OCS Consulting
Author Archives: OCS Consulting

OCS Newsletter – Spring 2018

OCS@WORK Spring Newsletter
OCS Consulting - 30 Years of making IT Happen

OCS@Work - This Issue

Modernisation and Transformation
The Force, Salesforce
Technology and Academic Journals
Client Experiences: Fintech & Charity
OCS Cash Management Solutions

ISSUE
Spring 2018

Let the Force be with You!

Our clients, take us to galaxies we have not visited before.

Being focussed on delivering trusted and quality services to our clients we move to where we need to be in terms of expertise and since our last newsletter we are happy to report a new addition to our skills and services with the launch of our Salesforce Developer Services.

May the Force be with you - OCS at Work Autumn Newsletter

Led by one of our largest clients we have invested in train-ing staff familiar with our cli-ent’s systems and business so that we are able to deliver Salesforce technical services to them.

This provides the benefit of being able to use trusted consultants who are experienced with the clients business and process to work on new technologies.

This is a perfect example of where OCS adapts to the changing services sought by our clients.

Discover Salesforce with OCS

Modernisation and Transformation

As we head into autumn, we find ourselves pulling out warm jumpers and preparing for the clocks going back with dark mornings and evenings and of course the festive season. October is a month of transformation. The leaves change colour and the chill in the air returns.

It has been a while since our last newsletter, but as you read on it becomes clear that we have not been idly resting during the summer. Indeed we will not be going into winter hibernation, far from it. We are pleased to say that we have been extremely busy across all of our offices, working on modernisation and transformation projects as well as our business as usual activities.

It has certainly been an interesting year so far for OCS Consulting. As you know, being client centric means we are happy to invest in matching the needs of our clients, sometimes howeVer, this leads to changes at OCS and these last few months have really started to take us in a new direction. Modernisation!

With new projects, developments and internal training in Cloud technologies such as Azure, AWS and Salesforce. We have new investment in our speciality areas of Cash Management, Publishing and Lifesciences and greater geo-graphic diversification in Switzerland (www.ocs -consulting.ch).

It is starting to feel rather modern around here.

Of course some things won’t change as some of our staff are hitting 25 years’ service with the company, including me. Namely, you will still always be able to count on the same level of commitment and effort even from the modern OCS.

Investing in our clients, being in a position to support our clients, showing commitment to our clients. This is what OCS is about, what makes OCS different and why our contacts and clients come back year after year.

Finally, thank you again for your continued support of OCS over the year.

I hope you enjoy finding out what we have been up to. If there is anything of interest or a problem you need solving please do get in touch.

All the best,

Maurice Aroesti OCS Consulting Group Chief Executive

Maurice Aroesti
Group Chief Executive

Client Experiences - OCS The IT Partner of Choice

When Charity Begins at Home

It can be difficult to separate modern from legacy technology. One such area often emerges as part of transformation programs. An example came up recently as a client moved its Microsoft estate into the Cloud. This leading charity has many pressures of their own. Their main focus understanda-bly is providing much needed support to their community. However, when looking to upgrade their SharePoint system to the Cloud, the realisation that the solution had been neglected for some time highlighted the need for a partner who could offer an all-round package. This included looking after and improving the current system, assisting in the migration and providing support services. Of course this mix of activities fits perfectly into OCS’ managed support service line of business.

OCS were delighted to be appointed by the Charity to provide a SharePoint managed service con-tract. Our consultants have been there at every stage to help with on and off-site flexible sup-port services. This has meant, revitalising their systems to meet the modern challenges a Charity of their standing has in today’s world. With Microsoft SharePoint entering the mature phase of its development and evolution, the technology fits perfectly into OCS’ stable of modern/legacy technology expertise. Learn more about OCS’ SharePoint and Managed Services.

Fintech

Sometimes people we know take us in an unexpected direction. A recent example has taken us into the world of investment banking through our first project with a ‘Fintech’ client. This startup organisation is building solutions to help investors access the Electronic Traded Funds (ETF) market by providing simple to use access based on investment criteria.

OCS at Work Autumn Newsletter - Fintech

Several internal projects including the integration with Morningstar data has finally resulted in a market ETF selection system available on a well-known trading platform (as advertised in the FT) allowing investors to select and buy ETF’s. Not only OCS’ first ‘Fintech’ client but also we were able to deliver our first stand-alone Azure solution fusing a combination of Microsoft Visual Studio, Azure Webjobs, Bootstrap and HTML5 technology.

Using Technology to reform Academic Journals

OCS has been working with an international publishing house for nearly 10 years delivering Academic Publishing Portals, delivery of digitised content, access to subscription and payment gateways, Java project development, and Managed Services support.

OCS at Work Autumn Newsletter - Using technology to reform academic journals

These services have allowed our client to continue to deliver its journals in more flexible and efficient ways and in turn this ensures their readers needs are met. From accessing relevant research information with speed and accuracy, to having an intuitive and flexible access that’s straight-forward and easy to navigate using the latest technology.

Being a staff based organisation, business and technology knowledge is retained and this allows OCS to add value to similar companies. We are now delight-ed to be working with a new global specialist publishing house that have recently appoint-ed our team to deliver a challenging cross-platform solution. Our consultants are currently working with stakeholders and board members on all aspects of solution design.

OCS Cash Management Solutions

Not only have we been helping clients to modernise and transform, but we have also spent the sum-mer looking at ourselves and in particular, a fast moving part of our business which specialises in Cash Automation solutions. For over 10 years, OCS have been working closely with an International Cash business delivering cash automation solutions across the globe and with over 400 sites, covering retail, hospitality, transport and others, it was time to modernise. A thorough review of capabilities has led to the redefining of our services which are presented on our new www.ocs-cashmanagement.com site and the creation of a product development roadmap which includes the development of operational management, point of sale solutions and analytics products.

SAS Project Manager Life Sciences – (Permanent)

OCS Consulting is a successful IT Consultancy looking to recruit a permanent SAS Project Manager operating in the life sciences industry. In this leadership position you will manage all operational aspects of SAS statistical programming, biostatistics and data management. You will be a strong lead/manager dedicated to the business unit with responsibility to project resourcing and supervise the team as well as address escalated issues, performance issues, performance and assignments, training and administrative issues. In your function as Project Manager you will execute both project management and resource allocation activities as well as hands‑on project delivery activities.

Your profile

You are a good communicator, self-going, critical, a team-player, a logical thinker, innovative and an effective problem solver. You have the ability to develop business both inside and outside your existing network. You’re looking for a company where you have the opportunity to pursue your interests across functions and geographies.

In addition, you:

  • hold a Bachelor or Master degree in the field of computer or medical science
  • bring 10+ years of project management experience in the life sciences industry
  • bring experience in overall resource planning and in managing a team of statistical programmers, biostatisticians and data managers
  • have direct line management experience:

    • Project management experience with some measurable amount supporting biometrics work
    • Ability to handle large volume of complex tasks with minimal or no input from management
    • Ability to handle ad-hoc requests with minimal guidance
    • Ability to recognise when negotiating skills are needed and to seek assistance when necessary
  • are professionally proficient in the English language, both spoken and written
  • have an enthusiastic and motivated personality and an independent and pro-active attitude
  • have the authorisation and eligibility to work in Switzerland or the Netherlands 

In return we offer:

Join a company that values long-term relationships with staff, clients and partners. All our relationships are based on a partnership model of collaboration, trust and respect. Our employees are vital to our success and we aim to attract the best people who will stay and grow with us. You will be rewarded with the chance to work for the leading companies in their industry. To ensure you are well equipped for the task, we offer you the required training and exposure to experienced and motivated colleagues who can teach you the tricks of the trade. 

For further information please email CV to info.ch@ocs-consulting.com

OCS Newsletter – Autumn 2017

OCS@WORK Autumn Newsletter
OCS Consulting - 30 Years of making IT Happen

OCS@Work - This Issue

Modernisation and Transformation
The Force, Salesforce
Technology and Academic Journals
Client Experiences: Fintech & Charity
OCS Cash Management Solutions

ISSUE
Autumn 2017

Let the Force be with You!

Our clients, take us to galaxies we have not visited before.

Being focussed on delivering trusted and quality services to our clients we move to where we need to be in terms of expertise and since our last newsletter we are happy to report a new addition to our skills and services with the launch of our Salesforce Developer Services.

May the Force be with you - OCS at Work Autumn Newsletter

Led by one of our largest clients we have invested in train-ing staff familiar with our cli-ent’s systems and business so that we are able to deliver Salesforce technical services to them.

This provides the benefit of being able to use trusted consultants who are experienced with the clients business and process to work on new technologies.

This is a perfect example of where OCS adapts to the changing services sought by our clients.

Discover Salesforce with OCS

Modernisation and Transformation

As we head into autumn, we find ourselves pulling out warm jumpers and preparing for the clocks going back with dark mornings and evenings and of course the festive season. October is a month of transformation. The leaves change colour and the chill in the air returns.

It has been a while since our last newsletter, but as you read on it becomes clear that we have not been idly resting during the summer. Indeed we will not be going into winter hibernation, far from it. We are pleased to say that we have been extremely busy across all of our offices, working on modernisation and transformation projects as well as our business as usual activities.

It has certainly been an interesting year so far for OCS Consulting. As you know, being client centric means we are happy to invest in matching the needs of our clients, sometimes howeVer, this leads to changes at OCS and these last few months have really started to take us in a new direction. Modernisation!

With new projects, developments and internal training in Cloud technologies such as Azure, AWS and Salesforce. We have new investment in our speciality areas of Cash Management, Publishing and Lifesciences and greater geo-graphic diversification in Switzerland (www.ocs -consulting.ch).

It is starting to feel rather modern around here.

Of course some things won’t change as some of our staff are hitting 25 years’ service with the company, including me. Namely, you will still always be able to count on the same level of commitment and effort even from the modern OCS.

Investing in our clients, being in a position to support our clients, showing commitment to our clients. This is what OCS is about, what makes OCS different and why our contacts and clients come back year after year.

Finally, thank you again for your continued support of OCS over the year.

I hope you enjoy finding out what we have been up to. If there is anything of interest or a problem you need solving please do get in touch.

All the best,

Maurice Aroesti OCS Consulting Group Chief Executive

Maurice Aroesti
Group Chief Executive

Client Experiences - OCS The IT Partner of Choice

When Charity Begins at Home

It can be difficult to separate modern from legacy technology. One such area often emerges as part of transformation programs. An example came up recently as a client moved its Microsoft estate into the Cloud. This leading charity has many pressures of their own. Their main focus understanda-bly is providing much needed support to their community. However, when looking to upgrade their SharePoint system to the Cloud, the realisation that the solution had been neglected for some time highlighted the need for a partner who could offer an all-round package. This included looking after and improving the current system, assisting in the migration and providing support services. Of course this mix of activities fits perfectly into OCS’ managed support service line of business.

OCS were delighted to be appointed by the Charity to provide a SharePoint managed service con-tract. Our consultants have been there at every stage to help with on and off-site flexible sup-port services. This has meant, revitalising their systems to meet the modern challenges a Charity of their standing has in today’s world. With Microsoft SharePoint entering the mature phase of its development and evolution, the technology fits perfectly into OCS’ stable of modern/legacy technology expertise. Learn more about OCS’ SharePoint and Managed Services.

Fintech

Sometimes people we know take us in an unexpected direction. A recent example has taken us into the world of investment banking through our first project with a ‘Fintech’ client. This startup organisation is building solutions to help investors access the Electronic Traded Funds (ETF) market by providing simple to use access based on investment criteria.

OCS at Work Autumn Newsletter - Fintech

Several internal projects including the integration with Morningstar data has finally resulted in a market ETF selection system available on a well-known trading platform (as advertised in the FT) allowing investors to select and buy ETF’s. Not only OCS’ first ‘Fintech’ client but also we were able to deliver our first stand-alone Azure solution fusing a combination of Microsoft Visual Studio, Azure Webjobs, Bootstrap and HTML5 technology.

Using Technology to reform Academic Journals

OCS has been working with an international publishing house for nearly 10 years delivering Academic Publishing Portals, delivery of digitised content, access to subscription and payment gateways, Java project development, and Managed Services support.

OCS at Work Autumn Newsletter - Using technology to reform academic journals

These services have allowed our client to continue to deliver its journals in more flexible and efficient ways and in turn this ensures their readers needs are met. From accessing relevant research information with speed and accuracy, to having an intuitive and flexible access that’s straight-forward and easy to navigate using the latest technology.

Being a staff based organisation, business and technology knowledge is retained and this allows OCS to add value to similar companies. We are now delight-ed to be working with a new global specialist publishing house that have recently appoint-ed our team to deliver a challenging cross-platform solution. Our consultants are currently working with stakeholders and board members on all aspects of solution design.

OCS Cash Management Solutions

Not only have we been helping clients to modernise and transform, but we have also spent the sum-mer looking at ourselves and in particular, a fast moving part of our business which specialises in Cash Automation solutions. For over 10 years, OCS have been working closely with an International Cash business delivering cash automation solutions across the globe and with over 400 sites, covering retail, hospitality, transport and others, it was time to modernise. A thorough review of capabilities has led to the redefining of our services which are presented on our new www.ocs-cashmanagement.com site and the creation of a product development roadmap which includes the development of operational management, point of sale solutions and analytics products.

OCS Newsletter – Autumn 2016

OCS@WORK Autumn Newsletter
OCS Consulting - 30 Years of making IT Happen

OCS@Work - This Issue

Winning Gold
Flexible Resourcing
Client Experiences

ISSUE
Autumn 2016

Flexible Resourcing

OCS Consulting has been providing a wide range of IT services to its clients for over 30 years. Traditionally these services have been delivered in the standard form of Consultancy, Project, Support or Secondment based assignments.

More recently, due to changes in how IT based operations operate and the greater need for financial control and visibility, OCS' clients have requested to have a more tailored, flexible and cost-effective solution to their needs. In response, OCS has brought further innovation to the delivery of its service offerings with a range of fully flexible resource management and deployment options.
 
OCS' philosophy in delivering flexible services is encapsulated in the concept of developing an extension to the client’s IT team which can be employed when required without the client having the burden of overhead costs.

OCS has developed a unique service matching approach which involves selecting, developing and investing in staff that match client needs in three areas:

  • Organisational fit and able to work within the structure of the client’s department
  • Matching the client’s cultural, educational and background requirements
  • Having the correct skills to undertake services and add further value.

OCS Consulting — Winning Gold

As another summer draws to a close and we enjoy the last of the warm weather, we at OCS start to look back at the past few months. Summer certainly got off to a bumpy start in the UK; turmoil of EU vote and a meltdown in Westminster, our best-forgotten football fiasco in France alongside the wettest June the UK has ever seen; but it’s safe to say that the come August, Rio 2016 certainly gave us a summer to remember (for the right reasons). Team GB’s amazing performance certainly provided something to celebrate as the entire country savoured in the glory of GB’s success. Winning an amazing 27 golds this Olympics has been our most successful and thrilling to watch and coupled with the remarkable performance in the para-Olympics it was really spectacular.

I think that one of the things that made this Olympics so exciting was the variety of success and the combination of the old and the new. On one hand, old favourites dominated again, Farah’s double double of course springs to mind, and in some cases Team GB predictably conquered entire sports, winning eleven medals in cycling. On the other hand, it was the new faces and unexpected events that have contributed to the Olympic fever. Max Whitlock’s double gold in gymnastics brought an end to a 108-year gold drought in the sport and the nail biting penalty shootout against the Netherlands saw the woman’s hockey team sweep to victory. Of course, the thrill of this was tempered by the thought of our Dutch colleagues as there is always a healthy rivalry between us 🙂

 At OCS, we feel like we have had a successful summer as well, winning a few golds of our own. Just like Bolt, we won our very own triple gold with a third project for a long term major client of ours. Retaining such work with a valued client is evidence of the hard work and dedication that our staff have put in and demonstrates the importance of enduring relationships for OCS.  We won some golds in new areas, such as our first Azure project and a first SAS support contract in the UK and keeping up with the gymnasts our flexible services also gained success. The combination of retaining long term clients and investing in new areas keeps OCS moving forward as we strive to keep on developing and growing as a company.

In the international arena we also had success, despite Brexit OCS continues to strengthen its ties with Europe with greater collaboration with Holland who are providing services to our UK SAS client as we reciprocate on .NET and Web based services.  Furthermore, OCS moving beyond the EU has gained two new clients in major organisations in Geneva, Switzerland. It has been a while since we have worked from Switzerland and we are looking forward to working in Geneva again with such a truly international organisation.

Moving into Autumn, OCS has some new challenges and projects ahead.  See overleaf for more information and I hope to catch up with many of you over the coming months.

All the best,

Maurice Aroesti OCS Consulting Group Chief Executive

Maurice Aroesti
Group Chief Executive

Client Experiences - OCS The IT Partner of Choice

SAS Consulting Services

During the Summer OCS has continued to make significant progress with the development of our SAS Services internationally. Firstly, we have secured the first UK sale of our Dutch SAS infrastructure managed support service. The service includes installation, configuration and remote support for the actuarial department of a major client. Secondly, OCS has signed a partnership agreement with a UK Software supplier, that provides software to both aid the modernisation of Legacy SAS AF applications but also enhance support through server performance monitoring (which has resulted in the first installation in Holland) and finally, we are delighted to announce the successful launch of our graduate boot-camp in Holland where we are training graduates in the use of SAS Visual Analytics products...‘developing the next generation of experts’.

Flexible Resourcing Services in the Charity Sector

Our flexible resourcing services have also been sought after this summer in the charity sector where the need to optimize resource is clearly key to maximising its contribution to their community. This charitable organisation originally approached us concerning a need for resources of old technologies. However, during this communication, a new government policy change led to a huge surge in demand for the services of this company and the IT systems could not cope with this. OCS was able to step in and provide emergency resources in order to get the systems back on track and handle the increased traffic. Our flexible resourcing team was able to step up at short notice to supply a number of different services to this client.  Furthermore, OCS has subsequently secured a Flexible Resourcing preferred supplier status with another well-known charity.

The United Nations

Over the year, OCS has been working towards a new relationship with major international organisations in Geneva, Switzerland. With one such organisation OCS has been successful in its bid to be a preferred supplier for their legacy systems, and furthermore, we are in the process of exploring a new project to modernise these systems, combining legacy technologies such as PowerBuilder with a more modern web-based front end. With a second organisation, OCS has successfully upgraded systems and is undertaking on-going support. Our PowerBuilder technology team is going from strength to strength at OCS and we are excited for these opportunities to have a consultant team in Geneva working on these projects.

OCS in the Cloud with Azure

Breaking new ground, OCS has undertaken our first project with Microsoft Azure. Approached with an urgent requirement by this Financial Services client, OCS were able to resource and manage the development of a leading edge cloud-based analytical tool under Azure to chart large volumes of historical performance data. With the launch of this system due in the next few months, OCS are delighted to again prove ourselves with the most modern technology.

Flexible Resourcing continued from page 1…

Having developed a capacity pool that enables clients to flex their delivery needs, OCS offers these services using a range of contractual and commercial arrangements providing the benefits of:

  • check
    Greater resource management of peaks and troughs
  • check
    Continuity of resource knowledge without full time commitmentGreater control of project budgets
  • check
    Improved granularity in planning and delivering
  • check
    Single point of contact for supplier management
  • check
    Guaranteed delivery, no CVs / no Interviews (unless desired)
  • check
    No minimum commitmentsReduced learning curve and ramp up on resources
  • check
    Partnership and joint development opportunities.

When juggling staff head-count, external suppliers and interim resources, OCS clients are finding the ability to access proven, experienced and flexible resources from a partner such as OCS is an invaluable option.

 Along with all the golds this summer OCS have provided holiday support, short term resources, emergency capacity and all manner of small consulting and development engagements…sometimes it’s the back-up medals which really make the difference.

OCS Newsletter – Spring 2016

OCS@WORK Spring Newsletter
OCS Consulting - 30 Years of making IT Happen

OCS@Work - This Issue

Relationships and Partnerships
Diary of Events
Client Stories

ISSUE
Spring 2016

2016 — OCS Diary of Events

It now seems that our Summer of Events is fast becoming an OCS tradition and our way of saying thank you to all of our clients for continuing to work with OCS and trusting us to support and deliver projects. 

With that in mind, we have started planning our diary of events for the Summer 2016.  Confirmed events are as follows:

Sunday 22nd May 2016
Rugby
HSBC London Sevens
Twickenham 9.30am — 5.00pm

Thursday 30th June 2016
Summer BBQ and Drinks
Doggetts Coat & Badge
The Terrace Bar
Blackfriars.
London from 6.30pm

Thursday 21st July 2016
Cricket
Middlesex v Surrey
T20 Blast
Lords Cricket Ground from 6.00pm

Invites will be emailed out in due course but in the meantime if you would like to book your place, please email Linda at lindao@ocs-consulting.com and she will ensure your name is on the list!

We look forward to celebrating another great summer with you.

OCS Consulting—growing with its clients

Just after the millennium the major focus of OCS’ strategy changed from being technology focussed towards being fully client-centric. In doing so we geared up to recruit, train and invest in a wide range of skills and services in order to be able to be flexible enough to support our client’s needs whatever they were. Over the years demands have changed but we continually adapt enabling us to support our clients whether it be changing technology or just differing delivery models.

The idea was that that if we could grow and change with our clients then that would both provide sustainability for OCS but also being a unique match as a supplier to our clients. And so it is, after so many years clients keep on coming back, often asking if we could embark on new projects, learn new technologies, and deliver new types of services. What’s more, and a little unexpected, is the experience we have built up appeals greatly to new clients who can see the benefits of our breadth of experience and quickly recognise how this could be useful to them.

Of course, none of this would be possible if the quality and method of our delivery wasn’t so strong. It means that however we are originally commissioned, clients quickly warm to our approach.

In some cases, we are engaged by a client for a software or application development project and the success of the project leads them to return to OCS for more general IT services and consultancy. In other cases, clients come to us for on-site staff secondment, consultancy or lifecycle services and once this relationship is established and the client is aware of our staff, skills and capabilities it makes us an obvious supplier for new work. 

In many cases, what started out as a short-term piece of work has grown into a long-term relationship where OCS integrates into the client’s existing IT supply chain providing a strong IT partner for a multitude of projects, services and technologies.

So why do so many of our relationships flourish into long-lasting ones? We are told time and time again, that simply, they like us and the work we do. They like our ethics, business values, staff and our commitment to quality, flexibility and doing the best for our client. Embarking on large IT projects and transformations can often be a daunting task for companies. It often includes periods of uncertainty, research, trial and error and unexpected problems. By working with an IT service provider that is familiar, this daunting task becomes a lot less so, as a client knows it is not taking a gamble on our staff and expertise. I guess it’s about trust, and our clients know and trust that we will do our best, that they are important to us and that we will put the success of the project first. 

Some of our relationships have lasted over twenty years and are still going strong – something that we are particularly proud off considering just how much the IT landscape has changed over this period. In order for this to be possible, OCS has always kept itself on its toes, never becoming complacent.  After all, these relationships are at the heart of our company and we value them greatly. This is also reflected in the personal side of these relationships that have gone from strength to strength, something that was wonderfully obvious during our 30th birthday celebrations two years ago.

All the best,

Maurice Aroesti OCS Consulting Group Chief Executive

Maurice Aroesti
Group Chief Executive

Client Experiences - OCS The IT Partner of Choice

Our relationship with this international logistics company started in the mid 1990s with some initial project development and support of what is now deemed a very legacy technology (which we still support). By the early noughties, we had undertaken multiple engagements for them including both development services in newer technologies such as Microsoft and staff secondment in the areas of Project Management and Testing.

In 2007, the client embarked on a major international solution development for the retail industry and were looking for an IT partner. OCS was ideally suited to bring all the necessary management and technical aspects of the job together and we undertook the analysis, design and Java development of this project which turned out to be a great success and strengthened the relationship between the two companies with over 300 installations of the solution around the world.

Today, we are the preferred development and consultancy IT partner for this client. We undertake development and support of Java solutions, and Legacy technologies and deliver staff secondment to help overcome the client’s peaks and troughs of demand.

Our relationship with this well-known finance company started with a short-term emergency project in 2007 and has expanded over the years, with OCS now supporting a wide array of applications and technologies. Initially, the company required a mixed technical team covering both Java and PowerBuilder to complete an aggressive short-term project. OCS provided an appropriate team at short notice and enabled the successfully delivery of the project.

This success and the positive relationships between the two companies led to the outsourcing of support for their legacy systems, delivery of consulting services covering everything from Project Management to Technical Development in a number of technologies, and most recently as an important supplier within a major transformation programme they are undertaking  where OCS are the preferred supplier for the delivery of application and database support personnel.

The relationship with this automotive client started in 2008, when they asked OCS to put forward a proposal to outsource the support of their Legacy and Java systems. OCS was not initially successful in the proposal but a couple of years later in 2011, this client once again approached OCS for this outsourcing as the collaboration with the previously chosen IT services company had not been successful. OCS agreed to supply an on-site team of OCS staff to take on the support of business-as-usual systems. After successfully delivering the service and the client gaining experience of OCS’ approach and staff, OCS was asked by the client to undertake project developments as part of their major European programme to deliver transformed and centralised systems across Europe.

Today, not only does OCS continue to support its BAU systems with a staff based team but has a full team of Project Managers, Business Analysts, Java developers and testers working closely with the client on the delivery of major transformation.

Our relationship with this global FMCG has grown in strength and breadth over many years.  They came to OCS eight years ago looking for a specialist Legacy technology resource to help support systems within their international supply chain. OCS provided one full-time on-site staff member.

After a few years, the client identified a need to undertake Java integration work and due to their experience of our work, skills and staff, they naturally came to us. They, however, did not want the resourcing model as previously used but rather wanted the integration work handled as a project. OCS took this on board and worked successfully with the client to achieve their aims.

In 2012, the client as part of a major transformation programme sought bidders to outsource the support of their supply chain systems. Due to the scope of the services and experience of OCS we were selected for this contract to provide a global support team.

In more recent years the client has decided to replace these systems with SAP technologies. Despite using large SI suppliers for the implementation of these new systems, the client has retained its trust in OCS by first giving us the responsibility for integrating core components of the system with SAP, but furthermore continuing to ask us to support the newly developed integration services and legacy components globally.

OCS Newsletter – Autumn 2015

OCS@WORK Autumn Newsletter
OCS Consulting - 30 Years of making IT Happen

OCS@Work - This Issue

Flexible Resourcing Benefits
Client Centric Teams
Insourcing Service
Consultant Matching
Bringing Business Knowledge
Specialty / Niche Skills

ISSUE
Autumn 2015

Investing in Client Centric Teams

Our flexibility of resourcing has always been an attraction to our client base.  This coupled with our client centric approach makes us the perfect resourcing partner. 

Many of the examples discussed in this newsletter describe how OCS invest in creating a staff team within OCS that are selected to match our clients across multiple characteristics so that when you need a resource OCS is in a position to deliver.

In most cases our clients work with us in our recruitment process to make sure that the staff recruited into OCS would be suitable for assignments with them but we ask for no up-front commitment.

Our strategy is about being in a position to support you and so our investment is in being able to deliver on that promise.

For many years we have implemented this approach and thanks to our client relationships this has sustained us and them through challenging resourcing times.

Perhaps there is a forthcoming project that you may need help with, OCS is well placed to provide you with specialist expertise, working jointly with you to recruit the best resources available.

How can OCS Flexible Resourcing benefit your business?

Here at OCS, we know that efficient management of resources is a key foundation on which any successful business operation is built. This is particularly the case in the IT department with the multiple call on resources for projects and operational support. This is a difficult task at any time but today with the current IT skills gap in the job market this means that it is becoming even more essential to maximise the skills available to you.

In order to optimise the use of resources, many of our clients come to us to utilise our staff based flexible resourcing services. We offer an easily accessible third party service that can be called upon to handle the peaks and troughs of demand as well as other resourcing challenges that crop up from time to time such as illness, sickness, maternity, attrition and the movement of staff between different projects.

Usually when companies experience a shortfall of staff for whatever reason, or require a person with skills set not present in their current internal staff, they can turn to recruitment agencies and freelance consultants in order to fill the gap. Whilst this can sometimes be successful, it is not without its limitations, which can range from not being able to find a consultant willing to commit to shorts pieces of work, to not being able to find someone who has the right non-technical skills.

By using our flexible resourcing services, we are able to help clients overcome these problems by offering a far more personal service which can be tailored to the specific needs of each company; we know that one size does not fit all! Not only does a more personalised solution lead to finding the best people for the job, but it also leads to more cost and time effective solutions.

OCS operate a permanent staff team which means we are able to offer more options to our client’s IT needs. We can offer resources for short, medium, or long-term periods of time, or indeed part-time, meaning our clients are only paying for what they need, and exactly when they need it. Familiarisation with the client’s system and environment takes place on the first assignment and then they can then be called on at different stages of the project to utilise their skills and knowledge.  In addition, clients are able to pre-book our staff for future work, resulting in cost and time efficiency.

Our central focus is to do all we can to make sure that the staff we have are well matched to the IT needs and culture of our clients. This strategy permeates through everything we do from recruitment to career development. When considering the right consultants to recruit, we take into account much more than the necessary technical skills. We want to make sure that the matching process is more individual than that. We aim to recruit staff that are the right fit for our clients in terms of culture and soft skills.

Furthermore, during our staff’s development, we are constantly looking to make sure skills are aligned to our client base both for current work but also for the future.  This highly client centric approach to the recruitment and development of staff ensures that our staff are perfectly matched to our clients, resulting in hugely successful long term partnerships.

 All the best
Maurice Aroesti OCS Consulting Group Chief Executive

Maurice Aroesti
Group Chief Executive

Client Experiences
A small selection of some interesting flexible resourcing solutions we’ve provided to our clients

Insourcing Service

One of our key clients came to us as they wanted to in-source an external support team to look after business as usual systems in parallel with a large redevelopment program.

However, they wanted a model that was both cost effective and would ensure smooth integration into the internal permanent team to the point where the team was indistinguishable from internal staff.

It was decided that the right form of resourcing would be for OCS to provide them with a fixed cost staff-based team hand-picked and selected by both the client and OCS.

In this model, we provided OCS staff for our client which then, from a managerial point of view, became fully integrated into the internal team. Targets, holidays and sickness were all handled as though the OCS staff were internal but at a fixed monthly cost. Not only did this provide a budget effective solution but has been successful in creating an integrated team that could work as one.

Matching Service

When faced with supporting systems over the long-term prior to their replacement, our client was keen to find a partner who would invest in finding and recruiting the best possible match of resources for their team.

Although technical skills were important, more important was the ability to fit into the clients department in terms of softer skills such as communication, commitment and team working. 

Having worked with this client for many years, they were familiar with our style and the type of staff that we employed and so we were a natural fit.

Over the last few years, when needed, we have worked closely with the client to recruit the right people into OCS to make sure they have a seamless integrated team of OCS staff who can provide services into their department with great success.

Bringing Business Knowledge to our Clients

The extent of our personal matching service is highlighted in our work with a Life Sciences company. They needed to outsource project managers and business analysts but it was of central importance for them that the staff had the right pre-existing business domain knowledge. If recruiting through an IT or job agency, the impersonal service provided would generally not take this into account and indeed in this case could not identify enough candidates with the right business knowledge

By using OCS, our client was able to pass this job over to us. Using our contacts, recruitment services and knowledge of the domain we sought to recruit consultants who would match not only terms of IT skills but also domain knowledge.

We undertook a client centric selection process in order to identify only the most relevant candidates and then worked with the client to assist us in interviewing these candidates to ensure that we recruited candidates that would be ideal for their needs.

Having successfully recruited these staff from their industry we are now able to offer a client a perfect solution to their resourcing needs.

Specialty / Niche Skills

It is often the case within our large corporate clients that skills shortages appear in areas which are specialized, niche or legacy in nature.

Often these are extremely difficult to resource and indeed finding a partner prepared to invest in these technologies is rare.

This was the case with one of our clients who needed to utilize a rare skill but still wanted the flexibility in scheduling and utilizing the resource.

With our core client centric strategy this is an area where we excel and investment in recruiting the right staff to provide flexible consulting based resource in a niche area is something we are happy to do. Once we identified and recruited the skills our client had the freedom to use our staff like a third level support organization.

Working on a sensitive budget, we were able to provide resources for short periods of time without a long term contract, which meant that the client only paid for the resources they needed, when they needed them.

This also had the added bonus of being able to pre-plan the use of our staff in advance, allowing efficient utilization of time.

Familiarization took place in the first assignment and from then on, our staff are already versed on the systems and environments and can offer their knowledge and skills when needed, in the meantime remaining with OCS and working on other projects and clients.

OCS Newsletter – Spring 2015

OCS@WORK Spring Newsletter
OCS Consulting - 30 Years of making IT Happen

OCS@Work - This Issue

Positive Transformation
30 Years of Making IT Happen
Projects of Pride

ISSUE
Spring 2015

30 years of making IT happen –
the celebrations!

Not only are we immensely proud of our 30-year history, but it was also a good excuse for a party or three! I’m delighted that many of our customers were able to celebrate with us at some great sporting events...like the World Cup…our Dutch colleagues enjoyed a better result than we did, however nothing could dampen our enthusiasm that day!
 
And those who couldn’t make it sent some really heartfelt messages – thank you so much for those, many of which are listed on our Anniversary website www.ocs-consulting.eu
 
I was also really pleased to be able to celebrate a number of events with our fantastic staff. We have such a committed and passionate team with an average eight-year tenure that is truly remarkable in this industry. Without them, we could not have built our reputation for a customer-centric focus and highly responsive service, flexibility and high quality delivery.
 
For years our customers have told us the reason they work with us is because of the way we operate and the staff we employ. Quite simply, they like us! The calibre, professionalism and commitment of our staff, I believe really sets us apart as they will do what it takes to deliver on time.

Positive Transformation

What great fun it’s been this year, celebrating our 30th anniversary with friends, colleagues and customers. It’s given me a wonderful opportunity to get together with so many of you to reminisce about the changes we’ve seen over the last 30 years as well as talking about what we will face in the next 30. That’s what I love about this job and the IT industry - it’s constantly changing, evolving and transforming how we work, rest and play!
 
Talking of change, as I look back over this last year, one thing we have noticed is a significant increase in OCS’ involvement in corporate transformation programmes. But what does this mean? The Oxford Dictionary describes Transformation as a marked change in form, nature, or appearance. These few words do little to prepare one of the effort, resource and time required to affect such an impact, as nowadays, these tend to be about enterprise-wide changes encompassing the whole spectrum of business functions as well as IT.
 
Of course, such major change always comes with risks. For those planning and implementing the change programme, we have seen there are a number of key principles that are being adopted to smooth the way. Firstly, stay true to the heart of the business and its objectives. Secondly, utilise the most appropriate resources, providers and solutions to ensure the best fit and thirdly, manage carefully to ensure delivery is high quality and on time to avoid impacting the business.
 
These are also principles that we hold dear at OCS. As you can imagine, we’ve had to adapt and transform ourselves over these last 30 years. We wouldn’t exist if we hadn’t! We’ve stayed true to our culture and way of working, remained flexible and responsive and kept up-to-date with the latest IT.

Indeed, staying true to our strengths has been widely reflected in customer feedback this year. We are known as professional, easy to work with, aligned to our customers’ needs with a strong delivery and quality focus. Every member of the OCS team embodies this spirit, which is critical to our business and, quite frankly, your business. Excellent service is standard and is reflected in the longevity of our customer relationships, many of whom have been working with us for ten years or longer. It just goes to show that not everything in IT changes 🙂

As mentioned earlier, Transformation programmes can be big and complex and as such our speciality is to deliver key streams or components of the programme such as supporting legacy systems, delivering highly specialist expertise and providing cost effective solutions in the areas of integration and systems development.  And that’s why our customers love working with us, we deliver what we commit to and make it happen as we have done for the last 30 years. It may sound a cliché but we are genuine partners in all the work we do. So, If you are going through a transformation project, then do contact us to discuss how we might make your life easier.

Wishing you all the very best this springtime and many thanks again to all of you who have been involved with OCS and celebrated with us over the last 12 months.

All the best
Maurice Aroesti OCS Consulting Group Chief Executive

Maurice Aroesti
Group Chief Executive

Client Experiences - OCS The IT Partner of Choice
Here is just a small selection of some interesting transformation programmes we’ve supported recently.
Do these ring any bells with upcoming projects that you’re involved with?

Post-acquisition rationalisation

After hitting the acquisition trail quite hard in the last few years, one of our new customers in the insurance industry decided to evaluate and rationalise all the diverse systems it had inherited. Ultimately, leading to a number of systems being decommissioned. To mitigate the risks inherent in a project of this nature, we created a flexible support agreement to manage the old systems whilst they were being run off – no matter what the system is., including Progress, Legacy Java & Microsoft, …. and some technologies we don’t even know yet!!  This approach allows the customer to use OCS as a cover for these systems with the benefits of full service level support, cost control and flexibility. With our customer centric approach, we gave them peace of mind that it could be business as usual during this big transition.

The big upgrade

It’s that time to upgrade your software infrastructure – sometimes it’s straight forward, other times it’s not that easy.  There’s a lot riding on it when you have to install, configure and upgrade complex, business critical software, like SAS, for example, the leading Business Intelligence Platform. The SAS platform is often global and in use constantly by a wide range of business users who are responsible for managing the business and if anything goes wrong, then the outcome can be extremely costly. For nearly 20 years OCS has been a specialist in this area and over the last year has worked with numerous organisations taking responsibility for and assisting in everything from Installation to Migration. Our success has led to numerous on-going support agreements both with on-site and off-site teams supporting the SAS software infrastructure for major banks and organisations.

Evaluating cost-efficiencies

What happens when an unfortunate situation presents itself where the current team supporting a legacy application decide to leave the company?  One of our customers called last year with just this problem and after looking at different options including recruiting a direct replacement, they decided that a local responsive outsource was the solution. OCS delivered a rapid and effective service establishment and support service to take on the systems built in ASP.NET, VB6 and SQL Server within agreed budgets and Service Level requirements.  It’s in the early stages and everyone is happy – the CFO as they have firm control of the costs and CTO who has the reassurance that it all just works. Oh and OCS for a job well done!

Replacement - Out with the old and in with the new

Being able to deal with any system however old or new and complex has meant that we’ve worked with a lot of companies who are looking to replace multiple legacy systems with new solutions be they SAP, Oracle or indeed Java.  We are currently providing support to a number of customers in this situation ranging from teams on and off-site undertaking the whole range of support activities.  OCS’ broad technical expertise provides a low cost approach to supporting the business as usual whilst the replacement process takes place allowing customers to deploy the in-house resources to work on the new IT transformation projects.

30 years of making IT happen – the celebrations!

Continued…

As well as football, we enjoyed other sporting highlights including rugby and cricket.  In particular, our staff and a number of customers and their families enjoyed a thrilling day of Twenty20 Blast cricket at the home of cricket itself, Lord’s. With some luminaries such as Eoin Morgan and Kevin Pieterson on display, a good game was expected and that’s certainly what we got…. A last ball result!

One of the other popular events we ran internally was the monthly staff anniversary raffle. Hotly anticipated after some early prizes of iPad Airs and theatre tickets, lucky winners have been off paragliding, driving VERY expensive cars round a track and shopping sprees galore – more than one person has suggested it should be an on-going thing…hmmm…

So, a new financial year awaits us, as do the next 30 and beyond. What will it hold in store for us? What will be the changes we see? One thing is for certain though, our staff and our customers are at the heart of everything that we do and we aim to keep that very much a part of our Company.

Getting up to speed with brand new technologies

Sometimes it’s an upgrade to newer technologies that can be more difficult than expected. One customer recently completed a significant database infrastructure upgrade implementing Oracle Exadata. This was a brand new technology for them and after deployment there were a number of performance problems.  With major challenges faced, the customer knew this was the kind of area that OCS excel and so we were asked to provide a consultancy service with lightweight third line support that is helping to smooth out the problems and ensure future success. The customer has really appreciated our skills as well as our flexible approach that got the job done.

OCS Newsletter – Summer 2014

OCS@Work Summer Newsletter
OCS Consulting - 30 Years of making IT Happen

OCS@Work - This Issue

30th Anniversary
OCS on the Move
Projects of Pride
The Power to Know
Tag Along with OCS

ISSUE
Summer 2014

OCS has moved!

As with our company ethos, some things never change or do they?  and after 30 years of having our administrative headquarters in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire we have moved.

As mentioned in previous newsletters, OCS’ strategy has always been to locate offices and therefore delivery capacity close to our clients.  Over the years this has led to offices being set-up outside of our main UK Headquarters and Dutch Headquarters in 's-Hertogenbosch in areas such as Leeds, Milton Keynes, Edinburgh and Geneva to name just some.

Today, with UK offices in London, West Sussex, Buckinghamshire, and Essex we are pleased to announce that we have moved our UK Headquarters to...you guessed it...Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.

Our new UK Headquarters address is:

OCS Consulting plc
Devonshire House
Manor Way
Borehamwood
Hertfordshire WD6 1QQ

Tel:  +44 (0) 20 8731 4335

Please visit the contact us page of our website for contact details for our regional, Dutch and Swiss offices:

www.ocs-consulting.com

30th Anniversary Edition

More than just quality services

Last week, I was having lunch with a long standing client, who had recently been to our 30th Anniversary celebration evening in London. He remarked how amazing it was that we should continue to thrive as an independent consultancy after so many years and that there should be so many clients and staff, current and ex, who remain part of our network and wish to be associated with OCS.

I reminded him, that though he has been a client for nearly 10 years, we had met some years before when he came for an interview at OCS as we were recruiting for a Senior Programme Manager to head up a Chip & Pin accreditation project we were running for a major retailer.  He didn’t get the job… but some years later came to us to provide flexible Web Development and Infrastructure Support Services for his organisation, a large US internet subscription company which we have been delivering to ever since.  I asked him what was it that reminded him of us, so much so, that he came to OCS for IT services.  Now there’s a question?

His answer was what I wanted to hear and perhaps the reason why after 30 years OCS remains a thriving independent business. He liked us. He liked our ethics and values and the way we communicated and dealt with him then as a prospective staff member and since then as a client.

We deliver, are loyal, trustworthy, have integrity and above all else committed to making sure that as an OCS client he feels that we go the extra mile to provide the most flexible and quality service that we can. 

Of course, if it was just his view then I’m not sure I would headline with it in this issue, but having received recently dozens of congratulation messages and testimonials (some of which can be found on www.ocs-consulting.eu) from clients and staff alike in response to our 30th anniversary, I can only  think, there must be something in what he says 🙂

30 years ago Neil Lawrence, founded OCS, after spotting the opportunity to deliver high quality, flexible services in the areas of lifecycle skills, technology and solutions with an ethos of honesty, integrity, friendliness and professionalism. These characteristics have been renewed, updated and re-confirmed again and again over the years.  Today they are strong as they ever were, seems like in a changing world this remains a strong and attractive proposition.

If you should like to experience OCS and would like to know how we may be able to assist with your future IT needs, then do please contact us and we will be delighted to help.

All the best

Maurice Aroesti OCS Consulting Group Chief Executive

Maurice Aroesti
Group Chief Executive

Client Experiences - Projects of Pride

In the Winter 2013 edition, we were able to talk in detail about the variety of services that OCS is able to deliver.  For example, undertaking complex Java Development projects through to robust support of legacy systems with a core of flexible resourcing solutions, and how we delivered these services to some of the most well-known companies in the UK and Europe presented for us a huge sense of pride. 

In order to record this information and as part of our 30th anniversary celebrations we have captured some of these in both Infographic and storyboard form on our new anniversary showcase site www.ocs-consulting.eu. Do please visit and review our credentials and testimonials at your leisure.

30 Years of Making IT Happen Wall Chart
30 Years of Making IT Happen Wallchart

In addition, as we have been trawling through our archives looking at our history we have also captured some company facts which gives an overview of OCS from a staff and services perspective. Click on the left-hand image to view for further information.

Lastly, we have a diary of events planned for the remainder of our anniversary year which we would be delighted if you are able to attend, details for each event are on the www.ocs-consulting.eu website.  We hope to see you at one of our planned events!

 A recurring theme for OCS over the last few years has been our commitment to long standing technology partners. An excellent example of this is our work with SAS software from the SAS Institute which continues to power ahead as the leading business analytics technology in use today, delivering significant business advantage to its clients.


OCS Consulting has been a SAS Institute partner since 1999
Phuse logo

From our early beginnings in the 90’s delivering reporting, forecasting and analytics projects for banks, retailers and energy providers, OCS’ SAS services have gone from strength to strength. Based in Holland and one of our most significant and successful service streams, OCS is working with international Pharmaceuticals, Banks, and Food organisations delivering reporting, analytics, statistical and administration services and solutions.

It’s no surprise therefore that as part of our 30th anniversary, OCS will be placing special emphasis on attending and sponsoring a number of SAS events across Europe to celebrate our commitment and loyalty to our SAS clients.  This year’s annual PhUSE conference is being held on 12th-15th October at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, London.  As with previous years OCS will have an exhibition stand and this year we are also proud sponsors of the PhUSE poster session on the evening of 14th October, please come and join us for a chat and some cheese and wine!

Tag Along with OCS

I believe Marketing specialists are very focussed on Brand as the vehicle through which companies promote themselves in the market place. 

Be it the logo, colour, tone of voice, or statements, it is the Brand that creates an association with a company and reflects your expectations of what you will get when you interact with that company, be it, luxury, quality, service etc. 

As an experiment we have looked back at many of the statements or tag lines OCS have used over the years to see how consistent we have been with our company brand characteristic.

For example:

1985 ADABAS/Natural
“The Natural Partner”

1990 UNIFACE
”Serving Clients throughout Europe and the USA“

1995 SAS Solutions
“Synergy, Advantage, Success”

1996 SyPower Solutions ”Powering you to a better  future”

2000 OCS Group
“Enabling Technology to Deliver”

2002 OCS Group
“Delivering Business Value from IT Investment”

2004 Computer Services
”Making IT Happen”

2005 OCS Group
“The Flexible Extension to your IT Team”

2009 OCS Group
“Better solutions through better relationships”

2014 OCS Group
“30 years of making IT happen”

I think you will agree one thing that we are is consistent