Perspicuity News

Perspicuity achieves Gold in the Microsoft Portals and Collaboration Competency

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:27:18 GMT

We're delighted to announce that we've achieved our 3rd Microsoft Gold Competency. By achieving the requirements set down by Microsoft we can now add "Portals and Collaboration" to our two other Gold Competencies.

To earn a Microsoft Gold Competency, we must complete a rigorous set of tests to prove our level of technology expertise, have the right number of Microsoft Certified Professionals, submit customer references and demonstrate their commitment to customer satisfaction by participating in an annual survey.

"A Gold Portals and Collaboration Competency confirms our ability to deliver complex and varied solutions in Microsoft's SharePoint 2010 both on Premise and in the cloud with Office365. It's a credit to the whole team who put the effort in required to achieve this Gold competency and show a return on our extensive training programme in 2011" said Rupert Squires, Operations Director.

About Microsoft Partner Network & Competencies

The Microsoft Partner Network is designed to equip organisations that deliver products and services based on the Microsoft platform with the training, resources and support they need to provide their customers a superior experience and outcomes.

The Microsoft Gold Competency signifies to the market that a company has demonstrated the highest level of skill and achievement within a given technology specialisation. All 29 Microsoft competencies are designed to help differentiate a partner’s specific technology capabilities, helping customers find solution providers quickly and easily. Each competency has a unique set of requirements and benefits, formulated to accurately represent the specific skills and services that partners bring to the industry.

About Perspicuity

Perspicuity, a Microsoft Network Gold Partner, specialise in delivering content management and portal solutions on Microsoft’s SharePoint platform both on-premise and in the cloud.

We design, build and support information management systems that help public, private and third sector clients get better value from their business knowledge, interact with their customers and streamline business processes.

Perspicuity’s value comes from our experience and knowledge of both the business and technical challenges that go with implementing SharePoint solutions – customers appreciate our straight-talking approach and the responsibility we take for the long-term success of the systems we build.

Perspicuity service clients across the UK – if you would like further information about what we do please contact:

Ben Gower
Managing Director
Yeovil Innovation Centre
Copse Road
Yeovil
BA22 8RN
Tel: 0333 4444 365

Or:

Brian Cowie
Commercial Director
Berkeley Square House
Berkeley Square
London
W1J 6BD
Tel: 020 7183 4600

Fly high, with Cloud Services from Perspicuity

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:29:13 GMT

Welcome to a flexible way of using cutting edge technology in your business. Welcome to huge economies of scale and enhanced productivity. Welcome to the future.

What is the Cloud? Put simply, it’s an innovative IT solution that enables business of all sizes to benefit from enterprise level solutions such as SharePoint and Exchange. It means colleagues can work together, even if they are many miles apart ,allowing them to access email, calendars and contacts and documents even when they are on the move. It means your business can use the very latest in software technology, by only paying a small amount each month for each user.

So the Cloud is a cost-effective way of making Information Technology work for you. And, as a leading Microsoft Cloud partner, you can trust Perspicuity to deliver the right solution for your needs.

With our support, you can implement solutions that increases productivity among your workforce, by helping your team to work smarter, and more efficiently. Our Cloud services help you to keep your data secure and accessible. With our experience behind you, introducing new ways of working will be straightforward – which means you’ll be up and running in no time at all.

How we help

Perspicuity is committed to helping you secure the best value for your IT spend. That means delivering solutions to fit your precise requirements and ensuring they are adopted with the minimum disruption to your business.

Cloud Value Assessment

Our Cloud Value Assessment gives you a detailed insight into the benefits that Cloud computing can bring to your business.

What does it involve?

You complete a short survey about your current IT provision
An experienced Perspicuity consultant then identifies ways that Cloud services can help you reduce cost and increase productivity
We produce a bespoke report of our findings, free of charge. It is written in plain English – meaning you can use it as you wish within your organisation

Even better, our Cloud Value Assessment takes just a couple of hours to complete. So, it is a productive use of senior management time.

Cloud solutions, tailored to you

Perspicuity’s Cloud Services enable your workforce to share and manage documents, collaborate, and stay in touch more easily. Our solutions respond to the needs of your business – so, you will only pay for what you require.

For small and medium-sized businesses, Microsoft Office 365 is an affordable way of moving to the Cloud. It brings together online versions of familiar Microsoft programmes, including Office, SharePoint, Lync, and Exchange, in a package that suits your organisation.

If your business requires a customised solution, our experts will extend and adapt Microsoft’s products to your specification.

A seamless transition to the Cloud

When you migrate to the Cloud, Perspicuity will be with you every step of the way.

We put together a transition plan and support you through the migration process. Then, we help maximise your return on investment as quickly as possible.

Our transition services include:

Development of a Cloud or on-site solution, or a mixture of both
A pilot of the new Cloud solution alongside your current IT operations
A phased transition – enabling you to manage the impact on business teams

Customised support services

Once your business has migrated to the Cloud, you can rely on us for support.

Our monthly, low-cost, subscription service covers:

Infrastructure
Desktop support, including anti-spam/virus protection, and Windows 7 upgrade
Support across all of your applications

Because Perspicuity’s Cloud Services are delivered for a monthly fee per user, they can be scaled to suit your requirements. That means you can add users, or remove them, on a month-by-month basis, so you never pay for surplus delivery. What is more, there is no penalty if you withdraw from our programmes. So you really can take each day as it comes.

Find out more with a free trial

Contact us to find out more about our Cloud Services. And if you’d like to sample our Cloud-based solutions before committing to a monthly package, we offer a free 30-day trial of Cloud software including Office 365 and Windows InTune. We also provide a free IT assessment, which will show you how the Cloud can benefit your business.

To request your free trial or IT assessment, please contact Brian Cowie now:

Telephone: (0)20 7183 4600

Email: cloud@perspicuity.co.uk

Microsoft UK MD, Gordon Frazer endorses Perspicuity

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:21:05 GMT

Perspicuity's push into Cloud has been recognised at the top level

Perspicuity are delighted to announce that we have received a personal reference from Gordon Frazer praising our recent accomplishments and experience in providing cloud services to our customers.

We see this accolade as further evidence that we offer our clients the best service backed by strong client testimonials and supplier endorsements.

Ben Gower, Perspicuity MD said “We are All-In for the cloud, and Microsoft’s support has been fantastic throughout, this letter gives the team the recognition they deserve for the effort they have put in delivering cloud solutions to our clients. ”

Perspicuity as a specialist Microsoft Online Services Accelerate Partner receives additional support from Microsoft in order help deliver cost effective and appropriate solutions to its customers. Perspicuity has been delivering cloud based solutions since 2009 and now over 50% of our clients use cloud services.

You will find more information on Office and Microsoft Online Services here:

View: Gordon Frazer Letter of Endorsement To Perspicuity

Find out more about Office365

Is the Cloud right for me?

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:16:22 GMT

As you may have seen in the media Microsoft are heavily promoting their impressive Cloud capabilities. Cloud gives all organisations access enterprise-grade technology to companies of any size, large or small.

Perspicuity has been working with Microsoft to develop an approach which evaluates not only the technical challenges but also the business opportunities too. Our objective was to show that with a more rounded view of Cloud a business can achieve not just enterprise grade technology but full enterprise grade services and delivery to go with it – without impacting the total cost of delivery, effectively more-for-less.

Brian Cowie, Commercial Director commented “ What’s the point of having the enterprise-grade technology that Microsoft Cloud solutions can offer but with weak support or development services that cannot exploit all of that Cloud Power and really deliver business results?”.

Our research shows that some clients view Cloud as another distraction which they don’t have time for. So, Perspicuity has invested over the past 2 years in developing a Cloud Value Assessment tool that quickly determines where potential value to a client can be achieved from Cloud. In short workshop we work with you to identify and evaluate any gains to be made from full enterprise-grade Cloud technology and services. Following the workshop we will provide you a report showing where we believe Cloud and our supporting services can make a real difference – with the financials to back it up. We know that not all IT services belong in the cloud but we can help you identify what opportunities exist for your organisation for the ones that do.

To take the next step, drop us a line we can talk you through the options and opportunities that this new technology presents. If you are ready then we can organise your Cloud Value Assessment.

Perspicuity’s new South West office

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:05:18 GMT

Perspicuity is delighted to announce that they are opening our new office in the Yeovil, Somerset on the 1st February 2011.

Ben Gower, Managing Director of Perspicuity said “We are delighted to be opening our new office in the Yeovil Innovation Centre. We have seen the opportunity in Somerset to deliver the same high quality services to our clients without the costs associated with our existing London based operation. The Yeovil Innovation Centre offers us first class facilities in which to build our team and service our clients.

From our opening date we have already employed one apprentice from the local area as well as an experienced developer – and we will bringing on more new apprentices and experienced developers in the summer.”

As featured on the BBC News.

About:

The Yeovil Innovation Centre offers purpose-designed office suites and modern, contemporary networking areas to innovative businesses looking to grow and thrive. Visit: http://www.yeovilinnovationcentre.co.uk/

Press Release – Cloud Accelerate Status Achieved!

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:04:46 GMT

7^th April 2011, London, Perspicuity are delighted to announce that they have confirmed their status as a Microsoft Cloud Accelerate Partner for 2011/2012.

By reaching the top tier of Microsoft’s Cloud Partner programme, Cloud Accelerate Partners are recognised by Microsoft for having delivered a broad range of Microsoft Cloud solutions to satisfied customers, using their expertise to recommend and implement the right mix of on-premise and cloud.

Microsoft’s broad cloud platform includes Office365 – incorporating Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync; Azure – a development platform and CRM-Online.

Ben Gower, Managing Director, said “As a company we have been 100% behind Microsoft’s push into the cloud – the recognition from Microsoft is appreciated by all who work at Perspicuity and we look forward to delivering many more innovative cloud solutions in the coming year”.

Perspicuity provide a unique cloud assessment service that shows how cloud-based solutions can help your organisation. A key output of this assessment is an analysis of the optimum mix of cloud and on-premise solutions for your organisation and a migration plan for achieving this. To find out more about this service contact cloud@perspicuity.co.uk.

About Perspicuity

Perspicuity, a Microsoft Network Gold Partner, specialise in delivering content management and portal solutions on Microsoft’s SharePoint platform both on-premise and in the cloud.

Perspicuity service clients across the UK – if you would like further information about what we do please contact:

Ben Gower
Managing Director
Yeovil Innovation Centre
Copse Road
Yeovil
BA22 8RN
Tel: 01582 380400

Or:

Rupert Squires
Operations Director
Berkeley Square House
Berkeley Square
London
W1J 6BD
Tel: 020 7183 4600

Press Release – Gold Digital Marketing Competency

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:01:08 GMT

24^th May 2011, London, Perspicuity are delighted to announce that they have achieved a Gold Digital Marketing Competency in the Microsoft Partner Network.

To earn a Microsoft Gold Competency, organizations must complete a rigorous set of tests to prove their level of technology expertise, have the right number of Microsoft Certified Professionals, submit customer references and demonstrate their commitment to customer satisfaction by participating in an annual survey.

“A Gold Digital Marketing Competency differentiates us from the competition and establishes us as market leaders, further demonstrating our commitment to serving the needs of customers relying on Microsoft-based solutions,” said Ben Gower, Managing Director. “This supports our on going cloud message and our depth of capability, I would like to congratulate all the team who put the effort in required to achieve this Gold competency”.

About Microsoft Partner Network & Competencies

The Microsoft Partner Network is designed to equip organizations that deliver products and services based on the Microsoft platform with the training, resources and support they need to provide their customers a superior experience and outcomes.

The Microsoft Gold Competency signifies to the market that a company has demonstrated the highest level of skill and achievement within a given technology specialization. All 29 Microsoft competencies are designed to help differentiate a partner’s specific technology capabilities, helping customers find solution providers quickly and easily. Each competency has a unique set of requirements and benefits, formulated to accurately represent the specific skills and services that partners bring to the industry.

About Perspicuity

Perspicuity, a Microsoft Network Gold Partner, specialise in delivering content management and portal solutions on Microsoft’s SharePoint platform both on-premise and in the cloud.

Perspicuity service clients across the UK – if you would like further information about what we do please contact:

Ben Gower
Managing Director
Yeovil Innovation Centre
Copse Road
Yeovil
BA22 8RN
Tel: 01582 380400

Or:

Rupert Squires
Operations Director
Berkeley Square House
Berkeley Square
London
W1J 6BD
Tel: 020 7183 4600

Explore the Real Value of Cloud – Hands-on Executive Workshop

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:00:20 GMT

With so much talk about the power of Cloud Computing, would you like to discover what value it can really offer your business and understand the actual cost saving you could make? Join us for this Executive Workshop where we’ll be openly discussing these topics and giving you all the information you need to practically evaluate the potential of Cloud in your own business.

We’ll lead you through a self-assessment of your own business, comparing the additional value a Cloud scenario could provide. You’ll hear a local company talking about how they are using Cloud technology and the experiences they’ve had along the way. We’ll also be showing how Microsoft’s latest Cloud offering, Office365, can improve company productivity through better team collaboration, workflow control and document management.

By the end of the event, you’ll really understand whether Cloud is right for your business and you’ll receive an individual Cloud Value report. Plus this is a unique opportunity to exchange views and network with other businesses from your area.

The event will explore:

- Where Cloud will practically deliver value and cost savings to your specific business

- The potential environmental benefits of moving to the Cloud

- Real-life experiences and results that are being achieved

- How new features of Office 365* might improve productivity in your company

- Key considerations when evaluating and moving to the Cloud

Tickets are limited, so register today for this exclusive event.

Want to find out more but can’t make it to this event? View our other events or call 01935 385902 to arrange a face-to-face meeting.

*Microsoft Office 365 provides online versions of the best communication and collaboration tools from Microsoft, at a price that small businesses can afford. It lets you manage and access your email, documents, contacts, and calendars from virtually anywhere, on almost any device. So you benefit from simplified IT and new ways of being productive, whilst also saving time and cost.

Dates

6^th December: Poole –> http://perspicuity-poole.eventbrite.co.uk

8^th December: Portsmouth –> http://perspicuity-portsmouth.eventbrite.co.uk

13^th December: Taunton –> http://perspicuity-taunton.eventbrite.co.uk

14^th December: Horsham –> http://perspicuity-horsham.eventbrite.co.uk

Management information

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:08:23 GMT

Fantastic! My new management dashboard has been delivered – what is this? Well it’s a series of pages on my laptop/smart phone/iPad which I can flick through and it gives me up to the second information on how our business is performing, with a swish, flick, swipe, squeeze or tap; under-achieving staff (of course we have none) can be identified, customers who need love identified, and customers taking me closer to an untimely grave dealt with accordingly, and this is truly great.

Any manager knows that getting useful management information is time-consuming, expensive and never really truly satisfactory. So problem solved, right? Well yes in fact it is and to be honest this stuff is fantastic, really. I have access to almost any measure of my business without once having to ask for it: it is consistent, flexible and instant; I can delve into figures and perform comparisons on whim, and I could go on about it, but I won’t. I’ll go on about something that occurred to me…

What my dashboards actually tell me, for the most part (and there are exceptions) is what I already know. It is no real surprise that Jenkins (the slacker) is lazy, it’s also no real surprise that XYZ corp is the worst client we have. The detail and the accessibility of that detail, and the context in which they are presented is wonderful but can we do more?

What I really need to know, is what I don’t know and that means making noise useful: putting it in context, by which I mean, snippets of conversation, feelings and opinion, available in a digestible relevant format. What I really need to know, in addition to XYZ corp’s poor performance is how I can turn that around. Having my aforementioned data in the palm of my hand is wonderful, but this is only half the story, and the real story is in understanding what’s going on on the ground and how as a manager I can help our team in XYZ corp.

I know from recent experience of reviewing my numbers, graphs and trends that one particular client is working very well, no issues, targets met and so on. Great the management are happy, but is that really the case? In this instance NO! A high quality job has been done (I’ve seen it, it’s good), but we’ve got our knickers in a knot when it comes to communication and the clients perception is that what we’ve delivered is not really up to it. A nasty case of perception is reality, easily solved at our end, client is now happy – but this could have been avoided so easily and highlights the reliance on so called management information to determine the health or your company. Whatever your preferred poisons: SAP, spread sheets, crystal reports, SAGE et al we can build you a wonderful interactive dashboard to aggregate all that wonderful data in to a meaningful picture and that’s fantastic but, none of that data can actually tell you what your people know, none can capture that experience that should tell a decent manager that there are problems ahead – and so to the point….

…. Mobile tech is great, and using it so we can give managers good quality data is great too and we can make them feel good by providing them with a cool gizmo to present it on, a perfect first step, but the opportunity is integrating this into our workforce to capture data, capture the mood of an organisation, and I want feelings to compliment my facts. Once we’ve practically achieved this interaction then the picture we present of our companies on our fancy devices begins to tell the whole truth and that really is a step forward.

We are currently implementing an update to our time recording system (our lifeblood) when we collect the traditional data; time worked, client day rate etc. We will also be collecting more subjective “data” about how our staff are feeling about each piece of work, a few stabs of a finger at some icons is all it will take – our plan is this will give us a much richer picture of our performance as a company, allow us to quickly identify problem areas, and avoid the need for over communication. We will now know the corporate mood of our company – and when I know it (which should be soon after) I’ll let you know.
_________________________________

About the author: Ben Gower is MD of Perspicuity, and has been busy exploring dashboards on iPad, Windows Phone 7 and SharePoint. 2010.

About the company: Perspicuity is a Gold level company in the Microsoft Partner Network specialising in the SharePoint platform, and is one of a small number of specially selected Cloud Accelerate Partners.

Cloud Musings

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:04:50 GMT

Can the cloud computing model transform service delivery?

The major software vendors are pushing at pace into cloud computing. There is inevitably much talk of data centres and ‘what if’ scenarios, but most ‘should I put my company data in the cloud?’ questions have been, or will soon be, resolved in our minds as we shift towards a new computing model.

What I want to explore here is the bigger opportunity for using the cloud model to change the way we deliver business systems.

Take up the slack

I once read a case study somewhere in a management training guide for eternal navel-gazers. It was about a company that received an order to deliver double its normal production output for, I think, pallets. When objections had subsided, the company went ahead; it took the order and attempted to double its production output for a week.

At the end of the week, it had constructed and delivered twice as many pallets. Success. But was this down to inspired management, a brilliant workforce or simply enough slack that could be taken up to meet the demand?

The case study went on to explore all three possibilities. I’ve forgotten which publication it was and can’t remember which conclusions were drawn. But I’m willing to bet that a good deal of the company’s success was down to the simple fact that it had built in slack or latency.

Skilful business managers optimise latency. The very skilled lend it out to others when they themselves don’t need it. Others simply have latency because that’s how it worked out.

So, what does all of this talk of latency have to do with cloud computing?

The cloud gives us a chance to control closely how much spare computing capacity we have. If we are proactive, it allows us to drive it right down to the point that we are no longer carrying any spare capacity at all.

Great news. And Microsoft executives should be pleased with their efforts to make this possible. From my perspective, I can now offer our customers some fantastic solutions. I will never again have to pretend to be interested in redundant arrays or inexpensive disks and vast quantities of computer hardware, only ever used in huge upswings in volume or catastrophe. Latency, waste.

So, I think its all good stuff. We buy our computing as we need it, and it’s a pretty sure bet that it’s a whole lot cheaper than we could do it for ourselves. From experience, it has also been more reliable. But how do we continue to innovate and push our companies forwards?

A new model for service delivery

How will we provide the people skills around cloud computing? More importantly, how can we use the paradigm that cloud computing gives us to reduce latency to a minimum in the services we use to build new systems? Can we innovate and take our businesses forward?

Can we put people in the cloud?

I’m not advocating it, but it might be worth a try (many IT folk I know might be better suited to cloud living!).

I’ve worked for large outsourcing companies and am predictably cynical about the perceived benefits: At the most basic level, when organisations outsource their IT functions, people and equipment are organisationally shifted from one place to another but, in reality, not much changes.

The outsourcer can usually win a bit of additional business by charging for ‘extras’ and, in my experience at least, then puts its arms tightly around the IT function and strangles it – turning it from a centre of business enablement to a centre of business cost.

As a small company that has a good deal of business in small outsourcing contracts, I don’t condemn them completely: they can provide real value as long as some of the effort focuses on latency carried by the organisation

Cloud computing does this for software and systems. But how can we adopt this model for service delivery? We’ve shifted the tin, software licences and the operation to a world populated by cumulus, cirrostratus, nimbostratus and the like. In theory, we’ve reduced our latency in this area to zero. What is the latency in system delivery?

Can we provide IT services on a subscription basis?

Look at your typical medium sized business: it will probably have an IT department with developers, project managers, networks people and a myriad management people. How much latency is there in that delivery function? 5% sounds okay. What about 20%? Maybe 50%? Possibly a little on the gluttonous side of reasonable.

I’m not talking about everyone creating more value all of the time: I’m suggesting that these functions have, and always will have, significant amounts of built-in slack. While the organisational design stays the same, and IT remains so granular, it’s hard to see how this can improve.

We need to reduce the system development footprint. We need to increase the bang for your buck ratio. How long will it be before our business masters say, ‘Well, Microsoft has brought down the cost base of my business computing but you guys and girls are still charging me the same to deliver applications’?

It’s a fair comment that we have worked with our clients to address. Over the coming months, we will be discussing the services model for subscription (cloud) based computing and we’d welcome your thoughts.

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About the author: Ben Gower is MD of Perspicuity and has been working closely with Microsoft to formulate its cloud computing strategy. Perspicuity is one of a small number of specially selected Cloud Accelerate partners. Office365 is a packaged offering of Microsoft Online Services which encompasses SharePoint, Exchange and Lync