COMPANY PROFILE
IT giant steps into telecoms
IT services firm TSG has acquired 24 businesses since it was founded in 2003, creating a UK-wide service network with 15 regional offices, 500 employees and an annualised turnover of around £45 million. Steve Cox, Chief Technology Officer, is at the vanguard of TSG’s push into the telecom space.
F
ast expanding TSG has swung its gaze onto the telecoms market
following a partner deal with Mitel, positioning the company as a one-stop fully integrated technology and communications business. The move was catalysed by the strategic acquisition last year of IT consultancy and support company Croft Technology, which was a precursor to the launch of a specialist comms division, TSG Enterprise Solutions. “The launch of the TSG Enterprise Solutions division has equipped the business with the technical resources and capabilities required to add telecoms to our product portfolio,” Cox said. “A one- stop technology service really can exist and we’re excited to offer our customers a total technology, business application and telecoms solution. A key growth area for TSG in 2011 will be a UK wide roll-out of TSG telecoms products and services to our SME customer base.”
Mitel was chosen for a number of reasons, noted Cox. “Mitel provides a
complementary product set for our marketplace, with solutions that are scalable for organisations of different sizes,” he added. “The Mitel Communications Director (MCD) software offers our customers flexibility and reliability on a virtualised platform. Adding the Mitel portfolio to our existing stack of products provides TSG with the ability to offer a one-stop technology and telecoms offering, encompassing IT infrastructure, business software, proactive support, telecoms, broadband, virtualisation, cloud computing, cabling and wireless systems.”
The firm works closely with other key vendors such as Microsoft, Sage, Pegasus, HP, VMware and Sophos, and boasts credentials such as Microsoft Gold Partner, HP Preferred Gold Partner, Pegasus Platinum Partner and Sophos Platinum Partner. TSG’s product stack is heavily focused on the SME market. The flagship line-up includes business software such as Sage 200, Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Pegasus Opera II.
“SMEs now realise that their technology system doesn’t just support their business, it enables the entire business to function,” added Cox. “However, a key problem for many is having to deal with multiple suppliers. By offering customers a complete solution we enable them to get on with the important job of running their business while we take care of their technology. Previously our customers would have lost valuable time dealing with multiple IT suppliers trying to find the right person to deal with any issues. We try to take out the grey areas and offer customers performance, reliability, availability and security for their IT and telecoms systems. We can look at the total solution.”
The big vision
TSG was established in 2003 by Graham Wylie, one of the co-founders of Sage software, with the aim of providing a professional local IT service to the UK SME community. This vision has been achieved through a process of acquisitions that include the recent purchase of Loughborough-based
Steve Cox
IT software and services company Concentrix. “We are fully committed to achieving our aim of the being the number one SME provider of technology solutions, and as we grow the telecoms side of our business we are looking to recruit high quality technical and sales staff to meet customer demands for these services,” added Cox. “We are also looking for strategic acquisitions in this space to continue our growth, as well as potential acquisitions across the full range of products and services which we presently promote.”
Apart from making key acquisitions and advancing its campaign in the telecoms space, other focus areas include educating customers on cloud computing and assessing whether a cloud- based solution is the right fit for them. Another near- term priority is Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. “We have experienced a significant increase of CRM interest as customers look for ways to grow sales and improve service levels,” added
Cox. “The acquisition of Concentrix was a key step in our growth strategy, providing us with a
significant capability in CRM software implementation.”
The TSG business model combines local regional service centres with investment in remote technology and virtualisation of product experts to provide customers with contact at a local level with the scale of a national brand. “This structure allows UK SMEs access to the wide skill set, experience, knowledge, expertise and advanced technology provided by TSG that would normally be reserved for larger corporate companies,” added Cox.
“Our SystemCare support service has been designed to ensure that our end user IT systems are monitored to offer full protection against system failure and data loss. To achieve this we combine 24 hour network monitoring tools with advanced reporting techniques plus telephone and on-site support options. This gives our customers peace of mind.”
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28 COMMS DEALER JULY 2011
www.comms-dealer.com
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