• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact

Daily Business Magazine

A magazine complement to the Daily Business website

  • Life, Arts & Leisure
    • Creative
    • Festival
      • Festival Reviews
    • Film
    • Food & Drink
    • Stage Shows
    • Life
    • Leisure
      • Rio Recommends – dog walks and cafes
    • Homes
    • Style
    • Travel
  • Opinion
    • Bill Magee
    • Craig Alexander Rattray
    • Karen Harvie
    • Keith Anderson
    • Russell Dalgleish
    • Terry Murden
  • Interviews
  • Notebook
  • Working Life
    • Careers & Management
    • Finance and legal
    • Technology
      • Tech Talk
    • Well Being
  • Daily Business News
    • All Content

Exception offers a route map for a journey to the cloud

October 11, 2019 by Terry Murden Leave a Comment

Scott McGlinchey and Alasdair Hendry (pic: Terry Murden)
Cloud cover: Scott McGlinchey and Alasdair Hendry (pic: Terry Murden)

Developing new talent and products and expanding into new markets is all part of the business growth journey, but it also needs to be managed effectively.

For a company to gain the full benefit of its expansion plans it is crucially important that the systems driving its operations are working efficiently – and that includes getting the underlying technology up to speed.

Too many firms still rely on outdated, clunky legacy systems that are costly to run and maintain, and which do not allow them to maximise their potential, says Scott McGlinchey, chief executive of digital solutions company Exception.

He believes too many companies are failing to keep up with the pace of change in today’s rapidly-evolving digital economy. Too many, he says, are relying on legacy systems that are slow, inefficient, and a drain on company resources.

“If companies do not step up and adopt the latest technologies they will be left behind and probably won’t survive,” he says.

His Edinburgh-based firm has worked with many of the UK’s biggest companies, including Lloyds Banking Group, Edinburgh Airport and Direct Line. It has just published a ‘white paper’ entitled Integration as a Cloud Service which sets out the benefits of moving operations to the cloud.

Exception has worked across a number of sectors – it developed an app for the Ryder Cup organisers and has serviced the criminal justice system – but is focusing its new strategy on the financial services industry. It helped Clydesdale Bank build its ‘B’ digital platform, for instance. Now it is assisting firms moving legacy systems to the cloud.

Ryder Cup caddies
Exception provided an app for the Ryder Cup (pic: Terry Murden)

It says the cloud offers an opportunity to deliver integration in a sway that meets business needs with the flexibility needed to support the pace of change. It argues that old-style mainframes can be replaced by more agile systems that deliver service on demand, thereby reducing cost.

“It will ensure that organisations are not left sweating traditional assets long after they have ceased to be useful and that investment can be more beneficially focused to meet emerging customer and stakeholder needs,” says the paper.

McGlinchey points to recent research saying financial services firms could cut their IT operational costs by as much as half and create more secure systems by moving their data and applications to the cloud.

“The cost of maintaining legacy systems is massive,” says McGlinchey. “Companies need to be more fleet of foot and respond to the changes taking place.”

Exception has been around since 2002 and McGlinchey, who joined the firm three years later, says it has quietly built an enviable position in the market, especially in the financial services sector. It offers the full range of cloud, software development, programme delivery and assurance, and intelligent client services. Group revenue in the past three years has grown from £26 million in 2016 to £30m last year.

It is developing its capabilities in newer technologies such as blockchain, Internet of Things, voice recognition, mobile apps and augmented reality. The company works with a number of partners including Amazon Web Services, Docker and ServiceNow, but it is client agnostic.

Alasdair Hendry, head of transformation and consulting, says clients are seeing the benefit of tackling legacy systems, particularly where they have bolted on acquisitions and found themselves trying to manage systems that don’t fit easily together.

Added to that, fintech businesses are developing new products and methods, from internal tools to customer-facing services, which are being adopted by banks and other financial services institutions. In many cases these have to be made operational and fit for purpose.

Hendry says: “We make sure things are brought together so the equipment is aligned with what the business needs.”

Download the Integration as a Cloud Service Whitepaper here:

exceptionuk.com/financial-cloud

Under the terms of the DB Direct service a fee was paid for photography and the addition of links

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Cover Story, Technology, Terry Murden, Working Life

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar



Editor’s Pick

Charlotte Evans

Review: Charlotte Johnson – My Dad and Other Lies

Andy Moseley

… [More...] about Review: Charlotte Johnson – My Dad and Other Lies

Amy Molloy

Review: This Is Paradise

Andy Moseley

… [More...] about Review: This Is Paradise

Edinburgh Fetival visitors

The good, the intriguing and the questionable

Terry Murden

… [More...] about The good, the intriguing and the questionable

Psychodrama

Review: Psychodrama

Andy Moseley

… [More...] about Review: Psychodrama

Advertising



Footer

  • All Content
  • Site Map
  • Privacy Policy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • WordPress

Copyright © 2022 · Design by jPAD Consulting · Magazine Pro · Genesis Framework

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
 

Loading Comments...