.
Many companies keep agencies at an arms
length creating a false economy of their time.
Without open communication at the start of the
recruitment process and in-depth feedback after
interviewing candidates, agencies are left in a state
of ambiguity; recruitment is a process of evolution
– without the depth of communication between
the company and agency the relationship is left
at amoeba stage with no hope of coming out of
the swamps. Effective communication cultivates
effective recruitment.
The FTSE 100 organisation that uses a dozen
recruitment agencies for every job is a case in point.
Each vacancy is automatically distributed to every
agency, prompting an immediate deluge of CVs.
With agencies paid on the basis of the first to provide
the successful candidate, the onus is on speed of CV
provision rather than careful assessment of candidate
suitability and match to each specific vacancy. The
result is that the company receives upwards of 200
CVs for each post; 90% of which will be duplicates
since agencies are all drawing from the same pool of
candidates.
About Sovereign Business Resources
Sovereign Business Resources (SBR) was established in 2003 to provide high
quality consultative recruitment services, specialising within both Technical
(IT) and Finance staffing across all industry sectors.
We understand that people
are the most important asset
to any business; thus we work
closely with our clients to
gain a true understanding of
not only the job description
and the desired skill-set but
also the company culture,
character fit and their
professional values.
Equally for our candidates
we aim to get a real
understanding of them
as individuals; their key
motivational triggers,
professional aspirations, who
they are and what makes
them tick. SBR is experienced
in working with clients
throughout the UK, Europe,
Middle East, and South
Africa for both contract and
permanent positions.
How can this possibly be the best, most effective
way to procure an organisation’s most important
and most expensive resource? Companies are
wasting time assessing CVs, interviewing the wrong
candidates and, finally, often employing people
who are not quite the right fit because they are
wrongly perceived to be the best option available.
And while it is possible to recoup the agency fee
if the individual does not stay for the rebate period,
the organisation then faces another round of time
consuming recruitment followed by the inevitable
disruption and lower productivity associated with
the arrival of a new employee.
This model is clearly inefficient. It offers the
recruitment companies no chance to adequately
verify either the specific requirements of the
job or the specific abilities, likes or dislikes of the
candidates. The only option for a recruitment
company looking to stay in business is to rush out
as many ‘suitable’ CVs as possible and leave the rest
to fate.
Recruitment Value
It is time to adopt a different model; one that
minimises the time spent on recruitment whilst
maximising the chances of getting the best
candidate for every job. It means breaking the
‘fastest gets the deal’ model and for companies to
start embracing a true partnership with an agency
based on in depth understanding of business model,
corporate culture and on-going plans. By replacing
the generic recruitment agency with specialists, a
business immediately cuts out the time consuming
process of briefing agencies on the specifics of
the technical requirements. This enables the
agency to undertake the essential research into an
organisation’s cultural model as well as the specific
attributes required of a candidate in each job role.
Insourcing the recruitment requirement to
specific agencies – from IT to Marketing – that
understand the needs of a department first and
can add vertical market expertise second, changes
the recruitment model. With this approach, the
agency will not only ensure candidates have the
right technical skills but also reflect the softer
yet critical cultural demands of the business.
CVs provided will be relevant; but in addition to
providing several excellent candidates, a good
specialist will also offer a selection of candidates
who may offer other skills that reflect the
company’s planned developments or fit more
inline with their cultural environment. It is this
chance to review ideal candidates in the context
of a broader market perspective that is critical to
refine requirements and enable an organisation to
begin to recruit more effectively.
Companies also need to be measuring the
effectiveness of recruitment processes - both
internal and external. A recruitment company
should also demonstrate its performance, providing
regular reports encompassing number of jobs,
CVs, interviews and placements attained over the
past three or six months. In addition, companies
should keep some kind of record of how long staff
members stay, their corporate contribution – and
how they were originally recruited. It is this level
of insight that is key to refining processes and
ensuring recruitment models continue to evolve
in line with business and economic change.
Conclusion
Staff are every company’s most valuable asset.
But effective recruitment is not about volume,
it is about quality and relevance. CVs provide
some information; they provide a brief overview
of skills and experience. But they cannot give the
critical insight into an individual’s personality and
aspirations. That is the role of the good, specialist
recruitment company. Anyone can match a list of
technical requirements; the skill is in creating the
complete fit and presenting a small, highly relevant
list of candidates that reflect the specific cultural
and business needs of each organisation.
But this can only be achieved if the recruitment
company has time to assess candidates and review
their skills in conjunction with a detailed brief on
a job. Replacing the fastest/volume approach with
a commitment to partnership is key to achieving
effective recruitment practices that add quantifiable
value to the business.
Recruitment Mix
SBR has developed a
Recruitment Mix that highlights
the core elements vital for
successful recruitment.
1. Does the Character of the
candidate have synergy with the
Culture of the company?
2. Do the Credentials of the candidate
match the Criteria of the vacancy?
3. Does the Capability of a candidate
fulfil the Capacity of the role?
©2012 Sovereign Business Resources Ltd.
T: +44 (0)20 8216 3333 | E: [email protected] | www.sovereign-plc.co.uk
10747-Sovereign_Newspaper_June_NL.indd 7
7
15/06/2012 17:15
Focus on the group
Running and Baking for
Sovereign’s fundraisers!
Charles Brooks, Principal Consultant for Sovereign’s Housing and
Public Sector division, tackled the London Marathon on the 19th
April 2012 completing the 26-miles in just over five hours.
Charles Brooks, along with a friend, completed
the challenging run dressed as the famous
superhero duo Batman and Robin, raising just
under £6,500 for The Antony Nolan Trust. The
trust is a pioneering charity that saves the lives
of people with blood cancer; it uses its register
to match donors willing to donate blood stem
cells to people who desperately need lifesaving
transplants.
Next Issue:
Along with the marathon fundraising, Sovereign’s
male employees took part in a ‘Male Bake Sale’
organised by the Director of Housing and Public
Sector, James Threapleton’s wife Hilary, who also
ran the marathon. The Bake Sale, for which all the
male staff members at Sovereign were encouraged
to bake a delicious delight for their colleagues,
along with her marathon donations, raised £2,000
for The Alzheimer’s Society.
A big thank you to everyone at Sovereign who
donated or took part in the bake sale and to
Charles and Hilary for running the gruelling 26mile stretch, raising a combined £8,500 for charity.
The Group welcomes...
The next issue of Sovereign Times will
be published in September and will
include further news on the benefits
Sovereign’s clients are achieving
through working with us as well as
our divisional heads’ views on the key
industry issues you should be addressing
to maintain business success.
The next issue will also include an article
about the way in which our Metro Point data
centre was conceived, designed and built with
your technical requirements at the core.
This issue and future issues are available
electronically from Sovereign’s website. To
receive this newsletter electronically, please
email [email protected]. This email
address can also be used to unsubscribe from
this newsletter.
Sovereign Times is an eco-friendly production,
printed on fully recycled paper and using
vegetable inks. Sovereign Times is edited and
published by Neo PR Ltd (www.neopr.co.uk)
with design by Tyga Marketing Limited (www.
tygamarketing.com)
Calendar of events
this issue
CIH: Manchester
JUNE
12-14
12th-14th June 2012
www.cihhousing.com/manchester
JUNE
26
ICAEW Practice
Conference 2012:
London
26th June 2012
www.icaew.com
JUNE
27
Automotive Supply
Chain Congress:
Oxfordshire
27th June 2012
www.automotivesupplychain.org/congress
Sovereign Business Integration Group plc
10747-Sovereign_Newspaper_June_NL.indd 8
Peter Comyn-Noyes
Mark Breen
Peter Mitchell
Michelle Cox
as Business Development
Manager
as Director of Insurance
Services
as Client Manager
as Business Development
Manager for its Housing
division
Well-settled into the company after
six-months in the business already,
Sovereign Business Integration
Group officially welcomes Peter
Comyn-Noyes to the role of
Business Development Manager
– Professional Services. Utilising
his wealth of experience in Sales
& Business Development, Peter
is set to build upon the growth of
Sovereign’s Professional Services
division.
Peter has been working in sales
positions within the IT sector for
over 25 years, during this time
gaining valuable knowledge and
experience of Professional Services,
Financial Services & Public Sector
Markets. Peter has successfully led
and managed sales teams, achieving
key, tactical and strategic targets
whilst securing real, long term
growth.
Commenting on his role, Peter
says, “After working in business
development and sales roles
within the IT sector for many
years, I am delighted to be joining
Sovereign Business Integration
Group as a Business Development
Manager and working within the
expanded Professional Services
Team. Sovereign has built up a solid
reputation as a trusted provider of
IT solutions and I aim to continue
building upon Sovereign’s excellent
track record to increase growth of
the business.”
Sovereign Business Integration
Group welcomes Mark Breen as
Director of Insurance Services; a role
in which he is set to enhance and
extend the company’s portfolio of
IT services and products for both its
present and future clients.
A proven senior operational and
commercial executive, Mark has
delivered successful business change
and IT transformation programmes
to some of the largest organisations
in the London Market. Mark
comments, “The values, capability
and ambition of Sovereign meant
that I grabbed the opportunity to
lead its Insurance Services division.
I believe that my experience
of providing value to Insurers
by increasing their efficiency
and reducing operational costs
when combined with Sovereign’s
impressive client list makes this a
time of tremendous possibilities.”
Richard Barker, Sovereign’s CEO,
adds, “Mark joins us with great
knowledge of the Insurance industry
and is already demonstrating
this through his professional
engagement with our clients. Even
at this early stage, I can see Mark
adding value to the organisation,
our clients and our team, through
his energy and enthusiasm, which
is filtering through all channels and
further establishing Sovereign’s
Insurance division as a serious player
in the market.”
Sovereign Data Connect (SDC) part of
Sovereign Business Integration Group
welcomes Peter Mitchell as Client
Manager of its business development
division, to continue the growth and
success of the service offering within
the new facilities recently launched at
its Cockfosters-based headquarters.
Peter will take responsibility for
managing and promoting Sovereign’s
Data Centre proposition, solutions
and services to existing clients as well
as prospective client organisations
and business partners.
With over 18 years in the IT sector,
Peter joins Sovereign with a wealth of
knowledge, adding to the company’s
plethora of expertise and diverse
range of skill sets that have seen the
organisation continue to expand and
be successful. Throughout his career in
manufacturers and system integrators,
Peter has taken on a variety of tasks,
including major account management
and new business development, putting
him in an excellent position to succeed
at Sovereign Data Connect and be an
instrumental member of the team.
Peter comments, “I relish the
opportunity to apply my industry
knowledge to my role at Sovereign Data
Connect and in playing a significant
part in the company’s growth. With
the facility we have at Metro Point in
Cockfosters and the service offerings
available to our clients, it is an exciting
prospect for all involved and I feel that
Sovereign’s understanding of client
requirements, combined with my
experience, will continue to provide
clients with a first class service.”
Sovereign Business Integration Group
welcomes Michelle Cox as Business
Development Manager for the Housing
division. In this role, Michelle will be
focused on developing relationships
with current and new clients. Having
worked in the sector for over 15
years, she understands the issues and
challenges faced. Combined with her
past experience in various aspects of
consultation, project management,
development, partnership management
and communication, Michelle boasts all
the skills that will enable her to make
sure the solutions and support provided
will truly support clients and benefit
their customers.
Michelle
says,
“Sovereign’s
reputation for attention to detail
and exemplary customer service
represents a culture which I feel
matches my approach and becoming
part of the housing team will allow
me to apply my knowledge to benefit
Sovereign’s clients and prospects
within this hugely reputable
company.”
James Threapleton, Director of
Housing, Sovereign, comments, “I am
confident that Michelle’s ability to
engender long-lasting relationships
with clients will help this division to
flourish further. This appointment
is also part of a larger drive for
growth and expansion at Sovereign
and I hope that Michelle will play a
significant part in this.”
T: +44 (0)20 8216 3333 | E: [email protected] | www.sovereign-plc.co.uk
15/06/2012 17:15