Ultima embarks on a 'year of change'

VAR undergoing internal transformation to cloud under the codename 'Project Unity' as it positions itself as a partner of the future

Ambitious Ultima Business Solutions has embarked on a year-long internal transformation programme as it transitions to the cloud and looks to the future.

The firm, which welcomed new CEO Scott Dodds last year and is planning to hit £150m turnover in the next two years, has just closed what it describes as a record year, and is looking to unify the five pillars of its business to reflect the changing needs of its customers and their move to cloud.

Dodds (pictured right) explained that the pillars comprise Ultima Risk Management - its risk consulting/analysis business; strategy and planning; supply and logistics; implement and optimise; and finally its 24/7 managed services business.

"These are five big business areas and we are joining them up to make sure they flow; we want to capture all areas of the business," Dodds said. "We are transforming our business to be 100 per cent cloud-based. We are doing a risk assessment on ourselves and we will become our own demo platform for our customers. We are 'reference architecturing' ourselves, so to speak.

"We are living the dream - transforming the business and going to market at the same time. It is definitely daunting, but it is fundamental to future growth. We need authenticity in the eyes of our customers and there is nothing more authentic than saying we have done it [what we advise them to do] ourselves."

He stressed that the changes will not deter the firm from striving for growth and will not affect any of its work with current and future customers.

"This doesn't stop what we are doing in the core of the business. We are transforming at the same time as working with our customers. We are growing significantly and this coming financial year we will grow by between 20 and 25 per cent," he said. "That is no mean feat. We are also moving to brand new premises this summer so it is certainly all going on at once."