UK IT Association (UKITA)

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• Wolverhampton based companies – do you want to grow your business into the USA but don’t know where to start?

  If your business is in advanced manufacturing and materials, aerospace, defence or engineering / ICT you may wish to consider the USA as part of your strategic growth plan.If so come along to this workshop that will focus on how Virginia provides the ideal US East Coast springboard for your business and how the state’s capital Greater Richmond (two hours South of Washington DC) offers free assistance and practical advice to UK firms. The workshop will be led by Gene Winter, Senior Vice President, Greater Richmond Partnership Inc (www.grpva.com): Analysis of US East Coast locations and geographical, legal, economic and practical considerations An explanation of Greater Richmond’s key sectors including advanced manufacturing and aerospace (Rolls Royce has just started constructing a new jet engine assembly and testing facility nearby) A new greentech incubator has opened in Richmond (www.domgreentech.com) - more iinformation will be provided on how West Midlands firms can commercialise their products in the USA Examples of UK firms that have chosen Greater Richmond and why A ‘start up in the USA’ model that enables you to plan and budget for your US growth A detailed explanation of GRP’s free visit service that provides tailored meetings for UK firms with potential contacts and partners Q & A session to answer your immediate questions Places are strictly limited so register your interest now.To register your interest please contact Kathryn Selmes on 01902 555850 or [email protected] by 22nd October 2010

• Network Nominated for Innovation Award

  A network of 19 West Midlands manufacturing companies led by Oldbury-based Malthouse Engineering Group have been nominated for an innovation award.The group of companies created the Advanced Business Development Network (ABDN) to enable a group of SMEs around the West Midlands to work together to improve competitiveness and aim to win bigger contracts than they could individually.  ABDN has introduced IT systems to enable members to work together which has led to £200,000 of new business. The system was developed by a graduate from the University of Wolverhampton (a Black Country UKITA member) through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership.Roy Taylor, managing director of Malthouse Engineering, said: “As manufacturers we are all very conscious of the need to use innovation as much as possible to give us an edge in a competitive global marketplace.”The group is shortlisted in the open collaboration category in the Lord Stafford Awards for innovation too. The winner will be announced on November 18.The firms involved are: * Cundey Systems from Worcester, * Rojac Urethane from Wednesbury, * Mouldrite, Undergrear and Malthouse Engineering Group from West Bromwich, * Midland Deburr and R & M Metals from Lye, * MSP, Astra Engineering Pressings, Baylis Automotive, Cordelle Precision, Frederick Cooper, Matco and Momentum Engineering from Birmingham, * Concept Mouldings and Crown Plastic Mouldings from Wolverhampton, * Phoenix Tavlnor from Tamworth * Remploy from Stoke-on-Trentsee original article at Birminghampost.net: http://www.birminghampost.net/birmingham-business/birmingham-business-news/manufacturing-and-skills-business/2010/10/15/award-nomination-for-network-of-producers-65233-27480477/

• Google Instant - the Death of SEO?

  You’ve probably heard the hype over the last couple of weeks that the new Google Instant is going to ‘change SEO forever’.If you’re not sure what Google Instant is, here’s a quick summary.  If you’re logged into Google with a Google account (which you will have if you’ve ever signed up to any of Google’s many services such as Gmail, Google AdWords or Google Analytics) then you will notice a difference when you search. As soon as you start typing in the search box, results will appear below it. So if you wanted to search for ‘Green Widgets’, as soon as you typed the letter ‘G’, Google would give you the search results for the most likely search query beginning with ‘G’. Then when you added the ‘r’, Google would change those results to the most likely search query beginning with ‘Gr’ and so on. Also, as you type, Google suggests the most likely phrases you could be searching for.So why does this affect SEO?The key difference to SEO lies in the fact that Google is giving you suggestions based on the letters you have typed into the search box.  Imagine you were going to search for ‘green widgets’ but when you got to the point of having typed ‘green’, one of Google’s suggestions was ‘green whatsits’. You may then change your mind about what you were originally searching for and select ‘green whatsits’ instead.The implication of this is that we expect the range of different search queries that visitors search for to decrease. People will tend to choose one of Google’s suggestions where appropriate rather than typing in the different version of the phrase that they originally had in mind, meaning that more searches will be concentrated on a smaller number of search phrases.Is this good news or bad news?Overall, we think it may be bad news, particularly for smaller businesses, because it means everyone will be competing for the same higher volume phrases rather than searches being distributed over a larger range of ‘long tail’ phrases. The long tail will still exist, but it will be shorter! Smaller businesses without the resources to conduct large scale SEO campaigns may find it harder to compete.We think that rather than being the death of SEO, this change simply makes SEO even more important (and challenging) than ever before. What about the impact on Google AdWords?The key difference to Google AdWords advertisers is that their ads will quite likely now be seen more often. Every time a searcher pauses for 3 seconds, the AdWords ads shown on the screen will change to the current ‘most likely search query’. We think - although it remains to be seen for sure - that ads will therefore be shown more often for irrelevant queries than they are at present, so we are expecting impressions to rise and clickthrough rate to drop to reflect this. Is this good news or bad news for AdWords advertisers?Probably neither. If clickthrough rates drop then we simply have to re-learn what constitutes a ‘good’ clickthrough rate and a ‘bad’ clickthrough rate. It moves the goalposts, but as long as your clickthrough rate is strong relative to your competitors’, this should not actually do any harm. It is also possible that your ads may be clicked on more often, since they will be shown more often. In which case, good news – as long as it is quality traffic.When will I see an impact?You may see some impact from this immediately, increasing as time goes by. At the moment Google Instant is only visible to users who are logged in, which will limit the initial impact. Once all Google searchers are seeing Google Instant, that’s when the full impact will be felt.Thanks to Helen Culshaw of Ascendancy Internet Marketing for the use of this article. Email [email protected] for further advice.

• Web experts give property chain a prime push

  An old-established estate agency which teamed up with a 21st Century approach to internet marketing has given the Midlands property market a prime push in the right direction. Bromleys Estate Agents asked Opace Technology Solutions, a Birmingham IT Consultancy for a fast, convenient way to advertise and search for UK and overseas property online, to rent or buy.    Opace, who provide Birmingham web design and internet marketing services, provided Bromleys with one of the most powerful property websites on the web, including in-built ‘magnet’ features for search engines.They now have the area’s shortest selling time for properties, as the feature has Google bristling with front-page links, helping them to pull the property market out of the mire.Extra features including advanced Google mapping have resulted in chains of property sales moving again in the Hednesford area.Linda Whitehouse, who recently purchased Bromleys, said:  “I wanted to bring out-of-the-box thinking to the estate agents, and Opace were like a breath of fresh air."“We sold three properties which had been in a chain, and has got the property market moving, turning around more in two months than in the previous six months.  Opace also trained our staff to use the website to its full potential – the delivery was unbelievable."“Our site was developed better than we expected, going ‘live’ in under one month.  Now we have one of the most advanced and feature rich estate agent websites around, business is really lifting off.”David Bryan, managing director of Longbridge-based Opace, said:  “Our ambition is to help small and medium sized businesses to grow using the Internet and cost effective technology solutions.  The Bromley experience shows what can be done. We are confident that the website, with a search engine optimisation campaign will generate a major stream of business for Bromleys.”  For details, see http://webdesign.opace.co.uk and www.bromleysproperties.co.uk

• 2010 ICT Excellence Awards

  The 2010 ICT Excellence Awards, now in their 6th year, are open for applications. The free to enter Awards can be entered by any business that has employed significant levels of ICT in either their product or service. The deadline for applications is 1st October 2010. There are ten categories available this year for open entry and these can be found, together with application forms and FAQs, at http://www.wmictcluster.org/17/06/2010-ICT-Excellence-Awards-2010. The Awards have proven very successful for the participating companies and experience has shown that even gaining a Highly Commended award has tremendous commercial benefits for the applicant. The Awards Dinner to announce and recognise all the winners is being held at the National Motorcycle Museum on the evening of 25th November 2010, after the ICT Conference. This calendar event was attended by 370 guests last year.The ICT Excellence Awards contacts are:Lynne Wroe - Email [email protected], or Mike Musson – Email [email protected]

• UKITA members awarded Quality Mark - summer 2010

  The following UKITA members have been awarded the UKITA Quality Mark:-  Opace Technology Solutions - new application ADECS Ltd - renewalAthium Ltd - renewalHenley College, Coventry - renewal Being awarded the UKITA Quality Mark opens access to QM exclusive tenders and contract opportunities, with organisations such as MAS, Business Link and Councils.If you want your company to show that you provide customer satisfaction and demonstrate professionalism why not apply for the QM.  Please visit the UKITA Quality Mark area of our website or contact Flick Wheeler who is the UKITA Director responsible for Quality (email [email protected]).

• Skillfair Opportunities

  Skillfair Tenders and projectsSkillfair is the UK's most comprehensive aggregator of public and private-sector opportunities and tenders for IT, Technology and Business consultants. As of 23rd May 2011, Skillfair became part of UKITA and UKITA members are now automatically eligible for free membership of Skillfair - simply go to the Skillfair website and register for the free trial and email [email protected] to say you've done so and we will do the rest to upgrade you to full membership.UKITA members can also log in here to see a regional feed of up-to-the-minute IT opportunities for free. We currently provide these feeds in the following regions: West Midlands South West England North West England Wales Not a UKITA member? Go to http://www.skillfair.co.uk/register.aspx and register as a guest to puchase single tenders for £20.

• Don't Join

  Not joining today?    So do one of these ... (1) Let us keep you up to date with new developments at UKITA!{chronocontact}FreeListing{/chronocontact} (2) Follow us on Twitter (3) Call free on 0800 862 0333 with any questions about UKITA membership or a

• Black Country Committee Members go mad in aid of charity

  Two Members, Four Wheels, One Thousand Miles! UKITA Black Country Members Nigel Babb and Nigel Mills share a lot in common besides their first names: they’re both on the Black Country Committee, they’re both keen motorcyclists, they’ve both owned the same Harley Davidson at some time in their motorbiking past and now they’ve both decided that trying to become members of the Iron Butt Association in the name of Charity is a good idea......but they need your support

• New Committee Members for Shropshire

  We are pleased to welcome two new members onto the Shropshire branch committee: Hollie Whittles of Purple Frog IT and Chris Pallett of Bespoke Computing Chairman Ed Bedell commented "I'm particularly pleased to be welcoming some new blood onto the committee who represent young, successful Shropshire IT companies. We are really looking forward to hearing some fresh new ideas from them both. "Back to Shropshire Home Page

• UKITA members

  UKITA Members

• Access to Experts

  Why join the UK IT Association ? Access to Experts If two heads are better than one, how about 5 heads, or 10 or 30 ?As a member of the UKTA 'Club', you are in touch with a community of like-minded people with experience and expertise is a number of technical fields and in business issues  relating to being in the IT, digital media and internet-related sectors. You can search their profiles and use the membership map to find people near you.  Send them an email, pick up the phone.  You're in the same club as them and people tend to be happy to help out fellow club members!Alternatively, you can send your question or problem  to the  UKITA membership office or phone us on 0800 862 0333 and we'll ask round  the members and our  external partner organisations - with or without using your company name - whichever you prefer.

• Events

  Why join the UK IT Association ? Events One of the main features of BRANCHES is that they run events.Events for the members and guests or public events that are promoted in the local business press and through local partner agencies.Even in the age of 'E-everything' there's still nothing like face-to-face time to find out what people are like, who knows what, who knows who and who you think you could work with.Our events can be: Formal or informal Technical or business-oriented  subjects Large or small Joint events with other groups - ideally groups whose members might need to buy our members services! If there is no branch near you - give us a ring at the membership office on 0800 862 0333 or [email protected] and we'll see whether we can help set one up.

• Upward Mobility

  Why join the UK IT Association ? Upward Mobility UK IT Association membership can give you 'upward mobility'.  What do we mean by that ?One of the ways that UKITA works is by maintaining good contacts and relationships with 'the powers that be'.  Government agencies at a regional and national level, the business support agencies, universities and other national associations. Organisations of this type tend to like to deal with GROUPS of end users of their services. For them it's more efficient and they can target their services and projects to what the group tells them their members need.By being a member of UKITA, you get the chance to speak to these people directly  and more easily than navigating those corridors on your own .. and you can influence the direction that UKITA goes in when it talks to those agencies about the needs of our members.There is strength in numbers.

• Growth

  Why join the UK IT Association ? Growth Some businesses long to grow and some are very happy with the size they are now.  UKITA members include both types.For those that would like to get bigger, UKITA membership offers: Network of other UKITA member companies who can work with you on projects where your capacity or the need for specific technical skills would make it hard for you to tackle the project on your own Access to our contacts with large public and prvate sector partner agencies at local, regional, national and EU-level - we can signpost and assist you to make use of the services that they offer -  to ease you into export markets, product innovation and development, access to finance and sales training;  plus a range of other issues that you will need to address as you grow your company. In some cases these services have been developed in conjunction with UKITA to be a close fit for the sectors our members work in

• Sales and Promotion

  Why join the UK IT Association ? Sales and Promotion - More Business, Better Business UKITA Provides its members with: Online directories including our membership map - these are seen by potential customers and contribute to your SEARCH ENGINE rankings. The directories are promoted through PR, Pay Per Click and through regional and branch partnerships Our local and national Business-to-Business marketplace (B2BMP) PR and press release libraries for members and also promoting the branches and their members Platform to project your Social Media activity - LinkedIn groups to engage potential customers in technology subjects - Twitter showcase and 'lists' for those  members using Twitter - get high-quality followers including potential buyers at a branch and regional level Live Regional tender opportunity feeds from our partner, Skillfair - the largest aggregator and matcher of public- and private-sector tender opportunities in the UK

• Competitive Edge

  Why join the UK IT Association ? Competitive Edge Research shows that many small and medium sized companies are as nervous about buying new IT, web, online marketing and digital design services as they would be having to hire a new plumber or builder.Sadly, our sector does have the reputation for being the home of some 'cowboy' operators and since,  unlike many other professions,  it's completely UNREGULATED, it is true that anyone can get some business cards, a website and suddenly they are an 'expert'.How do you prove that you aren't one of these cowboys?We take our Code of Conduct seriously and our members do too.  If they don't, then we boot them out!  Our code of conduct stands for: Fair and clear dealing with the customer or client Staying up to date with best practice in our field Professionalism - being amongst the best suppliers of IT, digial media and internet-related services in our industry How do members get this message to their clients and prospects? ...  They wear the badge! Display their membership certificate at their business premises Display the online certificate on their website  (click here to see this in action on a member's website) Include a paragraph about their UKIITA membership and the code of conduct in their quotes and proposals where appropriate Make the quality, professionallism and fair and transparent dealing values of UKITA be part of their company story, showing that they are 'one of the good guys' (or girls) Remember in the old films - you knew which were the good and bad cowboys by the colour of their hats?  In an industry which is sometimes seen as being the home of cowboys, your UKITA membership can help you demonstrate that you are one of the ones wearing the white hat and the deputy's star !Our tagline for promoting UKITA members to business buyers:  "UK IT Association Members - we're the IT good guys (and girls) "

• What we're not

  What we're NOT We are not a high-pressure referrals club, a hard-sell organisation or a narrow technical expertise group  - we focus on the intersection of TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS and PEOPLE.  

• Networking Club

  What is the UK IT Association ? Networking Club & Business Support The UK IT Association operates as a networking club providing BUSINESS SUPPORT for its members through: Business skills development Peer-to-Peer mentoring Updating members on latest developments that will affect their marketplace Engagement with national business support agencies to bring tailored content to our members Developing professionalism, quality and best practice in technology and business areas amongst our members

• Branch Network

  What is the UK IT Association ? Branch Network Where we have clusters  of members, they can choose to  form into BranchesThe benefits of having a branch near you include: Events - formal and informal - subject include technology updates, business support subjects and can be formal or informal depending on the preferred style of the branch members Local PR and promotion of the members through local Chambers of trade and other networks Local collaboration and skills exchange - it's not rare for members to end up working on projects with companies they had previously though of as competitors Social dimension - being able to network with people who have the same issues, challenges and concerns as yourself.