QuoStar celebrates record growth in 2022

We’re delighted to be celebrating another record year of growth at QuoStar, which includes developing the business across the UK and more than doubling our revenue.

With milestones including an impressive 40 new clients brought on board in 2022, revenue growth of 109% and 32 new people welcomed to the business, we are very pleased that the hard work and commitment of the whole QuoStar team has paid off.

In the last 12 months, we have taken more strides to expand the company across the country. In addition to our established Bournemouth and London offices, we have opened new premises in Leeds and will be announcing another location soon.

Our continued commitment to helping clients boost their business efficiencies and gain a competitive advantage was also reflected in our latest feedback survey, which showed an industry leading 99% client satisfaction for the fourth year in a row.

Other highlights of the past year included the announcement of our new partnership with AFC Bournemouth for the 2022/23 season. With many of our staff being big supporters of the Cherries, it has been a pleasure to work with the IT team at AFC Bournemouth to ensure cyber security is embedded in the club’s day-to-day operations.

Giving back to our communities is important to all of us at QuoStar, and we were happy to help raise £50,000 for regional charities close to our hearts, including Wessex Cancer Trust, AFC Bournemouth Cherries Community Fund, Dorset Mind, Lewis Manning Hospice Care, and MYTIME Young Carers.

QuoStar CEO Robert Rutherford said: “The last year is a clear example of what a committed, and talented team living genuine values and working in real partnership with colleagues and clients can deliver – for everyone. I’m genuinely excited knowing we’ve got bigger and better things coming in 2023, all revolving around delivering business outcomes to our clients, whilst also providing real opportunities for our teams to showcase their world-class capabilities. Onwards and upwards.”

2022 Record Year

Tech Trends: A view into 2022

View into 2022 tech trends

QuoStar CEO Robert Rutherford looks to the future, sharing his view of what’s going to be big for businesses this year.

Tech trends in 2022.

A shortage of tech talent will widen and rapidly develop the global IT skills market

There is a significant skill shortage in the UK from an IT perspective, which has been coming for some time due to numerous factors. The COVID crisis has certainly added fuel to the fire, as businesses have got used to working effectively with staff and 3rd party suppliers in a digital-only manner.  This will certainly push more and more businesses to outsource parts of IT service, development, and other IT projects to outside partners.

You’ll see many businesses reach overseas to where the talent lies at the perceived right price. However, they are going to have to be extremely careful, especially where service is involved. The management overhead is also often underestimated, both during start up and day to day operations. You really need experienced and proven managers and frameworks to get the overseas play correct. The lure of ‘cheap’ labour always has hidden costs.

 

Digital First a core strategy

Anything that can be done digitally will be getting real focus in 2022. In any new business and departmental strategy, or project that involves a process or a procedure (most, if not all), a digital solution will gain extra weight by default. This is going to be driven by a need to improve efficiency, margin, and security, whilst also improving the user or customer experience. Of course, a digital first strategy doesn’t mean that every operation and interaction must be digitised, but it must be considered.

It is important that digitisation isn’t viewed as simply purchasing technology to solve problems. It’s about understanding the operations and processes (systems) within a business operation and choosing the right technological change or transformation to achieve a business result that is both measurable and positive. This is certainly going to lead to a board having to really get to grips with the strategic use of IT, whilst also bringing in senior IT professionals, such as a CIO, into the core of the business decision making process.

 

CRM technologies and their uptake will develop quickly

CRM growth has been ramping over the last few years due to customers’ service demands and expectations. Again, due to COVID, the expectation for rapid and effective service in a personalised manner has increased. The fact that most markets have in effect got smaller due to globalisation, businesses are going to need to do more to mine and utilise their data to compete and hold market-share.

It should be noted that CRM is not simply an IT project. It’s really an organisational transformation piece that involves most of the business, and it can take a year or more to even begin to realise the true value it can deliver. Too many businesses have been flying out to ‘buy’ a CRM post-COVID, which will typically lead to a failed ‘business’ project.

 

Automation will become essential

Due to skills shortages and growing competition, businesses are going to need to get leaner and smarter in how their operations and services are delivered. AI and other technologies are certainly going to help, however businesses do need to take responsibility for truly understanding, mapping and measuring their processes. This is where organisations can protect, as well as increase their margins, plus improve employee and client satisfaction.

You are certainly going to see process improvement and automation come down into the small and mid-market, as margins get squeezed, as the world effect becomes smaller, and as the pace of change ramps – fuelled again by COVID. The demand for systems and business analysts is certainly going to rise, but again the UK is significantly disadvantaged due to a lack of strategy from successive governments. Businesses are often going to need to train and develop their own talent to deliver initial and ongoing value.

 

Improvement in the User Experience

Many industries have been really let down by their main Line of Business vendors, in terms of the Customer Experience (CX), support and product development. This is going to create real friction points due to the more fractured way of working. Software vendors and those providing services to customers online are really going to have to work hard to ensure their products and service offerings better fit the new working model, in terms of the user’s experience.

Businesses are also going to have to consider how easy it is for their staff to complete their duties, especially when working in a remote manner. Are they really as effective as they should be? Is their working experience acceptable? Can they get support when they need it, i.e. 24x7x365? There is a growing trend of staff leaving businesses where they feel the technology and support overlays are holding them back.

 

Cloud workloads move around

There’s been a rush to the cloud prior, and during the pandemic, particularly the public cloud, and predominately Microsoft Azure for day-to-day operations infrastructure and systems. However, the cloud markets move extremely quickly, and a single infrastructure doesn’t fit all workloads, in terms of functionality, security, performance, interoperability and price. The market is pushing private and public vendors to compete within these areas and thus splitting workloads between public and private cloud. A true hyper-connected hybrid model will typically deliver organisations the best value going forward, right now and ongoing.

 The rise of cloud multi-platform management, automation tools and the competitive landscape continues to drive innovation and creates specialist vendors and cloud providers. It’s continually becoming simpler to run, manage and migrate between different cloud vendors and platforms with ease. The shift is certainly empowering and aiding the customer. You’ll certainly see more workloads (not entire infrastructures) reverse out of the large public cloud providers into niche players who can deliver greater support, performance, and operational value to specific sectors.

 

ZTNA becomes the focus

The rapid escalation of remote working has dramatically increased the risk profile of a large percentage of operations. This will rapidly move the focus and ramp adoption of Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) – the Gartner coined term to enable greater control and security of network access.

Traditional VPN type connections are clunky and can be slow, they also consume significant resources, in terms of equipment and management overheads. Organisations will look to ZTNA to improve the granularity of control of their remote workforces’ access to corporate systems, whilst also simplifying it through ABAC (Attribute Based Access Control) and RBAC (Role Based Access Control). There’s too much to go into here but the rise of cybercrime led by organised gangs focused on monetary rewards means that every door must be locked shut, whilst also not hampering the user experience.

 

Cyber security becomes board’s problem

Many leadership teams have had some experience of cyber security, due to experiencing a painful incident or perhaps implementing Cyber Essentials (the very basics). However, due to the risk landscape being so huge, and the impact of a security incident being so great, boards are going to have to take the reins on risk management from a cyber security perspective. They are going to have to fully understand risks and controls, thus expect to see a ramp in the demand for Information Security Management Systems (ISMS’s) and the experience of a CISO.

If a board doesn’t insist on an ISMS to ensure that Information Security is managed appropriately then in reality, they are being negligent; regulators know that, as do customers and insurers. No longer can the board leave Information Security to the IT team, they are going to have to take direct responsibility for some of the largest risks their businesses face.

 

If you’d like to discuss improving your business IT in 2022 get in touch here. 

 

QuoStar launches 24/7/365 UK-based service desk as part of 2022 rapid growth trajectory

247 service

 

QuoStar is one of few UK businesses that is onshoring – while others offshore support facilities.

 

As a leading IT consulting and service provider we are now delivering 24/7/365 service desk support to provide clients with specialist assistance exactly when they need it. This additional UK based service provision has been bolstered by the raft of new, experienced hires that have been employed since November 2021.

Designed as part of our ongoing response to the impact of Covid-19, QuoStar understands that in today’s working world businesses are operating differently, so we have adapted our business model to suit the needs of our clients.

Today’s flexible and hybrid working means individuals are now working outside of the usual office hours, and they require support at any time to continue to work effectively and securely.

For Quostar, it’s not just about support – it’s the why.

A true UK based 24/7/365 operation means we can respond promptly, ensuring the security needs of clients can be managed around the clock and we can take a proactive approach to management and maintenance – which is far easier to carry out outside of a client’s working/open hours.

Having done away with the tradition method of having ‘First Line Support’ means the QuoStar Support team can be more efficient and clients get a better service. All staff are experienced from the first point of contact rather than just logging a ticket for issues to be dealt with in the morning.

The 24/7/365 service desk follows the launch of QuoStar’s on-demand CIO (Chief Information Officer) and CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) services last year, all focused on giving organisations the services they require to operate and compete in the new working world.

 

Robert Rutherford, CEO at QuoStar comments:

“IT services require more support and management than ever before as businesses try to settle between hybrid and in-person working models. Continuing to provide flexible and cost-effective solutions for our clients therefore remains a key priority for us this year. With our UK-based 24/7/365 service desk, we’re adding another tool for our customers to benefit from the support of our growing team of highly skilled professionals.”

“The last two years, whilst challenging, have brought the opportunity for us to assess our ability to remain agile and efficient as a business whilst making us more resilient to dealing with redefined ways of working. QuoStar aims to provide services that respond to our customer’s changing needs in the long term, and we’re ready to bring disruption to the market to achieve that.”

Please get in touch if you’d like to know how QuoStar can help your business.