Member Article

Behind the business with UCi2i

Michael Grant is founder and managing director of video conferencing specialists, UCi2i. He takes Bdaily behind the business.

What key challenges has your company recently faced?

By far the biggest challenge is the rapid market changes in technology and the competitor landscape. That’s a daily business challenge for everyone, but we’re seeing that particularly in the video conferencing market, things are moving so fast you really need to keep your finger on the pulse. At UCi2i we have a universal and web-based customer video portal called V-Book which allows users to manage their own video calling and conferences effortlessly and intuitively, from wherever they are, regardless of device. The challenge we’re enjoying is enhancing this product as fast as we can to provide users with what they really need in order to get the most from video conferencing.

What is your biggest achievement over the past 12 months?

The past 12 months have been a great testament to how a managed service providers like UCi2i and all our R&D efforts is valued in the market place. We won a significant R&D grant from the UKTI and we also won Cisco Partner Commercial Cloud Innovator award a couple of months ago. Those recognitions for our R&D and the large global family of channel partners we’ve established for the business over the past year are what I’m most proud of.

What is your biggest focus for the coming year?

We’ve got the technology, the network, the innovative and evolving products that are unique to us, and we’ve got our global channel which grows daily, now our attention can really focus on customer growth through our partners and distributors globally and making sure we are continuously evolving to meet market changes and customer needs.

If you had to choose one top piece of advice for someone just starting out in business, or is currently operating within your industry sector, what would it be?

If you’re just starting out, or in our industry today, keep one eye on the here and now, making sure your customer experience is fully optimised, and the other focused on the future of your market. Keep on top of the trends and stay in touch with vendors, partners and most importantly, your customers. Technology changes people’s needs, and people’s needs changes technology, this is the fastest moving industry and it’s a challenge any tech start up faces.

Can you share with us your view of the current landscape of business, in your region or generally, and where your organisation sits within it?

Within the UK and across Europe a lot of businesses are feeling the pressure to reduce costs and overheads. The UK economy in particular has a long way to go before businesses get back to anywhere near the growth it was some years ago. The great thing about the technology market is it’s a need that never goes away and is rarely an area for cutting corners. It will take time, but businesses are becoming smarter and leaning in many areas to help reduce costs while not affecting productivity.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .