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The First Of Accredit UK's Planned Annual Conferences Proves A Hit

The first ever Accredit UK Conference has received extraordinary praise and interest from delegates. Held at the Motor Heritage Centre at Gaydon, Warwickshire, the day-long event was the first chance for members of the Accredit UK community to get together.

The event was hosted by local writer and broadcaster Professor Carl Chinn. Carl brought a unique element to the conference. As well as being an excellent facilitator and host, he also interwove the discussions about ICT through the day with historical references – his own background. The comparison between the seismic changes brought about during the industrial revolution and the impact of ICT today is one that struck a particular chord.

The theme of the conference was focused upon the purchasers of ICT solutions. Speakers from a range of organisations gave their advice on how a smaller ICT supplier could hope to break into larger markets – be they corporate or public sector.

Linked to the theme of purchasing, the event marked the launch of Accredit UK's Guide to Purchasing ICT. The Guide represents a totally new approach in the market – both for ICT and for standards in general. Read more about the Guide by clicking here…

Over 100 delegates attended the event. They ranged from owner-managers of small SMEs to major public and private sector purchasers. The range of feedback after the event reflects that the event hit the right note:

“The presentations were informative - heavy (content) but the excellent packs are very useful and I will learn from the content. Excellent venue and excellent idea.”

“An excellent conference, great venue, very good speakers.”

“Diversity of presentations was good. Some useful content for SME's as well as info on Accredit UK.”

However, the event was also of benefit to the larger organisations who are trying to involve SMEs more in their delivery of goods and services to clients. This includes the public sector who are trying to enhance their efficiency through the use of smaller specialist suppliers.

“Gave me a good insight to what makes a good SME - Very useful for someone who's just spent 19 years working for a large enterprise.”

Presentations From Industry-Leading Experts

The first presentation of the day was by Chris Leggett from Service Birmingham. He explained how Service Birmingham, a partnership between Birmingham City Council and Capita, is striving to improve service delivery. This is being done through a range of activities, including the use of standards as buying tools.

Clive Mason, one of Accredit UK’s accredited assessors, followed this up by his own view of the standard. He explained what had led him to believe that Accredit UK will help businesses – with reference to his many years of business improvement experience.

Cliff Warder, Marketing Manager of Alcatel-Lucent, gave an excellent insight into how SMEs can add value to a large multinational ICT supplier. He demonstrated how Alcatel-Lucent view their own service delivery, and therefore how any SME wanting to work with them can fit in.

Martin Rice and Carl Maughan presented a personal view of how they had shaped their own business. Erudine was set up with the vision of selling into large companies and everything they have done since has followed this path. The case study provoked a great deal of interest among fellow SMEs present and showed just what is needed to succeed.

After lunch, Andrea Simmons showed the delegates just how little most people know about cyber security. She presented an extremely informative look at the world of data protection and how to protect yourself and your business from security risks.

The final presentation of the day came from Gary McQuade of Winning Pitch. He showed how to position a company in the market in order to get maximum success. Significantly, everything he said echoed what previous presenters had suggested, and so provided a wonderful conclusion to the day.

Awards To Certified Companies

Five recently certified companies were presented with their certificates at the end of the day by Carl Chinn. The companies were: Entalysis, KC3.net, nFocus, Portech and Wiredforideas. Congratulations to them all for their achievement.