Computing Awards for Excellence: Best Small Business IT Strategy shortlist

Close Invoice Finance

Close Invoice Finance (CIF) developed its IDeal system to offer clients a completely paperless invoice discounting product, which would also set the company apart from its competitors.

The software was designed to allow businesses to retain responsibility for elements of the process, such as credit control. IDeal also provides unique risk management tools, accommodating a broader spectrum of requirements.

The system, which was immediately well received by existing clients, has also offered CIF access to a more diverse client base. IDeal has brought in 200 new clients, and continued growth of 25 to 30 new clients a month for the rest of the year is projected.

Doctors.net.uk

Doctors.net.uk is the largest online professional network of doctors in the UK, with 144,000 members, representing 90 per cent of the UK’s doctors.

The company has introduced advanced Web 2.0 features to provide enhancements, including medical podcasts and an interactive medical textbook that has been used by 24,000 doctors.

Comprehensive profiling of members, and the tracking of the services they have used, allows information to be customised. The provision of online training and services for the NHS has delivered significant savings and allowed doctors to access material in their own time.

The Health Protection Agency has found that Doctors.net.uk is the most effective way to provide UK doctors with essential training.

Enterprise Group

Enterprise Group specialises in providing regulatory protection in the sub-prime mortgage market. Its sourcing system, Edge, gives clients an advantage
over their competitors, while adhering to Financial Services Authority rules.

Edge provides a dedicated sub-prime sourcing system, with accurate ranking and an instant audit trail, which proves that thorough research has been carried out by the broker before recommendation to the buyer. Thanks to Edge, Enterprise Group became the only mortgage provider in the market to offer this information in minutes. Since summer 2006, Enterprise has added 12 established intermediary partners and expects to have at least 30 by the second quarter of 2008.

Imerja

Imerja is an IT network and security specialist service provider, committed to offering employees the best possible work-life balance. Imerja’s staff are spread across England and Wales, and IT has been used to bring everyone closer together.

A secure live video link has been implemented between Imerja’s two permanent offices and large plasma screens will allow each to see the other on a 24/7 basis. Imerja has developed a more flexible working environment, incorporating laptops, smartphones and 3G capability to optimise efficiency.

Through the introduction of appropriate technology, Imerja has empowered its staff to work remotely and plan their time to accommodate their lifestyle.

Jimmy Choo

Jimmy Choo’s priority was the creation of a scalable IT infrastructure that would span its global locations and time zones.

The footwear and accessories specialist implemented a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) network which guaranteed an identical look and feel across the organisation. The network enables all applications and communication and any employee can be reached through a four-digit extension, under a simple global dial plan. If staff are not at their desks, calls are automatically forwarded to their mobiles.

The network also links data, collected twice daily from each store, to two separate data centres. Jimmy Choo can now open new boutiques in just two weeks and plans to have more than 200 stores across the globe in two years.

Memset

Memset deliberately over-staffs its technical team, ensuring that employees have enough “play time” to learn about new technologies and experiment with ideas. This approach has produced some of the company’s most innovative services.

Memset last year became the first UK ISP to be carbon-neutral and remains committed to developing low-power hosting technologies. Over the past three years, Memset has been developing its Xen-based Miniserver product, incorporating new virtualisation technologies from Intel and AMD to improve speed and security.
Memset was recently the first UK company to offer a virtualised dedicated server that can run proprietary operating systems such as Windows. The launch of the product has earned Memset recognition as a leader in virtual dedicated server technologies.

Newcastle International Airport

In 2003, Newcastle International Airport (NIA) worked with consultancy Waterstons to design a four-year IT strategy that would rationalise core systems, upgrade the IT infrastructure and replace or upgrade legacy systems.

The main focus was to upgrade NIA’s public flight information system, Fids. NIA depends on Fids to export data to its SAP system for revenue and billing purposes as well as management reporting. The smooth operation of Fids also holds implications for other operational departments including air traffic control.

The upgrade has triggered changes in procedures and has resolved confusion between interdepartmental processes, clarifying how the departments use information and explaining why certain formats are necessary.

Riggott & Co

Riggott & Co is a family business specialising in painting lines and signs in roads and car parks. The firm installed a Windows 2000 server and PC network in 2003 and used the services of a local software company to develop customised database applications that would automate business processes.

Riggott & Co needed to incorporate an electronic version of its wall planner into its ERP system, without losing the simplicity of the manual system.

The company’s operations were split into three sections, each represented by a self-scaling screen displaying a matrix of boxes with rows for the days of the week and a column for each vehicle or crew. Jobs can now be filtered by postcode and matrix cells are colour coded according to job progress.

The modernised system offers the benefit of improved shared availability and quick cross-reference, leading to better work scheduling.