IT Awards 2022 The Genius Group: Best Website Traffic Generating Company 2022
Welcome to the IT Awards 2022 For our first year running SME News is delighted to present the IT Awards 2022! In the face of unprecedented hardship and uncertainty for UK businesses over the pandemic, the IT sector has played a critical part in ensuring businesses can stay connected, adapt, and continue to trade in an increasingly digital society. With that being said, we believe it is a perfect time to honour those leading companies whatever their size, across the industry. If successful, this accolade aims to provide you with the affirmation that you truly are a leader within your field as well as the third-party support and recognition to assist in getting the news out of your success. Sif Brookes | Senior Editor
Contents 4. The Genius Group: Best Website Traffic Generating Company 2022 6. Animo Consultancy Ltd: Most Innovative Healthcare Informatics Consultancy 2022 7. Digital Cloud UK: Most Innovative CRM Provider 2022 8. Inology IT: Best IT Services Provider - North West 9. Technical Drive: We Like to Think We’re Amazing, Now it’s Official! 10. WeDrive: Best Driver Training SaaS Platform 2022 11. Actionplus Foundation: Best IT-Enabled Health Service NGO 2022 12. VoIPstudio: Best VoIP Phone Service 2022 13. Asensus: Sales Tech Innovation Award 2022 & Best New CRM Solution 2022 14. Wine Owners: Best Wine Business Software 2022 15. Primenet: Most Innovative IT Managed Services & Cybersecurity Business 2022 16. Iatro: Best Digital Health Solutions Provider 2022 17. Canny Clever IT Service Centres Limited: Best IT Retail & Repair Business 2022 - North East & Customer Service Excellence Award 2022 18. e9: Best Travel & Transport App Development Company 2022 19. David Yates: Most Immersive Software Solutions Developer 2022 20. FonePal: Best Mobile Phone Recycling Platform 2022 21. GDS Link, LLC: Most Innovative Financial Services SaaS Company 2022 22. Ralakde Limited: Best PC & Mobile Device Repair Business - Staffordshire 23. Air & Sea Analytics: Most Innovative Energy Sector Data Analytics Company 2022 24. Air Group: Best Retirement Product Sourcing Platform 2022 25. LogicBarn: Best Content & Web Design Agency – Derbyshire 26. triSaaS: Leading Innovators in Hospitality Technology Solutions 2022
4 | IT Awards 2022 Jun22326 Best Website Traffic Generating Company 2022 A good website, well utilised, has incredible power in the modern marketplace. With a focus on lead generation and marketing, founders Chris Niebel and Mark Shephard have pushed their business into bold new territory. In the IT Awards from SME News, the team at The Genius Group have achieved remarkable success, proving themselves by helping clients drive over £2.3 billion in sales in the last 3 years. We dig a little deeper to find out more. Generating traffic is an enormous part of any business model. The more people who see what is on offer, the faster you will achieve your business goals. Thai business, The Genius Group, has mixed the disciplines of marketing, digital strategy, and advanced AI systems to build the support network that organisations need. Founded by Chris Niebel and Mark Shephard, pioneers of lead generation and marketing solutions, The Genius Group has gone from strength to strength. Their eye for CRO research, marketing optimisation, advanced lead generation techniques, and superbly crafted creative solutions has ensured the delivery of numerous compelling end-user experiences. At the heart of their success, however, is the team’s ability to take brand concepts and ideas, create macro solutions, and turn them into powerful online businesses with digital at their core. Mark states, “Imagine paying a company whose only job is supplying you clients – not taking any of your monthly spend if they get it right or wrong – but a company who is held responsible for getting it right, and your business only paying a cost per client. Welcome to Genius.” Mark knows that The Genius Group does things differently to the rest and the team understands how to be clever – it’s not just about traffic but it’s about creating a winning strategy for everyone involved. Pushing the boundaries of what has gone before is one of the reasons why so many turn to this talented team for support. The wealth of experience, and outstanding in-house tech, which is available from both Chris and Mark is very useful to businesses wanting to reach out to new audiences, with inhouse work including building websites, writing copy and headlines, creating sales funnels, e-signatures, CRM backends to handle client data, adverts, social media, and conversion optimisation. Perhaps the best example of their work, reaping incredible rewards can be seen in the success of their clients. One of the team’s projects saw them working alongside a financial technology and claims company, seeing them grow to roughly £2.7b in revenue over three years, utilising AI, leading digital and social media strategies. Since its establishment, The Genius Group has driven over £5m, having onboarded over 25k clients per day for its customers. Chris and Mark both come from very different backgrounds, but it is this diverse approach which has secured the success of so many ideas. Chris has been an entrepreneur and blue-sky thinker since the age of 25, creatively and strategically applying his expertise in lead generation to the needs of his clients. His passion for the sector has been instrumental in the successful growth of some of the UK’s largest claims businesses. In 2011, Chris created bespoke software for SMS marketing, and was able to utilise the PAYG mobile sim packages developing the unique SMS usage, which was 10k texts for £10 top up. This allowed one of the UK’s largest scale-up operations in SMS marketing, resulting in over 2m SMS sent each day, marketing to consumers for different products. In less than two months, the software was generating more than £500k profit every month. The rules surrounding GDPR saw a shift for Chris as he realised it was time to rethink the way consumers were contacted. He worked on website optimisation using bespoke software from a platform developed inhouse called Flopanda, a multi-award-winning platform to help businesses scale up mass volume of leads using multiple network platforms including Facebook, Google, and native. Chris also worked exclusively on a financial claims product (PPI) with Allay claims. It was here where he met Mark. Mark and Chris took the firm from a £600k turnover in 2016 to £200m turnover in 2019 and 2020. Collections were in excess of £2.3b in compensations for customers. This was purely by the marketing expertise and conversion strategies and optimisation identified in previous years. Chris explains, “We dominated the networks spending £8m each month on advertising, making a profit of £2.5m each month with no more than five staff members.” Mark’s strength as a creative genius has seen him celebrate major success with many companies. Mark is the perfect business partner to Chris, bringing an enviable powerhouse in optimisation and SEO to the table. With his ground-breaking marketing strategies, he proved instrumental in the success of building a company worth £600m. After the phenomenal success of Allay, Mark and Chris built TGG, now the biggest advertising company on Facebook. They have continued to drive their successes into two legal firms, numerous claims companies, and developed a beauty e-commerce business with turnover of over £11m in only two years. Not only did The Genius Group make this possible, but the team also made sure that the company generated over 2.3 Billion and Made over 600 million in 3 years. From a standing start of only generating 600K per year. Continuing to invest in developing proprietary solutions that deliver, the team has been able to secure their place in the industry. The importance of good traffic generation is clear to anyone in every industry, and the team act as partners throughout to their clients, from e-commerce to technology, operations to brand and data, meaning they can optimise their approach from the very first click through to the final mile. All of
IT Awards 2022 | 5 Best Website Traffic Generating Company 2022 the various app and software development has been done inhouse, revolutionising the legal and claims world. All of these innovations, essential to the continued success of the business, are fully owned by Chris and Mark. When it comes to lead generation, The Genius Group tends to work with law firms, claims management companies, and home improvement businesses, helping them to generate a high volume of consumer leads through social media. It can offer high quality leads, at an affordable price, with a simple onboarding process that is led by its development team. Their marketing processes enable them to create campaigns that reach a large audience, with ads and websites that lead to increased conversions. With implementation and set up being so simple, campaigns can start very quickly and run more efficiently. Once a lead has been generated, it’s essential not to lose them on the website. Did you know that over 90% of the traffic that goes to a website does not convert, but instead drops off? Of that sizable percentage, The Genius Group has proven able to convert an extra 10% of that traffic by engaging with them in the partial data they have entered on the website and bringing them back into the funnel where they left off. These insight tools are used consistently to adapt to the varying needs of clients. Perhaps the most important of these is Flo Panda, a product built by marketers, for marketers. This platform cuts through the complex systems and procedures that competitors offer and gets straight to the point of the website issues that are costing businesses money. The tool takes real-time data and shows areas to improve conversions, optimise Facebook and PPC marketing campaigns, and re-engage with people who partially complete your opt-in and order forms. When The Genius Group built and tested Flo Panda, it generated over 4.1m leads over an 18-month period, building up a £600m business. This data is not only closely interpreted by the team, but also collected as efficiently as possible. The team’s own inhouse data mining team means there is no need for a massive form. Instead, the team data mines third-party data resources and can automate information without relying on the customer. This allows them to ask less questions in their forms, whilst still being able to secure a much higher conversion rate. This automated data is used throughout the business, including in the team’s customer call centre. A pre-populated data field when it comes to emails or telephones ensures a tailored and customer-centric approach at all times. Behind the team’s success in numbers lies a bunch of hard-working experts who develop stunning websites through the perfect blend of aestheticism and conversion. With plenty of CTA and UX knowledge, the team of experts have been responsible for creating a website which has tripled the conversion rate compared to the industry average (7.09% compared to 2.7%). Indeed, The Genius Group’s Shopify website currently sits in the top 1% of all e-commerce stores in the world, in one of the toughest categories, health and beauty. By following their own rules and differing from the rest, right now the team generates more consumers than any company in the UK in 3 verticals. Working with companies with budgets over 300,000 for online acquisitions, they have wiped the awards of the best tech solutions online and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The coming years look bright for Chris, Mark and their talented team. In fact, the team seems set to grow, with more inhouse experts always being brought in so that the firm can take on more clients. It seems likely that The Genius Group will continue in its quest to generate even more innovative and automated ways for its clients to generate leads, as it has brought them – and will continue to bring them – such incredible success. Company: The Genius Group Name: Claire Niebel Email: claire@genius.co.uk Web Address: www.genius.co.uk Address: TGG, Unit 14, Edwards court, Broadheath, Altrincham, WA14 5GL Telephone: 07789479463
6 | IT Awards 2022 not have the specialist expertise that Animo Consultancy’s staff and associates can provide. Within the market, this is Animo Consultancy’s biggest advantage over its competitors, as clients are searching for direct access to the people in the know. Animo Consultancy, in order to meet this demand, has cultivated a workforce that prioritises clientcentricity. The team are imperative to the firm’s success. Its team consists of highly-productive and dedicated professionals who are ready to hit the ground running and deliver proven technical and management skills. Furthermore, this is reflected in the internal culture, as Animo As a leading healthcare informatics consultancy, Animo Consultancy Ltd bears a great amount of responsibility. Therefore, it abides by international standards and works in collaboration with a number of globally renowned organisations in order to ensure a premium standard. Indeed, Animo Consultancy has earned its place as an esteemed industry figure, and has laid the foundations for a successful future. In 2006, Animo Consultancy Ltd was founded. The consultancy’s genesis was paired with the mission to provide friendly, well-qualified senior advisors who use industry-accepted methodologies with clients to help them bolster their businesses. Indeed, the consultancy’s approach is embedded into its name; Animo has many meanings, but the one that resonates is ‘with intention or with purpose.’ Every action that Animo Consultancy undertakes has purpose, and it pushes its clients to take more courageous decisions. As such, Animo Consultancy has acquired a large, diverse clientele, with many of its customers stemming from public sector organisations. Such clients are introduced to the company through its social media pages and strong presence on LinkedIn. This means that Animo Consultancy does noy have to approach people – its clientele has spawned organically. These clients, however, do have some things in common – they operate within the health, education or information technology sector. Animo Consultancy specialises in Health Informatics, which refers to the rapidly evolving discipline of using technology, information, data and communications to support health related fields, such as medicine, nursing, pharmaceuticals, and dentistry. Operating in partnership with several organisations, including the prestigious Global eHealth Collaborative, to develop, contribute to, and educate the community about health informatics standards. What it doesn’t do is try to do everything. Animo Consultancy knows how and why it thrives, and as a result, remains within its field to advance its knowledge as much as possible. There are hundreds of larger businesses in the IT Sector that deliver a broader remit; however, they will Most Innovative Healthcare Informatics Consultancy 2022 Jun22189 Consultancy provides an environment in which the team members can reach their full potential. It gives the staff the authority to make decisions as well as the responsibility for delivery. Going forwards, the company hopes to continue evolving, ultimately ensuring that it lies on the cutting edge of all industry innovations. Animo Consultancy hopes to further develop its business, provide excellent customer service, and, of course, celebrate its success. Contact: Monica Jones Company: Animo Consultancy Ltd Web Address: www.animoconsultancy.co.uk
7 | IT Awards 2022 Quick delivery, outstanding customer service, and the implementation an advanced digital CRM system are all things that can be expected from Digital Cloud UK. The company offers tailored solutions that endeavour to make handling and managing CRM simple – leaving you to get back to what’s most important. Established by Digesh Tailor, Digital Cloud UK is a streamlined and effective digital CRM platform that will help you boost your business. Indeed, Digital Cloud UK prioritises you – it understands how optimised CRM systems can benefit and simplify not only your workload but also your workforce and clients. Therefore, the company has created an easy to use, simple, and efficient platform that is centred around its customers’ feedback. In a company statement, Digesh Tailor vows, ‘we know that technology can be perceived as complex, often coupled with technical jargon and unbounded functionality. And trust us when we say, we know running a business can be all-consuming. But we believe that technology can and should, simplify things. That’s why we do everything possible to take the pain out of tech for our SME clients.’ Consequently, Digital Cloud UK goes beyond the call of duty to provide the best possible service to its customers. For example, the company offers 12 hours of free service add-ons that they can’t get with any other CRM provider. In such a fastpaced and crowded market, Digital Cloud UK can maximise the value that its clients get out of their CRM systems and, additionally, streamline their business sales and management processes by building simple automations to their everyday tasks. Digital Cloud UK has built its platform around Microsoft Dynamics 365, the next generation in business management technology. Supported by the Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics 365 harmoniously combines CRM, ERP and Business Intelligence, resulting in smoother operations that implement better growth potential, productivity, and reduced running costs. Such CRM solutions are, therefore, able to me moulded to fit the client’s individual business needs. ‘Our unique customer service model ensures that service is built into every phase of our process […] providing stand-out service is what drives us,’ Digesh continues. This comment is backed up by the company’s devotion to constant evolution – each year the company pivots its costing model as it strives to remain up to date with industry advancements and, more importantly, provide easy access to Jun22589 Most Innovative CRM Provider 2022 a premium CRM platform. It is with this firmly in mind that Digital Cloud UK now offers a range of low-cost packages, 6- and 12-month payment plans to help clients spread the cost during these challenging times, and fast turnaround times through its quick-start packages. Client-centricity comes first, and this is reflected in the dozens of five-star testimonials that the company has received. Jamie Carthy, Senior Web Developer at Search & More writes, ‘We have recently used Digital Cloud UK to migrate our Google accounts over to Office 365, and to also integrate Dynamics 365 into our package. Digesh has been our main point of contact during this process and has been extremely helpful along the way. The transition to Office 365 was very smooth and Digesh was always available to take calls and answer any questions we had. I would highly recommend this company!’ Contact: Digesh Tailor Company: Digital Cloud UK Contact email: info@digitalclouduk.com Telephone: 01204 588 229 Web Address: https://www.digitalclouduk.com/
8 | IT Awards 2022 Therefore, this approach is deeply rooted within the services that the company offers. Boasting ISO27001, ISO9001, and Cyber Essentials certifications, Inology IT provides comprehensive IT support packages that guarantee 24/7 support, remote monitoring and maintenance, cyber security, and data backup, along with an account manager. In addition, it offers Cloud solutions, IT security, technology procurement, and more. Each of these services are designed to supply clients with the best possible outcomes whilst remaining reasonably priced. To further ensure the quality of its solutions, Inology IT has established partnerships with leading names in technology, including Microsoft. For example, its partnership with the leading technology manufacturer, Dell, has opened a variety of doors for Inology IT. Not only is the company associated with one of the world’s most recognisable brands, but it is also able to provide its clients with rock-solid, proven hardware and software solutions. Inology IT’s unmatched service has made it incredibly popular with customers, who have gone on to leave gleaming reviews through Google, Facebook, and Trustpilot. Professionalism, responsiveness, and value are often positively highlighted within these testimonies, reflecting the company’s willingness to go above and beyond for its customers. One reviewer, Ricci Stanley, comments, ‘only good things to say about my experiences with Inology, they have been very responsive to my needs, often at odd times of the day. Their ability to react when required and solve my issues swiftly has given me great confidence that any problems I suffer with my IT hardware & software will be fixed with ease, takes a weight of my shoulders in IT areas that are well out of my depth.’ Contact: Brett Casterton Company: Inology IT Web Address: https://www.inology.co.uk/ Working with businesses across Greater Manchester and beyond, Inology IT is a leading provider of bespoke IT solutions. Be it IT support packages or cyber security frameworks, Inology IT devotes itself to providing premium services that truly benefit you as a business owner. Henceforth, it has cultivated a reputation for excellence. In 2020, the number of cyberattacks skyrocketed by 400%. To prevent the victimisation of your business, its imperative to implement and maintain a solid IT security framework. For a small business or a business that lacks a large IT department, this can be a rather complicated endeavour; however, with Inology IT by your side, you can have all this and more. Indeed, Inology IT, a Manchesterbased company, specialises in the provision of premium IT support and solutions. In essence, Inology IT is a friendly, local, and personal IT department that is always on-hand to support your team. It takes a proactive and entirely bespoke approach to maintaining, enhancing, and securing its clients’ IT systems and strives to tackle problems before they arise. Inology IT focuses on doing the right thing. Acting with integrity, the company prides itself on placing the clients’ businesses and teams above technology – this is an integral part of the company’s ethos. Best IT Services Provider - North West Jun22164 Inology IT focuses on doing the right thing. Acting with integrity, the company prides itself on placing the clients’ businesses and teams above technology – this is an integral part of the company’s ethos.
9 | IT Awards 2022 Technical Drive has been fast becoming the benchmark for Quality IT service and support in the Midlands. But now, having won ‘MOST Innovative Cloud Solutions Provider’ from SME News our service delivery is award winning! Time to buy a trophy cabinet! Of course, anyone can say they provide a quality service or product but if they don’t, they will soon get found out and just like we have seen with governments who promise the earth and deliver nothing, this happens with monotonous regularity in the IT industry. But we look at this insincerity as a huge opportunity. It is our opportunity to be the real deal, to walk the walk, to do ‘what it says on the tin’. Definitely, absolutely, every time, and if we don’t, we have the processes and people in place to deal with it over and above the client’s expectation. To back this up we decided at an early stage to run the business according to ISO 9001, which is the recognised standard for service delivery. If we’re honest, we can’t understand how other service companies run without it and believe that this is what every client should look for before anything else as it is real evidence that you care about what happens in your company and how it might affect the client. We’re also accredited with ISO 27001 for data security. In this day and age where everybody seems to be hacking each other or politicians are leaving USB sticks on trains, it is the very least you would expect from your IT Partner in terms of looking after for your data security. So we are very organised, with the badges to prove it! But we also know what we are doing! We have gone to great lengths to achieve Gold Standard in all the ‘best of breed’ products and services that we provide including being Microsoft Gold accredited. This means that we commit to training our people on a regular basis and help them become more knowledgeable in the relevant technologies for our clients, so they don’t have to hang around waiting for answers. This also puts us in the top 1% of Microsoft partners in the world! Then there’s the most important bit. Our people. (well, OK, the second most important bit, behind the clients!) They not only know what they are doing but they have initiative, invention and personality. Every one of them. And do you know what else? They are really nice people to work with. When you spend most of your waking hours with your colleagues, it is important that there are personalities that allow work to be a pleasurable and interesting place to be. And trust me on this, they do! We deal with SME’s in the Midlands and we have no desire to have bigger clients than we already have. When we started we heard lots of stories of how this or that company was great when we were first with them, but now they’ve got bigger clients they are not so good. We are determined to keep the same level of service to all of our clients. We understand that they need us. Typically, they don’t have an IT manager, so they are totally dependent on us for all matters IT. So we give them truly end to end support on all elements of their IT. And more. This reminds me of those TV programs you see when they look at a failing restaurant that has a menu that has everything on it that you could possibly want and it’s all done badly. The first Jun22293 We Like to Think We’re Amazing, Now it’s Official! recommendation the expert chef makes is to cut the menu down and do a few things well. Make a cheeseburger, all sizzling and melting or a great English breakfast rather than trying to do everything and be all things to all men. Talking of cheeseburgers - what time’s lunch? So in IT you get companies trying to be telecoms, managed print, IT - everything and if you’ve ever bought a ‘four in one’ of anything, it’s not as good as the individual item. Technical Drive are not an ‘all in one’. We pride ourselves on being masters in IT – something we can back up and our clients will vouch for. 150 five-star Google Reviews can’t be wrong! Our plans going forward? To create a fantastic working environment for our staff and to make the service better and better and better for our clients and build on our reputation as the only true Quality IT Provider in the Midlands. …and maybe win a few more awards for our cabinet! Simon Cole CEO Technical Drive are not an ‘all in one’. We pride ourselves on being masters in IT – something we can back up and our clients will vouch for.
10 | IT Awards 2022 the power to choose their own journey along their respective pathways. The driving force behind WeDrive’s success is the creativity and devotion of its team – they are the company’s greatest asset. Brand transparency, openness, and imagination are prioritised within the company’s internal culture. Communication, however, is the fundamental element behind the team’s collaborative success. It actively searches for feedback from those within the industry and its users in order to further streamline its internal processes, resulting in a product that consistently increases in quality. In a fast paced and ever-changing environment, this is an exceptional benefit. In addition, the nature of the market underpins WeDrive’s approach to business, which utilises cuttingedge smart apps that leverage cloud technology, algorithms, and the spirit of Web3 to bring instructors and learners new functionalities and data-driven training. Prior to the creation of the business, the industry had stagnated WeDrive’s applications, WeDrive Learner and WeDrive Instructor, are growing daily. Its rising popularity is pushing the platform forwards in its mission to become the leading driver training ‘smart platform’ in the UK. Having recently smashed the 7,000 new learners per month mark, with 3,000 driving instructors already registered - alongside its 35,000-strong social media community – it is abundantly clear that this goal is well within WeDrive’s grasp WeDrive is revolutionising the way people learn to drive. Indeed, the cloud-enabled web-and-app based platform has been designed to act as a complete driver training SaaS solution for the next generation of learner drivers and driving instructors alike. The revolutionary software – which is driven by a wealth of data – services all contemporary user needs for both the UK’s current 40,000 ADIs and the vast number of drivers entering the market for training each year. Moreover, it supports the company’s mission to establish the UK’s largest driver training smart platform that enables total transparency between the driver and learner from the first step of the driving journey. The company’s software, WeDrive Learner and WeDrive Instructor, is available in both app and web browser form. This maximises both accessibility and flexibility for all users as individuals: values which drive WeDrive’s desire to remain innovative. After all, innovation is key to two of the company’s fundamental goals: reducing instructors’ management and marketing time and outlay and, in turn, increasing their working efficiency and income significantly. As for learners, WeDrive strives to help them get licensed in an easier, faster, less costly, dataoriented way. Consequently, WeDrive has built both a B2B and B2C clientele, with many of its customers being the drivers of tomorrow. It endeavours to provide such clients with the confidence to take the plunge into the process of learning to drive, or, perhaps, encourage some of its customers to explore becoming an instructor. Through providing its users with a premium toolkit, encouragement, and empowerment, WeDrive makes this process exciting rather than daunting and stressful. It is, in essence, giving its clients Best Driver Training SaaS Platform 2022 Jun22280 technologically. Henceforth, WeDrive is unique both in its clientele and in its format - and is, quite simply, shaking up the industry. WeDrive’s success is apparent, with its vast social media presence – the company recently surpassed 35,000 followers across its social media channels. It has built a community, which is emphasised through the interactive social features and community spaces integrated into its apps, and WeDrive wants this to continue. By the end of 2022, the company wants to see this number double, with its overarching goal being to become the premier community for learners and instructors across the UK. To bolster this mission, WeDrive plans to expand on its use of exciting interactive initiatives for each platform, such as competitions with bigger prizes, to give something back to its growing community. Contact: Paul Doherty Email: paul.doherty@wedrive.fun Company: WeDrive Web Address: www.wedrive.fun
11 | IT Awards 2022 Operating across London and Luton, but also with African branches in Ghana, Uganda, and Kenya, Actionplus Foundation has been on a mission for 25 years to combat stigma and prejudice against those with HIV, which are barriers against prevention, and help those who have the infection. Fred found that these prejudiced attitudes and behaviours were even being practiced in the church and that’s when he moved to intervene. The church plays a central role in the lives of many African communities, and that is where cases of HIV are particularly high because of ignorance. These communities look towards pastors and church elders for guidance and support, but unfortunately, at the time, the vast majority of pastors were ignorant about HIV due to their lack of knowledge about the disease. Therefore, Fred’s main aim with Actionplus was to find a way of breaking this stigma by educating and raising awareness. With the robust intervention of Actionplus’ ‘Take Action Now’ campaign, a breakthrough was achieved. Alas, the organisation found itself struggling when it came to funding, because it lacked a track record and had no tangible evidence that a difference could be made with its campaign. Many other organisations who were campaigning for the same cause had managed to attract the funding instead, therefore declaring Actionplus’ mission impossible. Fred didn’t let this stop him, though. For a long time, he had seen the strong potential in the use of IT. Before the IT industry’s exponential growth to become what it is today, he saw the opportunities it could bring industries around the world, and he bought into it. Thus, he created a website called Click To View (www. fredanninministries.com), or C2V, to create a communication bridge between Actionplus and funders so they could work together to fund projects. Click To View means that funders don’t need to travel across the world to see the work the organisation is doing with their money. It can all be communicated virtually and enables them to easily engage in the project. Of course, many other organisations followed suit when the pandemic hit and switched to virtual operations. But Fred had got ahead and had already created a digital system for Actionplus, which was not only for communication purposes, but also a platform to showcase the impact of the project, credibility, track record, commitment, successes, and achievements. As a result of its digitisation, Actionplus has grown by 75% across the countries and regions in which it works. It manages to reach out to many service users online and through telephone, and virtual activities enable it to engage with clients and partners through Zoom, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms. These platforms also Jun22525 Best IT-Enabled Health Service NGO 2022 enable the organising of conferences, training, and follow-ups with ease. Now, Actionplus is making a big difference around the world with its HIV campaign, and it continues to receive recognition for its outstanding work that is changing and saving lives. Fred says, “This award showcases our continued strength and commitment to our mission and we hope to attract more support from the general public around the world, to save more lives from the HIV pandemic. Also, we are helping UNAID to achieve their target of ending HIV by the year 2030.” Company: Actionplus Foundation Contact: Fred Annin Email: info@actionplusfoundation.org Website: www.actionplusfoundation.org www.fredanninministries.com Actionplus Foundation is a Christian non-governmental organisation founded by Fred Annin in London in 1997, with the main focus of campaigning against HIV stigma and prejudice, and supporting people living with HIV. With this being the second year in a row that the organisation has seen awards success with SME News magazine, we are this time praising it for its digital transformation, which has enhanced its ability to spread its message and help people.
12 | IT Awards 2022 they do is vital for the success of SMEs around the world. No business can afford to be without a communications hub, and that’s precisely what the team at VoIPstudio offer. Their complete unified communications platform integrates with the world’s leading application providers, such as Oracle, Salesforce, Microsoft, Google and Hubspot, to serve every department in a business. Over the last few years, the team have focused on integration and collaboration in particular, adding new features like video conferencing and video calls to the existing live chat, group chat and screen and file sharing functionalities. The team have also released a new VoIP Integration Toolkit, including CTI Connectors, REST API and Webhooks. Professional communications need the flexibility of a modern organisation, but few manage to achieve it without the hassle and expense of owning and managing on-site PBX equipment. VoIPstudio has used cloud-based software to provide this flexibility to businesses large and small. Earning incredible success in SME News’ IT Awards 2022, we thought it time to dig a little deeper to find out more. Communications are key to any business, but SMEs that often don’t have the resources of larger organisations are known to lag behind the competition. Since opening its doors, the team at VoIPstudio have been committed to helping businesses of any size to have a high-quality, flexible, hassle-free and affordable communications service. Now more than ever, this approach is vital to developing operations in a highly dispersed business ecosystem where communications play a critical role in business survival and growth. The work of VoIPstudio has seen the team in demand internationally, serving more than 15 million minutes of daily talk time to more than 75 countries worldwide. With over 40 cloudbased PBX features in a simple, straightforward, all-inclusive platform, the team has been able to make it easy for companies to offer professional communications at very competitive prices. There are no contracts or hidden costs involved with how VoIPstudio operates, with every client having access to every feature from day one of use. This means that the team’s highly regarded virtual switchboard, virtual numbers, conference calling, call centre and call recording, to name but a few, can be quickly used by businesses. To keep pace with the modern marketplace, advanced communication tools like videoconferencing, screen sharing or integration with lots of CRM and other business tools are the norm for this stunning organisation. Because no two businesses are the same, the need for VoIPstudio to be adaptable is obvious. As such, there is a degree of technical support which is found here which might not be found with other organisations. The team’s work is personalised at all times to support clients as they configure their system to meet their individual needs. Teams are distributed in the USA, UK, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Poland, among others to meet local requirements and to ensure that VoIPstudio remains a fully international and multicultural name to remember. The work that Best VoIP Phone Service 2022 Jun22360 Looking ahead, the future seems bright for this talented team. 2022 and 2023 are set to focus on new integrations with everyday business tools, like Microsoft Teams, and improvements that provide a better user experience, for example, a new Single Sign On feature. It’s clear that whilst VoIPstudio offers something that truly stands apart, and they’re continuing to aspire to even greater heights. We celebrate their tremendous achievement, the incredible value they offer to the SME community around the world and the way in which they are set to continue thriving for many years yet to come. Company: VoIPstudio Name: Renier Schrenk Email: sales@voipstudio.com Web Address: https://voipstudio.com
13 | IT Awards 2022 Asensus unlocks the most underutilised and undervalued data source available in every business – their sales team! Priding itself on achieving Salesforce Partner status in 2019 and being listed on the Saleforce AppExchange, Asensus addresses the communication gap which exists between the front line sales team and decision makers. Its flexible CRM integrated mobile and desktop application provides decision makers with a continually updated 360-degree SWOT analysis on their business. CEO of Asensus, Paul Smillie tells us, “We believe we have developed an innovative and niche platform which is addressing a decadesold issue on how sales teams contribute meeting notes to CRM and the lack of visibility sales leaders have on the quality of meetings taken place –this remains an issue for many businesses and we believe that with Asensus, there are numerous benefits that can realised.” The Problem All sales training ever given focuses around asking ‘open’ questions, understanding the client/prospect business, as well as collecting needs and pain points – This, if structured and aggregated correctly, is a highly valuable source of information for any business. Yet, sales teams’ only tool to record this information is a ‘white box’ in the CRM where they are requested to enter unstructured meeting notes. This data sits idle in the CRM and is never read or given the attention it deserves. This leads to numerous downstream issues: • A mycustomer.com study found that 86% of enterprise CRM data is unstructured and cannot be accessed effectively, leading to key business decisions being taken on incomplete data. • 44% of respondents to a Validity Inc survey of 1,200 CRM users estimated that their business loses upwards of 10% in annual revenues due to poor quality CRM data. • Asking the sales team to enter meeting notes into CRM, which are often never read, leads to: - A disengaged commercial function; - Duplication of admin tasks leading to less time on value-add sales activities – An Asensus survey found that sales teams spend 20%-25% of the working week on admin; - Key data lost to the business which could have been used to enhance sales, marketing and product strategies The Solution Asensus offers a CRM integrated collaboration platform that provides a range of powerful features to its clients. First of all, it allows sales teams to efficiently complete their CRM admin on a single streamlined (client configured) workflow process. Users can enter short notes, create follow up tasks, tag colleagues, and update their pipeline among other tasks to reduce CRM admin by 30%. The platform also utilises NLP and ML models to tag product and competitor mentions as well as aggregate and draw insight from sales notes, allowing clients to see key emerging trends, strengths and weaknesses vs competitors, as well as indicators of future sales pipeline. This enables businesses to make key decisions based on reliable, timely and accurate data collected from the market. Asensus’ clients are seeing a competitive edge in the data they are able to collect and are gaining a clear view on what is happening in the market. Paul says, “We firmly believe that sales meeting data is a key missing piece in many business’ data strategy and this qualitative data will play a key role in gaining a deeper understanding on what is happening in the industry.” This sales data is then connected with teams and colleagues across the business, such as product, strategy, marketing, and senior sales leaders and management. Product managers can gain key insight on product feedback and ideas for future Jul22086 Sales Tech Innovation Award 2022 & Best New CRM Solution 2022 developments, and marketing teams can analyse content to develop future strategies and thought leadership content. The Future Towards the end of 2022, Asensus will be releasing its Future Pipeline Indicator functionality which it feels could be a gamechanger for the sales industry. It will utilise NLP and ML to predict how sales meetings taking place today will impact the sales pipeline in the next 3-6 months. This will provide sales leaders with an early key indicator on how the future pipeline will look and give time to address any issues that may exist. Paul comments, “We believe this will be a highly valuable piece of functionality, as currently there are very few indicators that exist on how future pipeline is being developed. Asensus will fill this gap and provide the necessary visibility to sales leaders.” Company: Asensus Contact: Paul Smillie Email: paul.smillie@asensus.io Website: www.asensus.io Asensus is a CRM integrated sales collaboration platform which utilises Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) to turn unstructured CRM data, such as sales meeting notes, into deal winning insights.
14 | IT Awards 2022 Over the last eighteen months, demand has been such that the size of the team has doubled. In an open, accountable organisation where high performance is reviewed against key measures team work, innovation and creativity are all highly valued.. Success is founded on individuals with excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, and team members who are naturally collaborative and who are able to communicate clearly; internally and externally. Looking ahead, it’s clear that a focus on what the market needs will allow the Wine Owners team to geow globally. Customers form a crucial part of the roadmap priorities, allowing Wine Owners to embed best practise whilst implementing fresh ideas that get road-tested by existing clients. Every sector has unique demands, but few so specific as the wine and spirits industry. The team at Wine Owners have made it their mission to create affordable business management software from the ground up exclusively for these businesses. Working around the world, they’ve achieved tremendous success in SME News’ IT Awards 2022. We dig a little deeper to uncork the scent of success. Wine Owners focuses on customer success above all else. Acting as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider, the team have driven business improvement and growth across the wine an spirits industry through the application of IT technology platforms. Since opening their doors, the team have focused on addressing all the different workflows, product statuses, inventory management, storage services, shipping and fulfilment demands that are required by businesses, and have achieved rapid adoption as a result. The team’s work serves a variety of activities, primarily wine merchants, retailers, importers and warehouses in the UK, Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. Their fastest-growth product, the Wine Hub, is uniquely suited to the task of operating in this industry. Customers are attracted to the company by its ability to provide an industry specific business operating platform, underpinned with a referential products database and related content, overlaid with LWIN codes (the ISBN of the wine business). The process of enabling wine retail to expand sourcing strategies and broaden its reach i to find new potential customers s made exponentially simpler by the work of the Wine Hub; partly due to workflow management and partly due to true multichannel capabilities. Multiple sales channels can be accessed and used concurrently. It’s little wonder that the Wine Hub has been able to generate elevated levels of success. Put simply, those who adopt the Wine Hub, , find operational efficiencies, can reduce administrative overheads, and have seen revenue growth The aim for Wine Owners has always been to faciliate success on behalf of their customers. This ethos drives the Wine Owners organisation. Each business is treated uniquely, with training workshops to ensure that they get started and run as efficiently as possible from the very beginning. The support team has proven to provide exceptional response times. Through videos, ongoing communication and masterclasses, they ensure that companies can make the most of the service that is being offered. Best Wine Business Software 2022 Jun22744 New technology has not been at the forefront of the wine industry for many years, particularly use of digital channels. The work of Wine Owners has been to match the pace at which organisations have recognised the benefit. Their approach has ensured the fastest possible return on investment in many different situations. With developing SaaS platforms, integrations and a focus on delivering business improvements to market participants, Wine Owners is well placed for future success.. We cannot wait to see what they do next. Company: Wine Owners Name: Nick Martin Email: nick.martin@wineowners.com Web Address: https://www.wineowners.com
15 | IT Awards 2022 Good IT systems are essential for the smooth running of a modern business. More than just a gimmick, a digital outlook can make the lives of those running SMEs significantly more straightforward. The team at Primenet know this better than most, not only offering impressive services in this regard, but collaborating closely with customers to ensure they find precisely the level of service they need. The team work with a variety of vendors to meet their client’s specific requirements. Over the years, the team have worked with a number of different clients, serving the public and private sectors. Their ability to switch between the various solutions being offered means that they can meet the needs of customers and budgets from every background, making them an ideal resource to SMEs across the country. Building up such an incredible resource is not only a credit to the team, but a credit to the flexibility of the people running the business. As a company, they have always been committed to exceeding the expectations of their customers and coming up as their first option each and every time. The best results speak for themselves and the work of Primenet speaks particularly loudly. Working with them is akin to having the extension of a business’s own team, because they take the time to understand their employees. They are ready to assist, answer questions and guide them to ever-greater heights of success. Their customers always get the best because Primenet employs the best. To ensure that the team also finds the best solutions, adapted specifically to suit the needs of their clients, they are vendor agnostic. To them, the company comes first and different vendors offer different solutions that suit different circumstances. The team’s IT engineers are certified and accredited by the vendors they work with, with certification and membership that also includes ISO 27001, ISO 9001, Cyber Essential Certified Plus, Police National Vetted Engineers, Crown Commercial Service Supplier and NCVO Corporate Member. These accolades are a credit to the team. Jun22161 Most Innovative IT Managed Services & Cybersecurity Business 2022 It’s clear that the field of IT is one which is constantly innovating, but making this innovation accessible to all is vital to the work that Primenet do. They see the technology market innovating at a remarkable rate, but one which could easily be overwhelming to those who are not in the thick of it. The key to the success of Primenet has been that they stay at the forefront of tech advances and find ways of applying these techniques to their clients. There are always options available which can fit a range of budget and business goals. Recently, the team have seen overwhelming demand for an ‘As a Service’ solution for Software, Hardware, and Services. Whilst the digital revolution has arrived, many SMEs have seen their budgets slashed. The flexible payment scheme allows a consumption-based payment model, fully assured to spread the cost over a period with the option to buy or return. It’s this sort of innovative thinking that enables companies such as Primenet to stay ahead of their competitors. Given the success of the business, we wondered how they felt about achieving such tremendous results. Their Commercial Director, Tony Smith, was happy to comment: “We are proud to be named Most Innovative IT Managed Services & Cybersecurity Business 2022 by SME News’ IT Awards. This recognition is a testament to the ethos of the company and the excellent team we have here at Primenet. We bring innovative solutions to our customers giving them the best solution for their business at a price which allows them to achieve their goals.” We cannot wait to see what this stunning team does next! Company: Primenet Name: Dorota Gibiino Email: dorota@primenetuk.com Website: Primenetuk.com When running a business, you want to focus on what you do best as far as possible. The team behind Primenet have made it their mission to provide IT solutions that set them apart from the crowd and allow organisations to flourish. In the SME News’ IT Awards, the team was proud to be recognised for their efforts. We thought it time to dig a little deeper into what makes them so successful.
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