Client Profile
MD of a Digital Media & AI Agency in London with 50-100 employees.
Q. What is the biggest challenge you see today when sourcing IT equipment for your employees?
A. As you would imagine, my employees have very high expectations when it comes to the products needed to do their jobs as well as the service they receive as do I. For companies like us, our workforce is scaled up and down based upon the projects we have at the time. We find it very difficult to get the flexibility we need, as well as the service we need to meet that requirement. Which usually results in me having to buy the equipment myself outright, and either sell the equipment once the project is finished or keep hold of it in a storeroom until we need it again.
Q. Describe a typical experience that you have received when trying to order new hardware and / or services?
A. I recently ordered a couple of new phones and tariffs for some new members of the team. The process was ok to agree which phones and tariffs were needed and the price worked. However, every time I need something I end up speaking to someone different so there is no relationship, and the process differs slightly each time. I had to buy the phones, which is fine because that what I’m used to. But then I needed to sign a new contract and set up a new direct debit with a new payment date. If I’m honest, it’s very difficult to keep track of what phone is on what contract without speaking to my supplier as I have no direct visibility unless I track them myself. I have ended up with several contracts, with differing payment dates because the devices weren’t all ordered on the same day. On top of that, my VOIP system is also through the same company which is managed by a different team under a different contract with different payment dates.
Q. In an ideal world, how would you like this to work?
A. As you can imagine, time is precious, and I like to be as efficient as possible with my own time and that of my team. Ideally, I want to be able to define a set of rules to determine a budget appropriate to roles within my business. And to sign a contract at the beginning whereby products and services can be added to the contract overtime and removed where necessary. Without the need to sign new contracts each time and to keep a single Direct Debit. I would also like my team to be empowered to choose the products that they want to work on themselves (based upon a budget) rather than need to come through me each time we need to kit. My team are also very technically minded individuals. So if they determine that the problem can’t be fixed by reinstalling software / rebooting the hardware, then they should be able to raise incidents with the service provider directly rather than through me.
Q. What are your thoughts about BzzBees?
A. This gives me and my team everything we need. I can control my budgets, set the rules and empower the team to manage what they need themselves (within reason). This will save me a lot of time I’m sure.