Introduction
In an increasingly digital business landscape, one aspect remains paramount: the efficiency and effectiveness of your business processes. One key player in optimising these is SharePoint Workflows. This robust tool aids businesses by automating routine processes, thereby enhancing productivity and streamlining operations.
Understanding SharePoint Workflows
SharePoint Workflows is a powerful feature of Microsoft SharePoint that automates business processes, making them more efficient and reliable. Essentially, it’s like an automated flowchart that takes much of the labour and guesswork out of your regular business procedures. Workflows can automate processes for a wide range of business activities, from document approval to system notifications and beyond.
The Transformative Power of SharePoint Workflows
The true power of SharePoint Workflows lies in its potential to significantly transform your business processes. Imagine, for example, a standard document approval process. Traditionally, this involves manual tasks such as sending emails, setting reminders, and chasing feedback. With Workflows, these tasks can be automated, ensuring consistency, saving time, and significantly reducing the risk of human error.
Key Benefits of Implementing SharePoint Workflows
By harnessing the power of Workflows, your business can reap significant benefits:
Enhanced Efficiency
Workflows minimises manual tasks, allowing your team to focus on more strategic, value-adding activities.
Improved Accuracy
By reducing human intervention, the possibility of errors is drastically diminished.
Increased Accountability
Each step in the workflow is logged, creating a transparent process and ensuring accountability.
Example Scenario
Consider a small architectural firm, ‘EcoDesign Architects’. They regularly need to send blueprints for approval, which used to involve a tedious manual process of sending emails, tracking responses, and ensuring timely approval. By implementing SharePoint Workflows, EcoDesign Architects automated this process. As a result, their operations became smoother, the approval process was expedited, and the team saved a significant amount of time, which they redirected towards creative endeavours.
Implementing Workflows in Your Business
Incorporating Workflows in your business processes may initially require an investment in time and resources to configure the workflows to your specific needs. But the long-term gains in efficiency, productivity, and accuracy are well worth the effort.
Remember, Workflows isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. The true value of SharePoint Workflows is its flexibility and adaptability to align with your unique business processes.
Conclusion
In the ever-evolving business landscape, Workflows is a vital tool for businesses looking to enhance efficiency, productivity, and growth. By automating routine tasks, businesses can reduce errors, increase accountability, and ultimately, drive business growth. Experience the transformative power of SharePoint Workflows and set your business on the path to sustained success.
How Emerge Digital Can Help
At Emerge Digital, we recognise the potential of SharePoint Workflows to transform your business processes. As experienced IT strategists, our team can work closely with you to understand your specific business needs, tailoring Workflows to align with your processes.
Our aim is to help you harness the power of Workflows, ultimately facilitating an environment that promotes increased efficiency, profitability, and sustainable business growth.
Interested in transforming your business processes with SharePoint Workflows? Let’s start a conversation today. Contact Emerge Digital to learn more about how we can support your journey towards optimised business performance.
Introduction
How co-managed IT support provided relief for Metrasens’ internal IT department
The Client
Metrasens are the world’s leading provider of advanced detection technologies for security and safety applications. Their core technologies, combined with tailored solutions, address the deficiencies in conventional screening methods.
The business has two main sites; one in the UK and one in the US. Until now, the businesses IT functions have operated independently. Going forward the desire is to integrate the business so that there is a common operating platform across the whole business. As part of this objective, the business decided to introduce a global technology partner in the form of Emerge Digital, who are guiding Metrasens by using a Digital Business Strategy.
The Challenge
Metrasens employ a lean, in-house IT function with responsibility for both the UK and US sites. The main focus is to make improvements to Metrasens’ business systems, including software, processes, and IT infrastructure. However, due to the growth rate of the business in recent years and its corresponding headcount increase, the IT function was facing increasing demand in supporting employees with software and hardware issues that they faced on a daily basis.
The Solution
We worked with Metrasens to design a solution which reduced the amount of support tickets that their in-house IT function has to handle. Our First and Second Line Service Desk Engineers took on the responsibility as first point of contact to solve employee issues –VPN and connectivity issues, password resets, printer issues – as well as server maintenance and patching.
We gave Metrasens access to our 24/7 helpdesk, meaning the US site always had someone at hand to solve issues when the UK site was closed. The Metrasens team could also login to a portal which contained live ticket data, so they could look at the trends and monitor ticket completion.
After they were onboarded as a support client, we also assisted Metrasens with a substantial SharePoint project. We worked with them to design a SharePoint structure, and then we migrated the files to there from an on-premise server. We set up user permissions, and trained all of the employees on how to get the most out of SharePoint.
"We have a very positive relationship with Emerge Digital – it’s a truly collaborative and transparent partnership. By outsourcing First and Second Line tickets to their best-in-class Service Desk, they’ve enabled us to focus on improving our core infrastructure, increasing the efficiency of our business."
Dave Barnes, IT Systems Manager - Metrasens
The Outcome
By taking weight off of the internal IT department and dealing with common issues, we ensured they could focus a greater amount of time on improvements to software and processes. As a bonus, with assistance from our Infrastructure Specialists, Metrasens was able to research, design, and source new on-premise infrastructure equipment. This project will significantly improve the reliability and efficiency of their infrastructure, minimizing downtime and maximizing employee productivity.
During 2022, our Service Desk managed to reduce the average number of monthly tickets from over 50, down to 20. This has been achieved by the due diligence of our engineers, who deal with the root causes of issues, rather than simply patching up the problem.
Introduction
How a scalable and secure IT infrastructure empowered Clover HR’s rapid growth
The Client
Clover HR is a human resources consultancy dedicated to providing a wide range of HR services to businesses across Worcestershire. The company, which originated in and is based in Worcester, has since expanded to other areas while continuing to support local businesses through site visits, coaching, and other supportive services. Clover HR prides itself on being an integral part of their clients’ teams, providing the flexibility to scale services up or down as needed and filling skills gaps within their clients’ teams.
The team at Clover HR consists of highly experienced HR professionals who offer end-to-end support to clients, aiming to help them focus on growing their business while maintaining compliance with employment law. Through honest, focused, responsive, and innovative HR support, they aim to transform people problems into solutions, enabling their clients to be employers of choice with an engaged and motivated workforce. They invest in highly qualified and experienced consultants, pairing clients with a consultant that fits their specific business needs and requirements.
The Challenge
Clover HR, a thriving company experiencing rapid growth, faced significant challenges with their existing IT infrastructure provided by a smaller Managed Service Provider (MSP). The company’s complex business model included full-time, part-time employees, and consultants, all of whom required access to the IT infrastructure. Their system’s unreliable access and subpar performance were holding the business back and preventing them from taking full advantage of modern technology.
Furthermore, Clover HR had aspirations to work towards the ISO 27001 standard, requiring an IT solution that would not only accommodate their diverse workforce but also support their ambitious growth plan and increasing demands for enhanced security.
"Working with Emerge Digital has been a game-changer for our business. Their innovative solutions and meticulous onboarding process enabled us to seamlessly transition to a modern, scalable IT infrastructure that supports our diverse workforce. Their unwavering commitment to service excellence has allowed us to focus on our ambitious growth plans with confidence, knowing that we have a solid technological foundation in place."
Michael Doolin, Group Managing Director - Clover HR
The Solution
Emerge Digital proposed a comprehensive, bespoke IT support solution tailored to the unique needs of Clover HR. The strategy involved adopting Microsoft 365 for full-time staff, with their devices connected to Azure Active Directory, enabling them to access essential resources securely. For non-staff members using their own devices, Azure Virtual Desktops provided a suitable compromise, offering access to the same resources without compromising the full-time staff’s user experience.
The project involved a smooth migration to Azure Active Directory, Intune, Defender, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. This transition ensured a secure and feature-rich environment for full-time employees. Meanwhile, the Azure Virtual Desktop environment provided part-time staff and contractors with the essential tools and access they needed while maintaining security.
Emerge Digital’s meticulous onboarding process involved close collaboration with Clover HR, addressing any challenges with the existing provider and infrastructure. Employees received hands-on support and training to help them adapt to the new technologies, resulting in a positive onboarding experience.
"Emerge Digital's expertise and bespoke approach transformed our IT infrastructure, allowing us to focus on our rapid growth. The team's dedication to understanding our unique needs and delivering a secure, reliable, and efficient solution has been invaluable. Our employees now have the tools they need to thrive and communicate effectively."
Morgan West, Commercial Operations Manager - Clover HR
The Outcome
With the implementation of the new IT infrastructure by Emerge Digital, Clover HR has witnessed a transformative shift in their daily operations. The new system offers a high-performance, reliable, and secure foundation that is not only scalable to align with the company’s rapid growth but also fosters an environment conducive to innovation.
Clover HR is now empowered to operate more efficiently and maintain robust communication among staff, while concurrently working towards achieving the ISO 27001 standard. The employees have wholeheartedly welcomed this change, hailing it as a “breath of fresh air” and appreciating the seamless onboarding process facilitated by Emerge Digital.
This new IT infrastructure serves as a springboard for Clover HR’s ambitious growth plans. It gives them with the confidence of having a robust technology system that will bolster their aspirations every step of the way.
Introduction
Service Level Agreements (SLAs) have long been a crucial component of IT managed services, defining the expectations and standards of service between clients and providers. However, traditional SLAs often fall short in addressing the dynamic nature of modern businesses, relying on rigid response times and issue prioritisation that may not reflect the real-world impact of IT problems.
At Emerge Digital, we believe it’s time for a change. Our adaptive SLA approach shifts the focus from standardised metrics to the actual impact on your business, ensuring that we address the most pressing issues first.
Our Unique SLA Strategy
Whilst we have some standard SLAs in place that provides a foundation to our framework, our adaptive approach evaluates and prioritises tickets based on their effect on your business operations. This means we can quickly identify and resolve issues that could have significant consequences, such as delaying crucial sales or impacting your reputation.
For example, a printer malfunction may typically be considered a low-priority issue. However, if you need to print a vital contract for a significant deal, this seemingly minor problem becomes a top priority. Our adaptive SLA strategy recognises these nuances, allowing us to allocate resources and respond effectively to the challenges that matter most to your business.
This client-centric approach not only ensures that we address high-impact issues promptly, but it also fosters a stronger partnership between our team and your business, as we work together to achieve your goals.
Real-Life Examples
To illustrate the benefits of our adaptive SLA approach, let’s explore some real-life examples where this strategy has made a difference.
The Urgent Printer Problem
As mentioned earlier, a printer malfunction may not seem like a critical issue. However, one of our clients faced a time-sensitive situation where they needed to print and contract for a significant new client. Recognising the urgency and business impact, our adaptive SLA approach allowed us to prioritise this issue, swiftly resolving the problem and enabling the client to secure the deal.
Critical Software Crash
A software crash affecting a single user might not typically be considered high-priority. However, in this instance, the user in question was a key decision-maker working on a crucial presentation for potential investors. Our adaptive SLA strategy identified the high-impact nature of the issue, and our team quickly resolved it, allowing the executive to complete their presentation and impress the investors.
The Overlooked Network Outage
In a traditional SLA setup, a partial network outage affecting a small number of users might be treated as a medium-priority issue. However, one of our clients experienced an outage that, while impacting only a few employees, directly affected their ability to process time-sensitive financial transactions. Our adaptive SLA approach recognised the significant business consequences of this seemingly limited problem. We swiftly prioritised the issue, restoring the network connection and enabling the client to complete the transactions within the required timeframe, thus preserving their financial integrity and reputation.
Benefits of Adaptive SLAs
The advantages of our adaptive SLA approach are numerous, including:
Improved responsiveness to business-critical issues
By prioritising tickets based on their impact on your business, we can respond more effectively to the challenges that matter most.
Enhanced client satisfaction
Our adaptive SLAs demonstrate our commitment to understanding your business and addressing your unique needs, fostering a more productive and satisfying partnership.
Better alignment of IT support with business goals
By focusing on the impact of issues, our approach ensures that our IT support is geared towards achieving your business objectives.
More efficient use of resources
Adaptive SLAs enable us to allocate resources where they’re needed most, ensuring swift resolutions and minimising downtime for high-impact issues.
Conclusion
At Emerge Digital, we believe that our adaptive SLA approach is the future of IT managed services. By prioritising tickets based on their effect on your business, we can better support your goals and help you thrive in a competitive landscape. If you’re interested in learning more about how our adaptive SLAs can benefit your business, don’t hesitate to contact us for a consultation or more information about our services. Together, we can redefine success and maximise your business impact.
Looking to outsource some of your technology for a co-managed IT experience, and to empower your IT team with the right tools? We’ve created a concise guide that introduces the must-have tools for co-managed IT teams, helping you streamline collaboration and enhance efficiency. Here’s what we cover:
Must-Have Tools for Co-Managed IT Teams
• An in-depth look at shared ticketing systems, highlighting their importance and benefits for internal IT teams.
• An overview of knowledge bases for password and configuration management, emphasising their role in co-managed IT environments.
• A comprehensive guide to reporting dashboards, focusing on their significance in tracking ticket statistics and performance insights.
“By leveraging these tools, IT managers can not only streamline their operations but also maximise the value they receive from their MSP relationship.”
Download the Co-Managed IT Tools eBook
Read more about our Remote IT Support service
The Service Desk at the core of our operations provides remote IT support services, with specialist engineers equipped to handle various technologies and complexity levels. ITIL-aligned processes and Service Level Agreements ensure a high-quality service, with our technology toolkit enabling remote device access and proactive issue resolution. Our certified engineers, multifaceted Service Desk, and self-service Client Portal offer comprehensive and adaptable IT solutions for businesses.
About Emerge Digital
Emerge Digital is a technology and digital innovation business and Managed Services Provider (MSP) which provides solutions to SMEs that drive efficiency, competitiveness, and profit.
Using our comprehensive solutions – including outsourced IT support, cyber security, cloud infrastructure, and innovative technologies like process automation and data visualisation – we enable businesses to invest in technology that supports them in achieving their goals.
