Carl Dawson

Something I've been pondering for a number of years and finally got irritated enough to post... How have IT suppliers, especially SAAS providers, managed to remove the concept of a resolution time from their service contracts? Clients pay them to deliver a service and yet, retain all the risk for the supplier not delivering, even when suffering significant service impact. The only material element that is offered is what they pass off directly down to the Cloud suppliers, Availability, retaining no risk themselves for the pain that they can inflict through bad management of services delivered by them. Surely it is within the supplier's gift to restore services to the last known working configuration within a decent timeframe so clients can manage the expectations of their customers? I get, with shared code bases, that actual fixes can be difficult to estimate and guarantee, but restoration should be manageable and actually represent a supplier's confidence in the ability to deliver its services to its clients. Time to push back against this?

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Did you know that IBMs Watson provides us with AI generated insights at Wimbledon? ➡ By combining the power of hybrid cloud and enterprise-grade AI, IBM transform over 2.7 million Wimbledon data points into insights, automates key business processes and secures Wimbledon's digital operations. ➡ This year, some of the most compelling stories of the tournament will be told with the help of IBM watsonx, the enterprise-ready generative AI platform. ➡ AI-powered fact sheets are used to generate meaningful insights – including a player’s likelihood to win their upcoming match-up. 😲 #ai #wimbledon #ibmwatson #watsonx

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Here we go... European Microsoft Fabric Community Conference kicks off with an Tutorial day. For me that means a dive in to the unicorn #microsoftfabric with the aim to see if it can replace our DWH that.is killing my budget.. #FabConEurope #microsoft #dwh #data #BC #businesscentral

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Very much looking forward to Thursday evening's roundtable on the topic of #DORAcompliance. With the 17th January 2025 rapidly approaching, Stott and May Consulting felt that a 'Chatham House Rule' event for our customers and industry relevant counterparts, will help to open up the conversation and extinguish some of the blind concerns that may be shared amoungst various institutions. ✔️Explore methodologies to streamline compliance across the enterprise ✔️Identify future anticipated concerns & brainstorm practical solutions ✔️Share hurdles to progress to date & actionable advice ✔️Share recommendations on how best to document your journey ✔️The potential penalties on non-compliance & communicating internally ✔️Ideate on how best to acquire the resources required for DORA We have a slight overflow of attendees due to popularity of the topic - if anyone is interested in attending our 2nd session, feel free to reach out and we can discuss. #DORA #ITprofessionalservices #stottandmay #DigitalOperationalResilienceAct

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At BJSS, #newcastleupontyne, serving the #northeast region, we are at the start of an exciting new journey onboarding another #newcustomer this week. We are looking forward to working with them to #solve their #complex #technologyproblems as their #endtoend #deliverypartner. As part of our recent #rebrand in May 2024, our teams have been working extremely hard and are continuing to do so to #showcase the #amazingwork our #talentedtechnologists have #delivered and #achieved in #collaboration with our #amazingcustomers through case studies on our new website, take a look: https://lnkd.in/eFgD8jFj Every #organisation is under pressure to #domore, #faster, and with #reducedresource. Through our #consultingservices and #expertise, we drive #innovation, #accelerategrowth and #increaseefficiency. For more than #30years, we've prided ourselves on solving problems through #technicalexcellence and finding #solutions where others have failed. If you are currently facing such a #technologyproblem, please come and speak with us, our many case studies demonstrate that we can help. #northeastbusiness #trustedadvisors #trustedpartners #technologystrategyandinnovation #customerexperience #product #design #technologydelivery #managedservices #softwareengineering #artificalintelligence #data #cloudandplatform #cybersecurity

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84% of UK business leaders are facing the issue of an IT and tech skills shortage. Discover more findings in our independent report #IT #Skilsgaps #technews

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Long term sustainable success in your career is not possible without having a balance outside of work. "Balance" means different things to different people but these sessions will help identify what balance looks like for you.

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Take a journey with us this week and learn a little something about #DigitalTransformation 👇

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Hello. I am new on this post (D365 F&O) and apologies in advance if this has been asked/answered. What do most organisations with F&O do to get Finance reporting? Is there a solution that does most ground work and needs some work to get reports ready? Or Do organisations see Microsoft MDP / PowerBI as a way to deliver Reports? I am not surprised if Microsoft expects it to be the latter. Any steer will be great. I am looking for a solution (Not Atlas Reporting, nor Jet Reporting) if one exists.

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Every week I send out a teams message to my team on Monday and Friday morning that can be read within 15-30 seconds. Why? To frame the week, highlight key points decisions, remind people of where we are making progress and - most important of all - to remind us all to make sure we have balance between the ebb and flow of work and life without taking up too much time itself. I've been doing this for years and found these regular call points really help me to pause and reflect, which I think we don’t do enough of in these busy times. What do you do with your teams to enable reflection?

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𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿-𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂: 𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘐𝘛, 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺. Yes, you read that right: Every. Day. What's even more alarming? Nearly a quarter of these were inadvertently enabled by people, with attackers using methods like phishing (where they trick you into clicking malicious links) and exploiting remote services to sneak into systems. Attackers are getting smarter, using everyday tools on your computer to carry out what's known as 'living-off-the-land' attacks. They manipulate accounts and software vulnerabilities, and even trick employees into giving them access. The faster these incidents are reported, the quicker they can be stopped. On average, severe issues were reported in about 36 minutes – that's quick, but every second counts. Despite a drop in high-severity incidents, the risk hasn't decreased. Cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated and damaging. It's crucial to not just have cyber security protection but to make sure it’s managed by experienced professionals. Automated tools are great, but I believe human expertise is irreplaceable for spotting and stopping the smartest attacks. As always, our advice is to 1) make sure everyone on your team knows the basics of cyber security, 2) have experts monitor your systems (the LCS Team can help with this), and 3) to keep your software up to date to avoid vulnerabilities. Get in touch if we can help you. https://lnkd.in/eux6v3mV #BusinessSecurity #CyberAware #TechHelp https://lnkd.in/eAqrzBfR

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What are you doing to have fun at work today? Strange question? Not really. I don't believe fun is a privilege but rather a requirement for an effective team and workplace. We recently introduced JustFit - totally voluntary for my team but about 10 or so of us gather at midday and do a few minutes of exercise - some mountain climbers, squats, leg raises. We increase the reps each week and change the exercises each month. We invariably have a laugh - It is fun and only takes a few minutes. We have a 'scrum' each day. The focus is issues of the day (what are the things that are or potentially will affect our ability to trade effectively), what can we do to help each other, general communication but it inevitably ends in fun - lots of laughs to release tension and give us a pep up. So back to my original question - what are you doing to have fun at work today?

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🗞️Checkout our latest article in The Business Post North West on why SMEs should partner with local IT experts ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/e9nxMeWx BBP Media #Northwest #ManagedITServices #ITConsultants #ITExperts #GreystonTechnology

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The below article also has a link to our Free Business IT Health Check- https://lnkd.in/eK3n6_hM #Free #ITHealthCheck #GreystoneTechnology

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Have you considered moving to Cloud Computing? Virtual Desktops mean your office can operate anywhere, simply login to your office from multiple devices anywhere https://bit.ly/47h6wtw #CloudComputing #Azure #ITSupport #Microsoft #VirtualDesktop

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The losses at Birmingham City Council are quite staggering, and could top £200 million - for the implementation of a piece of software. OK, it's complicated stuff, but what should have cost £19 million will be 10x more. Why? I'm sure a public enquiry will find out, but is this the right way to implement technology in local government? From my experience, in local government and healthcare, we leave individual councils and health authorities to make the same mistakes over and over. Where is the shared knowledge and learning? I believe that the government should offer IT services to councils and build country-wide centres of excellence that can gain from the economies of scale - both knowledge and financial savings. Then councils can get on and do what they should be doing - looking after local people. The UK needs a total rethink on the delivery of IT within the public sector, because the skills needed are clearly lacking and the degree of complexity (plus implications of getting it wrong are so huge) are increasing exponentially. Time for a change. https://lnkd.in/eRtcYhyh

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PlatformCon 2024 5 key takeaways from Colin Humphreys' presentation. 1) Employ a "Product Mindset" 2) Find The Right Abstractions For Your Organisation 3) Democratise Your Platform 4) Everywhere is Brownfield, Everything is Complex 5) Day One is Easy, Day Two Thousand is Hard https://lnkd.in/gTaVE7KP

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It’s a great privilege and exciting challenge working with leading consumer and retail businesses, supporting their teams in delivering business critical transformation, navigating through the complexity, and helping make the change reality. Sound like a challenge you’re facing? Our transformers would love to help and make a difference for you! Don’t just take our word for it #Transformers #Businesstransformation #Changemanagement #Realchangerealdifference #Programmemanagement

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Salesforce World Tour London report: The Salesforce platform has been central to our recent digital improvements, so it was important for some of the St Albans City & District Council transformation team to go to the Salesforce World Tour today to see what’s new. Answer: a lot, not least a very slick demo of how Aston Martin use Salesforce to promote and personalise their cars for individuals https://lnkd.in/eGikr-kX. The scale of the event is quite dizzying, and while we went to a lot of stuff we couldn't do it all. AI was of course central, with the message being that you can trust our version (subtext: not to swear at your residents, or repackage their personal data for other customers). We heard a really good presentation from Eastleigh (James Battle) and North Lincolnshire Councils about how they had used Salesforce to bring their various data sources together to enhance services and reduce the number of different systems they have. There were lots of goodies here that we could use for better services for our residents and businesses, depending on the affordability and value for money for a district council like ours. Well done to our team Billy Senior Monique F. Harry Graham and Charlotte Aspinall for all the hard work, and also for the obligatory pose with the crazy Salesforce-type creatures.

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