INTERVIEW “So, the digital change from radio and copper lines up to


the broadband gigabyte connectivity and the processing power we have today is obviously huge, as is the adoption of it by consumers and businesses. “Today, we've all got access to things like Dropbox,


Skype, Netflix and lots of other tools and apps, so I think it's us (as consumers) that are driving the adoption of technology into business and setting the expectations, especially with the introduction of younger people into the workplace, and what they expect in terms of capability, speed and usability. “It’s much different than we would have ever imagined


back then. “However, I can remember as a young lad, maybe eight


years old, looking at a book where there was the sort of Star Trek picture of people having conversations over the telephone and being able to see each other. “So, even back in the 1970s it was an idea, a concept


which thankfully has become reality. As we've proven in the past few weeks, the technology that enables video conferencing is here to stay. “The ability for us to work remotely, which of course we


couldn’t have done if this awful pandemic had occurred even five years ago, has been driven by everybody moving to the cloud. “All of our emails are in the cloud, so are our telephony


systems, data processing systems and finance systems as well as disaster recovery and business continuity capabilities. “And because we're now extremely fortunate that we can


communicate with those systems with fast connectivity and broadband, it means we can work from absolutely anywhere, as we are doing today.” With the Covid-19 pandemic ongoing and many


businesses forced to rely on technology to stay open and remain connected with their workforces and their customers, is there anything that will change when the world emerges from lockdown? “What I think is going to come out of this terrible


situation is the recognition of just how mission critical IT is, and the benefits it provides.


‘We are extremely fortunate because Air IT underwent digital transformation years ago and put everything into the cloud and made it accessible from everywhere’


“There are some businesses that would have never even


considered any of their staff working from home because they would have questioned the effectiveness and ability to do so, but there's productivity gain in doing that. It's flexible working, it means that you can keep people with high skills within the business by allowing them virtual access and flexibility over their working patterns, allowing us all to become much more agile organisations. “It also means that we're not wasting 25% of our time


travelling to the office and travelling home. “So, I think that in the future, while remote working


might not necessarily become the norm, it will definitely be accepted more as an alternative to working from the office. “That's going to be fuelled and enabled by what we


would call ‘digital transformation’, which is basically taking all the information that you've got, all the capability that you need in terms of financial systems, CRM systems, your telephony systems, and placing them in the cloud. “Where Air IT can really add benefit to our customers


then is to make sure that digital transformation is possible and executed in the most efficient and effective manner. For example, making sure that everything works together in the most optimal way that it can and ensuring access and availability for users in a way that’s totally secure. “Once digital transformation has been delivered, many other transformational capabilities also become available at


32 business network May 2020


that point too. Because everything is digital, because it's all about information, all your data can be analysed, offering great insights through business intelligence. This enables you to identify trends and see real-time performance KPIs on which to take qualitative decisions. “Having undergone this transformation and realising the


benefits this can deliver ourselves, we’ve since formed our business intelligence division to help us pass on similar gains to our own clients. “The way in which we provide these capabilities is to


take all of the information that a company has and put it into a single platform. “We can then provide bespoke data analysis on


everything from what the order book looks like, how efficient the operations team is, pipeline availability, deal conversion, cost to service the customer, profitability by product etc. “As a CEO, having this much information available can


allow you to make better, more informed decisions and understand the results the business is actually delivering. “Once you've got this information, you can introduce


automation, which makes the customer experience the best that it can definitely be.” With the economy set to shrink and the spectre of


recession looming as the ongoing coronavirus crisis continues to bite, business is going to be called upon to do much of the heavy lifting to get things motoring again. What sort of role will technology play in delivering the enhanced productivity the country will need to get the economy back on its feet? “Increased productivity is, without a doubt, one of the


key things that technology can deliver,” said John. “One of the ways in which we have adopted that


ourselves is that we’ve written automation tools that will go and look at all of our customers’ IT infrastructure and interrogate it, so we’re identifying and fixing possible issues before they ever become a problem. “For example, we'll notice a trend that something's


slowing down or, it's not performing as well as it should be. “So, we'll go and rectify the issue before our customers


even know about it. This is the sort of gain we want to provide all our customers, so the customer experience is the best it can be. “We are extremely fortunate because Air IT underwent


digital transformation years ago and put everything into the cloud and made it accessible from everywhere. We also decided at that point that we weren't going to deploy any desktop computers. “This meant that on the day we went into lockdown, I


held a call where we took the decision to keep our staff safe and asked them to work from home. “By 8am, we opened our service desk as normal, with


everybody working remotely, and that day’s work wasn't interfered with or affected at all. “So, in terms of business continuity, we couldn’t have


wished for a better result and it just goes to show what can be achieved with the technology solutions you implement and execute into your business.”


John Whitty with Air IT's Chief Operating Officer, James Healey


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