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:
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
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:
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.
