Simon Dawson

Great to have my article “Integrating AI: Opportunities and Challenges” part of the latest Northern Insight magazine on behalf of Leighton https://lnkd.in/eZxwSpBY #AI #AWS #Serverless

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Uncover strategic data opportunities in the face of regulatory challenges. Discover how CFOs, CIOs, and CTOs play critical roles in aligning technology investments with data strategy. Find out more in PwC UK research.

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COMPUTER WEEKLY: Decade-long IR35 dispute between IT contractor and HMRC prompts calls for off-payroll revamp Reporting by Caroline Donnelly on the recent upper-tier tribunal decision that has seen the decision in RALC Consulting set aside, and returned back to the first-tier tribunal, for a fresh hearing - 14 years after the engagements under the spotlight were executed. Richard Alcock was just a guy, trying to make a living, and wanted to start his own consultancy, and did. He later hired people. He was going for it. He was planting a business seed - just like other business founders. But, the litigation by HMRC killed his entreprenurial dream. In my view, it's not right small businesses lose to HMRC, simply because HMRC litigators have unlimited access to the public purse and appear to have adopted a "purse at all costs" strategy. We've seen how they chased Kaye Adams through four tribunals, and fielded three barristers at the final hearing, along with the lawyers and inspectors to try and win. We are in David & Goliath territory, and the individuals who enter appeals proceedings face unlimited legal firepower by the state. And, when they don't make the mistakes (the judges do), the taxpayer is the one suffering financial loss. How is that treating taxpayers fairly? I assisted with the case, and was at the original FTT for all 3 days, and I heard everything that was said. The judge got it. RALC Consulting was not just some PSC stuck between two parties to save tax. It was a real business, and the relationship was a business-to-business one. HMRC were there too. They must have got it. But, the decision write up was open to attack, so in the HMRC lawyers went again, pursuing the taxpayer, at all costs. It has an air of Post Office about it. #ir35 #offpayroll

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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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COMPUTER WEEKLY: Outside IR35: What the Autumn Budget’s Employers’ NI changes mean for IT contractors Great piece by Caroline Donnelly on the impact of NICs changes on the contractors. There are many pressures on firms that lead to restructuring their resources, of which tax is only one. In my view, the Employment Rights Bill is likely to have a larger effect than NICs changes, bolstering increased moves by firms to hire off-payroll rather than hire employees. The market for employees is shrinking for many reasons - one massive one being AI. Firms who aren't using AI as digitial assistants are less productive than ones who are. The productivity gains are huge, enabling firms to either expand without hiring more workers, or shrink headcounts whilst satisfying workload. Labours intent with the ERB is admirable, but IMHO, all it will lead to is more automation, job losses, and less hiring, as firms move to alternative models of working. And, where humans are needed, packaging up work as deliverables and outsourcing to contractors is attractive. The case law on tax status is settled (PGMOL - Sep 2024 - Supreme Court). Firms can engage off-payroll now, but they need to adapt to models that minimise the risk of interference from HMRC. #ir35 #budget2024 #offpayroll #employerNICs.

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Episode 11 of Softcat plc's Explain IT podcast is here, and we're discussing Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. 👨‍💻 From keeping it secure to effective management, listen to our experts now: https://okt.to/wgF1n8 #ExplainIT #SoftcatPodcast #VDI

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I read in an article last week in The Register, that the UK Government are spending over £245.5million to keep old legacy IT systems working. Apparently there are over 600 different systems at HMRC alone, most of which Microsoft no longer support. Many small businesses often find themselves stuck in a similar limbo, clinging to outdated systems instead of embracing new technology. This often leads to inefficiencies and missed opportunities for growth. Whether you're using dated CRM technology like older versions of Act!, Goldmine or Maximizer, or just feeling the strain of your current setup, it's time to consider a change. At SymVolli, we get it. Off-the-shelf software often doesn’t cut it for businesses with unique needs. Our business management systems are designed to provide tailored support, ensuring every aspect of your business—from customer management, sales forecasting , stock control and ordering to cost management and delivery—is handled with precision and efficiency. Paired with our expert business consultants, we can help you create systems and processes that simplify your business, giving you more time to focus on what's important.

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HM Revenue & Customs has made provision for an £81m spend on Microsoft #Azure services with IT reseller Softcat plc - a contract with an initial three-year term and an option to extend for a further 12 months under Crown Commercial Service’s Technology Products and Associated Services 2 framework. The move reflects HMRC’s long term migration of #legacy #systems to the Azure cloud, which has seen the rehosting of a number of business services. https://lnkd.in/esWD5EvG 

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IT Empathy ® consulting and IT Support services bring much needed flexible leadership, experience, know-how, broad skills and advice to business digital technology and IT projects. https://lnkd.in/eBQjT6f6 #IT #Technology #UK #Business #ITSupport #ITProjects #Projects #rail #Innovation #Cybersecurity #empathy

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Emma Walker and Karen Alford from Environment Agency share their story in the latest "Current" magazine about how the Datastore, Rules and Visualisation (DRV) service supports managing asset data. Page 7: https://lnkd.in/eMgfAwc3 "The Asset Information Management System DRV service has been designed to ensure that when assets are being designed and built, data and information about them meets Environment Agency's requirements, is managed in a structured way and handed over to operations in a timely manner". Integrated and high quality data is important for effective asset management. 1Spatial are working with Environment Agency to deliver the DRV service. #1spatial #environmentagency #dataquality #dataintegration #informationmanagement #datamanagement #infrastructure #builtenvironment #assetmanagement #datasharing #datagovernance #assurance #supplychain #datastandards #cobie

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Take-aways - Azure RPA and Power Automate can do a great job *but* there are gotchas that you can avoid if you take the right approach. As Nick says below - let's talk through your use case and see if we can help. #intelligentautomation #rpa #jumar #microsoft

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Do your board papers include a scorecard on the state of your data centre? If not then have your CIO click the link below to complete a quiz on the current state of your data centre infrastructure. https://buff.ly/3T51SsE

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Do your board papers include a scorecard on the state of your data centre? If not then have your CIO click the link below to complete a quiz on the current state of your data centre infrastructure. https://buff.ly/3T51SsE

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Do your board papers include a scorecard on the state of your data centre? If not then have your CIO click the link below to complete a quiz on the current state of your data centre infrastructure. https://buff.ly/3T51SsE

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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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