Independent Ltd company founded in 1997Two founders – strong business development experienceGood opportunity in the IT industry to support in-house expertise with external customer-centric general management skillsSupporting sales operationDelivery focussed Turnover (2008): €18m (£13m) Two founders – remain very involved in company developmentYear on year/continued growthGood management team to take business forward – project & technical joint/separate focusGrowth through network knowledge/continued understanding of quality of work and gaining reputationSales awareness – trip-over sales – always willing to help with problemTake ownership of what you findAlways relate to end customerIdentify with our customer as individual – their position/career/egoApproach issue without personal ego – do whatever it takesEmploy like-minded PM’s – grey haired old git syndromeCore services: Programme Management & Project ManagementOriginal focus of the businessAllows TPN to take control & show worthProgressively allows “other” opportunities to be identified…….if you can do this can you do that???Project/Programme management is a skill and add value as more experience is gainedOur people come from various industries and backgrounds – General Managers rather than specific…they can apply their experiences to all projects irrespective of their background. (e.g. Construction, events, logistics, army, retail etc)Technical ConsultancyFirst steps in terms of supporting the PM’s but now a force in its own right generating business for the technical and pm teamsDeveloped reputation – originally specific areas…now blue chip enterprise systemsKeep moving the boundaries forward – look for new things to challenge (currently VmWare Virtualisation)Technical SolutionsFrom consultancy comes hard deliverablesLeading edge rather than bleeding.From SME to EnterpriseCan you give us a “What” or “How” in your business??Have you the people to support??85 Employees – 55 PM’s, 25 Technical Consultants, 5 Back Office (Always changing)Continued low overhead organisationFocus on retaining IP internallyOdd collection of skills – General managersGrey-haired plus growing group of high-end skilled technical specialistsCore-skill specific contract staff with TPN EthosTo support specific opportunitiesKnown skillsTPN working approachPart of team support to clientUK, Ireland and EMEA presence Historically UK centric, butDeveloping need to support projects outside UKFollow the client/project needsResources in Eire, EMEAEMEA/Global Project capability & Partner NetworkTPN resources globally availableDeveloping partner networkTPN ethos in third party handsFollow the sun ethosFrom Toronto to Shanghai etc…Carbon neutralUnderstanding of recyclingAll replacement programmes green focussedUnderstand TPN’s Carbon Footprint
Experienced ‘personality’ focused teamsInnovativeAlways take a different line Think outside the boxAsk simple questionsLeading rather than bleedingPragmaticPractical approach – how can we get things deliveredTempered with realismHow can we carry everyone/most along with the solutionPartnership relationship – not rape & pillageCommercially awareThere is always a budgetAssessing value is a GM skill – maintain focusSpend & value perspectiveHighly qualifiedBring expertise to identify & solve issue/problemNo ego’s – best fit for the taskAppropriately Certified if requiredDiverse yet focusedTPN collection of individuals – Not one size fits allAll comfortable in their own skinsKnow what they can & cannot doHonest about themselves/TPN and the state of the projectHonesty with client & client’s clientNo surprises mentalityAn ability to acknowledge issues and say sorry. Leading edgeNot-bleeding edgeTried & tested/provenUnderstand impact of solutionIt’s likely TPN have done this beforeNot one size fits all – The solution has to match the business and it needs
Make the point about “So What” – why is it important to the Client and therefore - why are we differentWhatever it takesIt’s always about deliveryReputation of sponsor is vital – don’t let them down….Our reputation is all we have – it’s our futureTotally managed approachUtilise any other part of TPN/support/partner network/known contractors to facilitate conclusionEverything we do is a project – Even our own businessFlexible and able to integrate into any environmentClient can identify TPN in any way – as TPN, as ClientWill work anywhere/anytime – client, end client, short-notice travel, Peace of mindNo surprisesHonest approachRegular communication – formal/informal/group/one-to-oneUnderstanding/managing changeEnables and supports your objectivesOur client and the end client sponsors have careers to manage – we can helpBe up-front with this support commentKeep discussion live as events change Manage change sympatheticallyInnovative solutionsHorizontal thinking & approachAware of the vertical nature of “large” companies and difficulty of “joining” or gluing elements together to create joined up solutions (towers etc) – AND we understand “How” hereBack to asking the simple questions and applying knowledge to innovate the delivery….Short learning curveThe odd collection of TPN people all have General Management backgroundsAble to initiate fastHave presenceUnderstand team dynamics and expect constant change (e.g. continued corporate change)Identify issues and change perspectivesEgo-less Applying experienceTwin talents of communication & common senseApply in non-ego wayBuild the teamConstantly striving for improvementAll about delivery efficiencyKeep driving quality/cost/timetable to make the client look goodShared ambitionIt’s all about making people look good – client, end-client, TPN’s reputationIdentify what shared means – cost, time – how can we influenceRisk and rewardVariety of cost modelsBest is developed with time & trust to mutual gainProbably need to start with traditional T&M, fixed price, event pricing but always need to develop towards true partnership pricing…