News

July 2011 – OCD Competition Winner

Congratulations to Derek Clark of Interserve Scotland who won the prize draw for two bottles of wine. Derek (pictured below with other members of his team) was picked out as the lucky winner from a group of people who took part in the Social Media questionairre.

March 2011–Bill Grier joins OCD as Head of Business Development  in further team expansion….

Introduction by Kevin Ashcroft, Managing Director of OCD, IT Support and Solutions.

I am delighted to announce that as part of our continued expansion, Bill Grier has joined OCD as the Head of Business Development.

Bill’s remit is to build the existing sales team and Client base further as well as to manage the existing Clients at OCD.

He has many years experience in business development and is a key appointment in the company’s progress.

Bill has provided a short BIO below, welcome aboard Bill, we’re delighted to have you back:

“It all started with an engineering apprenticeship. From there I taught engineering and developed that to teaching computer skills. They say that, if you can’t do it; teach it, and if you can’t teach it; sell it, and coincidentally I moved into a sales position in the late ‘80s where I sold Computer Aided Design solutions for 8 years before moving into the, then embryonic, Telecommunications sector where I worked with some major operators.

I returned to the IT world in 2003 and this was my first experience of OCD. I had a split role as Operations Manager and Sales Executive which was an interesting mix. I moved on in 2005 since when I’ve been involved with some large Systems Integrators, even spent some quality time with a specialist in Information Security and Governance.

I like to say my engineering background gives me an ordered mind but there are those who would suggest I’m more of an obsessive compulsive so I suppose the return to OCD isn’t really a surprise.

In all of the millennia I’ve been around the Scottish market I’ve been ably supported by Jean, my wife of nearly 40 years; we have two daughters both running their own companies and I have a granddaughter, Hannah, who is the light that illuminates my soul, and not forgetting Bailey our Cocker Spaniel who is of the opinion, rightly, that he comes before me in the pecking order.

When I met Kevin a few weeks ago for dinner and we discussed the plans he has for OCD, I was excited by the potential and wanted to be a part of the future at OCD.  We have plans to take the company to even greater heights so the sky’s the limit right now. It’s great to be back at OCD, watch this space!”

February 2011– IT Helpdesk team expansion….

As part of our continued expansion we are pleased to announce the recent recruitment of Owen Maginnis.

Owen is a recent school leaver who joins our ITIL operated helpdesk team to deal with 1st line technical call logging and technical support updates for Clients.

We all wish Owen well for his future at OCD, welcome aboard Owen!

June 2010 – OCD Competition Winner

Congratulations to Robert Angrove of SCIAF who won the prize draw for a copy of Office Professional 2007. Robert (as pictured below with our Business Devlopment Manager John Coyle) was picked out as the lucky winner from a group of people who correctly answered the question that was in the June OCD newsletter.

April 2010 – Continuing to expand in the recession, new IT Engineer joins OCD to provide 2nd line support services.

We are pleased to announce our newest team member Stuart Cambridge who takes position as one of our 2nd line support engineers.

Whilst many other companies are contracting, OCD continue to expand and have added to our IT Support and IT Service department with the introduction of Stuart.

We wish Stuart all the best and we’re sure he will provide you with the best possible service.

OCD provides peace of mind IT support and services from it’s Glasgow offices to companies and charities throughout Scotland and the North of England.

February 2010 – Everything going to plan….

As part of our continued expansion we are pleased to announce the recent recruitment of John Coyle.

John joins as a business development manager and brings over twenty years of experience in business development and sales in the IT infrastructure and IT support market.

“John joins us at an exciting time in the company’s continued expansion” comments Kevin Ashcroft, managing director of OCD.

In the last twelve months, OCD has grown to become one of the leading providers of IT support and services in Scotland.

As increasing numbers of organisations recognise that most IT support arrangements rarely deliver the levels of reliability and systems availability they need to operate effectively, the feedback we get is that we are a breath of fresh air and deliver on what we promise.

“I am very pleased to have joined OCD. This is an exciting company that is really changing the level of service Clients can expect with its proactive support model,” adds John Coyle.

In a recent study, an independent research company audited our support performance against the information they could find about the average support service in the UK. We are delighted to report, that on average, companies supported by OCD are 59 percent less likely to suffer a systems failure or incident than average.

“It’s this genuinely proactive approach that makes OCD different.  Joining a company that has an ever growing file of case studies makes it a real pleasure to talk to potential Clients, I’m really looking forward to the future with OCD,” comments John Coyle.

January 2010– Where do you go if your IT support company fails?

2008 and 2009 have been very tough years for all businesses.

Inevitably there are casualties when we go through this amount of change.

In the last couple of weeks two IT companies in the central belt have gone into liquidation, Axiom Business Computers in Glasgow and RFL Group in Stirling.

Our thoughts are obviously with the staff who will be going through a very difficult time, however, our thoughts are also with the Clients of those companies who don’t know where they will niw source vital IT Support and service .

IT is crucial to almost all businesses now and being without proper support and advice can be very dangerous.

OCD have been providing IT Support and IT Service for over 15 years, so should you need help we are here to get you through this time of transition.

We have flexible IT Support plans which are designed to suit businesses of all sizes, don’t hesitate to contact us on 0141 771 5069 or via our contact form here.

In the meantime, we hope everyone at Axiom Business Computers and RFL Group find alternative employment as soon as possible.

December 2009 – Continuing to expand in the recession, new IT helpdesk recruit.

We are pleased to announce our newest team member Alastair Syme who takes position as one of our helpdesk engineers.

Whilst many other companies are contracting, OCD continue to expand and have added to our IT Support and IT Service department with the introduction of Alastair.

We wish Alastair all the best and we’re sure he will provide you with the best possible service.

December 2009 – Scotland on Sunday article

OCD’s Kevin Ashcroft comments in the Scotland on Sunday on the lifetime value of Clients to our IT Support company and why it makes more sense to look at the bigger picture over a longer term.

Put the work in up front and build rapport and more importantly trust.

Click here for the article.

October 2009 – Scotland on Sunday article

OCDs Kevin Ashcroft comments on business relationships and how OCD are expanding in a competitive and demanding marketplace through the use of proof and being low risk to partner with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here for full article

 

August 2009 – New Recruit

Bruce Gunn has joined OCD as a Senior Account Manager.

After many years with Glen Communications Bruce has decided a more focussed and challenging role within OCD is better suited to his future goals.

Bruce is responsible for bringing new Clients on board and managing those Clients on a week to week basis.

Welcome on board Bruce!

April 2009 – Personnel Today

OCDs Kevin Ashcroft comments in Personneltoday on Mastering stress through the recession.

click here for full article

March 2009- BBC News interview

OCDs Kevin Ashcroft is interviewed by BBC breakfast news about the East end of Glasgow and why OCD relocated the IT Support business from Park Circus in the west end of Glasgow.

Click here for Video

Febuary 2009 – James Caan – how to minimise risk: exploiting technology

James Caan is the newest dragon on the BBC television show Dragons’ Den. He is chief executive of the private-equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw and has been building and selling businesses since 1985 in various sectors.

I regard the human resource in business as being vital to success. However, this does not mean that all else is secondary. Technology is opening up an ever-broader range of options, creating the right environment in which to increase productivity, reduce overheads and maintain profitability in an increasingly competitive market.

Some options won’t suit some businesses, but it is important nonetheless to embrace new technology to improve performance. Areas to consider might be the introduction of flexible working, outsourcing or simply better time management – all made possible by improved IT.

If you employ 50 to 100 staff, consider the savings that could be made by introducing flexible working for 5%-10% of your employees. In return for providing them with a laptop and broadband connection you will reduce the cost of housing them in the building and the associated running costs. With advanced communication systems, an employee can be physically relocated but certainly not isolated in any way from the day-to-day operation of the business.

This level of flexibility might give you access to a different spectrum of employees, such as those who don’t wish to commute, or mothers returning to work. Flexible working might also increase productivity by allowing people to focus on specific projects, by improving time management and by generally raising staff morale through a better work-life balance.

Outsourcing is a prime example of a technologically driven option to improve the overall productivity of your business. Least-cost routing means that an employee in India, Pakistan or the Philippines can be called at local rates on a 0207 prefixed number – Lahore or London? In reality, does it matter?

I have used Greenwichbell, an outsourcing recruitment specialist, to fill 10 positions in Pakistan for one of the businesses in which I have invested. Each person is paid £850 a month with no further rent, IT, phone or stationery costs.

Now, compare this with the cost of an employee on the average salary in Britain, including apportioned overheads at about £3,500 per month. The cost-saving benefit is easy to calculate as £31,800 per year for each outsourced employee – and I have 10 of them.

Whatever the perception of outsourcing, the cost savings are considerable and hugely attractive to global companies such as Dell and GE, which outsource 10,000 and 18,000 jobs, respectively, to southern Asia.

However, I am not advocating the relocation of your whole operation. Rather, that you identify any components of your business that may effectively be outsourced and reap the benefits.

In addition to reducing costs by flexible working and outsourcing possibilities, technology should be used to improve time management throughout your business. Being able to remotely access e-mails on the move is an example. What is the first thing we all do when we arrive at the office in the morning? We start by wading through our e-mails. The cost of providing an employee with a Blackberry should be related to the most efficient use of his time. If an employee on the average salary commutes by train every day for an hour each way and is able to read and send e-mails during the journey, that equates to 40 hours a month or about £500 of extra productivity against the typical Blackberry cost of £15 a month. It is difficult to ignore such savings.

As an investor in numerous businesses, I am able to use technology to increase the cost-effective opportunities. To help one recent acquisition secure customers all over the country, I established 10 virtual offices in leading cities across the land.

Historically, I would have had to take on property, staff and significant running costs in 10 locations to present the market with the same company profile.

Today the use of virtual office facilities – a prestigious address with a mail-forwarding service and exclusive telephone number with call/message forwarding provided by a dedicated team – has created an immediate national presence without high overheads.

When customers call to arrange a meeting they can simply be diverted to a sales representative’s mobile phone, irrespective of location. A meeting is then set up at the appropriate virtual office.

Using this technology to present a national – or even global – operation to your customer base will cost as little as £100 a month for each virtual office.

Compare this with the costs and time invested in running your “physical” offices, where the only extra value gained is the ability to interact with other employees – all other functions can now be serviced through technology.

Technology can also provide you with a huge shop window. We are all more likely to enter a shop with an attractively dressed window, yet websites are too often not maintained to the same standards. Your website needs to be continually updated to keep it fresh, interesting and competitive.

Technology will also improve customer service and reduce response times, with stock checks and order processing at the customer’s location, rather than confirmations having to be sent back to a central office for processing.

There are challenging times ahead that will put pressure on profitability. We should always be looking for ways to cut UK costs through the use of technological tools, and today there are many possibilities for increasing productivity and reducing operational costs. Think creatively and consider your options, because as revenue streams fall so too must your unproductive overheads.

December 2008 – Money saving advice through sensible PC usage

As power prices continue to increase, one often overlooked area of savings can come from making sure PC’s and related equipment are powered down when not in use. This article gives some good advice for all sizes of business. Advice provided by Tips and Advice – Cost Cutting

November 2008 - Another new start at OCD!

OCD continue to expand and keep our commitment to helping young people in to employment in Glasgow. Ross McKeown is the latest youngster to join OCD as a sales apprentice. We all welcome him onboard and look forward to his continued development and success within the business.

October 2008 – New Recruit

Andrew Finnan joins as the latest member of the technical team at OCD.

Andy recently completed his masters degree in netwoking and communications and has many years of practical experience over and above the skills he has gained at university.

Welcome on baord Andy!

May 2008 – Enterprising Glasgow news article

Enterprising Glasgow talks about OCDs commitment to the NEET scheme on page 14 of their bi-monthly publication.

Click here and go to page 14 for the full article.

Febuary 2008 – Glasgow Evening Times news article

Glasgow Evening Times News article on OCD’s involvement with young people and the NEET agenda (More choices more chances).

Click here for the full story

January 2008 - OCD achives Cisco SMB and Select Certifications

20 January 2008. OCD becomes fully accredited as a Cisco Select Partner. Managing Director Kevin Ashcroft comments “Through our ongoing investment in training and development in the team at OCD, we are now fully qualified to sell, install, and support Cisco solutions in the UK. Cisco is an important vendor and offers world class solutions which can only enhance our Clients businesses. We look forward to working with Cisco”. Cisco comments “Congratulations to OCD for meeting all criteria to become a Cisco Select Certified Partner in UK. OCD has met all requirements for achieving Cisco Select Certification and you have demonstrated you are qualified to support customers with SMB Specialization in UK. We value the commitment and expertise that OCD has demonstrated and look forward to a successful partnership”

October 2007 - OCD first to work with Scottish Government on NEET initiative

Managing Director Kevin Ashcroft announced that OCD would commit resources to help youngsters “not in education, employment or training” (Neet). “It’s a pleasure to be the first business in Scotland to take up the challenge and work towards improving the life experience that young people have. 20% of our young people are destined to become Neet and it’s a privilege to be in the position to help affect this. Through mentoring, personal development and real life exposure to business, I hope to have a positive impact in the future path that these young people will take”.

August 2007 – New Technical Manager at OCD

It is with great pleasure we announce and welcome Alex Duncan as the new Technical Manager at OCD. Alex comes to OCD from ATM where he spent 10 years moving through the ranks from engineer to senior engineer, support consultant (MCSE accredited) and finally technical manager for the UK. The experience gained at ATM taking care of SME’s as well as corporate Clients like Coca Cola, Jarvis Hotels, TotalFinaElf, Bank of America, will serve Alex well in taking care of you and your team. The remit for Alex is to assist in providing outstanding service to you through quality advice, management of your systems and driving the skills, experience and quality of our team of engineers consistently higher. (No pressure then!) Should you have any technical queries or wish to escalate any issues, please contact Alex who will be happy to assist.