Dr Jill MacBryde from Management Science has been successful in securing Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) funding to work with Halo Communications. Halo Communications, based in Kilmarnock, are a provider of IT support, business telephone, data, mobile and server solutions ranging from network IT infrastructure installation to provision of telephony hardware and support services.
The company currently manages around 300 clients ranging from large power companies to small enterprises. At the moment the largest proportion of the company’s income comes from its "reseller" activities but the company recognises it needs to move its business into higher value, higher margin activities.
The KTP project will, over a two year period, help transform the company from a reseller to a high value technology integrator and full solutions provider, underpinned by new business systems and processes. This project brings an operations management team who have a track record in helping organisations make a transition into higher value markets. It draws on previous research funded by both the EPSRC (eg Manage Processes and Closing the Gap: Moving to the next level) and EU (FutureSME) as well as numerous other KTP projects.
Dr MacBryde commented, "This particular company presents new technical challenges in that it is operating in a fast moving service environment where the technologies deployed are changing at pace."