A World Class Company: Taking The First Steps

Written by Steve Ross

In the summer I wrote about how here at Shackleton, we have aspirations of becoming a world-class managed IT service provider. This time, I take a look at the steps we have taken in the last four months, and where Shackleton stands today…

The Hard Work Has Started

So, four months later, what has changed? While we’ve not quite achieved our ultimate goal yet, the hard work has well and truly started and I’m proud to say that entire Shackleton team is 100% committed to our journey. But, as our namesake once said “Superhuman effort isn’t worth a damn unless it achieves results.”

How are we achieving those results? We have started by looking at our internal processes, in particular how we handle client information and documentation. I was shocked to recently discover that technicians in IT support companies’ waste 20%-30% of their time searching for client information such as passwords, ISP info, line of business and contract details among others.

This is a major area of focus for the team and myself, as we need to ensure sensitive data is completely secure, but is also easily accessible for our tech team.

Investing In Our Future

Our main IT system is at least 7 years old. Like most companies, our IT systems have developed organically to meet our demands as we have grown, always offering the latest IT solutions to our clients.

Just last month we invested in a new software-as-a-service (SaaS) product, allowing us to hold sensitive client information in a highly secure and encrypted environment whilst still giving easy access to team members working on the project. This investment will allow us to have quick access to secure information anywhere and anytime, whether we’re in Shackleton HQ or on-site with a client.

The team and I have already pulled together a complete project plan, detailing the use of our latest software. From very early on, it became clear that the biggest challenge we faced would be making the time to populate client data into this latest system; however, with the proper planning and careful management, migration has started in a timely and structured manner.

Team Shackleton is already reporting improvements in productivity when working with clients, showing the hidden benefits of regularly investing in new technology. We are working stronger, faster and more efficiently than ever – an important step towards our goal of becoming a world class managed IT service provider.

A Never Ending Journey

While it is difficult to give a timeframe on when we will complete our quest, I think it is safe to say that here at Shackleton we all know that there will never be a true ending to our journey – I for one will always want to strive for the next goal, and the one after that. In this world of big changes to technology altering the way we do business, I imagine that nothing will ever feel “complete”.

Our goal will be to make sure that Shackleton is always at the forefront of technology, providing the best possible solutions to our clients in the most efficient way possible – something we have made moves towards in these last months.

In business sometimes it’s the little things that you need to do well to become successful, like being able to find the right client document at the right moment. After all this time, its still about getting the basics right.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Shackletons journey, I’ll be keeping you updated in the coming months…

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