Company Background
Name: Andrew Muir
Position: Co-founder and CEO
Company: FarrPoint
Can you give us a little background on your company please?
FarrPoint is an independent technology consultancy that excels in the provision of pragmatic, independent advice on how to plan, source and implement digital technology. We have four pillars of service: strategic advice and high level technical designs; specification and sourcing; implementation management; and technical assurance and reviews.
We work with major organisations in the public and private sectors primarily across the UK but our reach is global. Our clients range from Kwik Fit, Total and Clarks Shoes to the Scottish Government, NHS, SQA and London Borough of Greenwich.
Tell us about a business challenge you have faced (new product designed/client challenge/etc)?
ACCA is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification. Over the last 18 months they have made a considerable investment in contact centre and customer relationship management solutions. ACCA approached FarrPoint for external assistance to help with the review of their contact centre technologies operational support to ensure that the centre aligned with good practice and business strategy.
What was your solution?
We completed an end-to-end review of the existing solution, looking at key aspects including business functions, technical solutions and supplier, contracts, and support processes. The review was used to generate a detailed understanding of how the solution operated and to identify current challenges and opportunities.
From a baseline, a number of views were taken of the solution from the perspective of good practice and ACCA’s stated business strategy. This resulted in observations of the solution’s design, how support for it had evolved over time, and what could be improved to aid ongoing business change.
On the back of these findings, we developed a report detailing the conclusions and recommendations which was presented to the ACCA team and gave short, medium and long-term initiatives, along with the budgetary costs and benefits.
Tell us about the benefits of your solution to the initial problem?
Our work enabled ACCA to clearly understand the extent and capability of the existing technology investment and highlighted those areas that could be improved to provide further business benefits and cost savings.
Why did you join ScotlandIS?
Our work covers a wide range of sectors and disciplines but digital is at the heart of everything we do. ScotlandIS does great work on our behalf championing issues that matter to our business and our clients.
What have you gained from being a ScotlandIS member?
We have been to a number of excellent events organised and hosted by ScotlandIS. There are lots of networking opportunities and it’s great to meet other people in the industry.