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Behind the business with Jilrose

Bdaily goes behind the business with John Shaw, Managing Director of IT services company, JilRose Ltd.

What does your organisation do?

We have five areas of expertise, which can be delivered individually or as a complete solution. They are IT Infrastructure solutions, IT procurement, Build & Configuration, Installing & Cabling and Hardware Maintenance. We typically operate as a white label partner, representing the client’s brand when interfacing with their end-user customers, however, we can also provide services directly under an outsourced or referral arrangement if preferred.

Our flexibility and streamlined operation allows us to customise our services to match the requirements, which makes JilRose the perfect partner for organisations that are looking to reduce the burden and overheads of providing IT services to their end-user customers.

What key challenges has your company recently faced?

The evolution of Cloud Computing has transformed how business software is delivered to the end-user, and as a consequence, IT infrastructure that was traditionally used to host this software and associated data in the office, such as servers, storage and backup devices, have started to disappear as they become largely redundant. This has led to a reduction in the number of servers and associated devices that need to be installed and maintained. The move to the Cloud has also resulted in less software being installed on end-user client devices, as the user interface has transferred to the web browser. This has significantly reduced the level of bespoke installation and configuration activity that is typically performed by knowledgeable IT engineers.

The challenge has been to adapt to this change, and offer services that complement this new way of operating, in what is already a very competitive industry. We have to work even harder to attract new customers, as most software companies don’t consider customer IT infrastructure as part of their core strategy anymore. We have taken great steps to counter this challenge and extend our reach, and now have a marketing company onboard that have helped us launch multiple social media channels, and a new no-nonsense website to boost our online presence.

What is your biggest achievement over the past 12 months?

We’ve been able to expand the management team by appointing a new Technical Director. This new role has responsibility for expanding our service portfolio, developing new partner relationships, as well as helping to bring new clients on-board. We’ve also negotiated a new deal with one of our largest and long-standing clients, that has resulted in us providing services directly to their end-user customers. We had previously operated exclusively via the client, but a shift in their strategic focus meant they no longer wanted to tie up the account management or sales resources to support the IT needs of their end-user customers. We were able to step in and start engaging directly with the customers, and have received nothing but positive feedback from both the client and their end-user customers since.

What is your most important focus for the coming year, and what do you hope to achieve?

In order to counter the impact of Cloud Computing on our core service revenues, we’re adding new value-add services to our portfolio as well as evolving the business model. In addition, we’ll continue to build brand awareness through different marketing channels, such as social media and industry specific digital and print publications. The aim is to position JilRose as the go-to specialist IT services provider for software companies throughout the UK.