All Systems GO! GO! GO!

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It’s been a busy few months here at Idealogy and I’m not talking from a ‘we’ve had loads of work” point of view – although, it would be worth pointing out here that we have had lots of work to do!!

No, I’m talking from a back office point of view; the part of the business that people from the outside rarely get a glimpse of!

As the regular readers amongst you will know, we entered our 25^th year of business last year – an impressive feat for any business in this day and age – and, having used our old Management System for the past 10 years, it was starting to feel rather antiquated! In order to grow and further evolve, we needed key information at our fingertips quicker than roadrunner dodging one of Wile. E. Coyote’s ACME anvils. If we were going to make it another 25 years, there was only one thing for it; we were going to need a new way of doing things!  

Out with the old and in with the new...

So, we set about doing our research, talking to people we knew who used different systems and, in some cases the same system but a different version, to discover what was out there and what would suit our needs. I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice to say, we whittled away until we got what we needed – an enterprise-wide CMS - and have been steadily making the transition over the past two/three months.

Whether you are a client or a supplier, the eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed a change in our quotes, invoices and/or purchase orders – if you haven’t, I lay money on the fact that you’ll have a closer look when you next receive one! – as these are probably the only indicators of change that someone outside of the business would have.

It’s been a hectic period as we’ve learned the new system whilst still working in the old one and slowly (but surely) we’ve started to make the transition over, but all the blood, sweat and tears are starting to pay off and with each   week that passes we’re one step closer to being fully integrated.

With key business information now at our fingertips we can safely, and hopefully surely say ‘Here’s to the next 25 years!”…

Six weeks to six months.

I arrived at Idealogy in the midst of winter for a six week contract, and I left six months later at the height of what the British laughingly call summer. I came with little knowledge of how a website was built and left knowing that within a CMS simply because B followed A on a Monday morning there was no reason to believe that it would do so on a Tuesday afternoon.

Sq. Ldr Spitfire Sprinks – Winging Bandwidth Battles All Over The Digital Skies

As I write this story about Richard Sprinks, I’m reminded of a recorded conversation I read recently, between an air-traffic controller and a light aircraft -

Unknown Aircraft: "Hello?.."
Easterwood Tower: "Please say again."
UA: "What?"
ET: "Who is this?"
UA: "This is Joe"
ET: "This is Easterwood Tower, where are you?"
UA: "I'm in the plane!"
ET: "Joe, where is the pilot?"
UA: "He got out when the engine quit.."
ET: "Joe, what does your airspeed indicator read?"
UA: (Long pause) "Zero?"
ET: "Joe, whatever you have in front of you - a stick or a steering wheel - push it forward - you need to get airspeed over your wings!"
UA: "Are you sure?"
ET: "Yes Joe you need to push it forward... (pause)... What does your airspeed indicator read now?"
UA: "It's still zero."
ET: "Joe, where is your plane?"
UA: "We are parked down at the end of the runway, the pilot got out when the engine quit and walked back to the hanger.."
ET: "Joe, get off the radio."  

The view from the digital front line

You might think that creating the company website would be a dream job for the designers and developers at Idealogy, well that would be what anyone who’d never run an internal company project across the entire company might think. Too many cooks and other such proverbs never held so much truth but then what’s life without a challenge? And at Idealogy we like challenges.

The experience of a Lifetime – and don’t it feel good!

It’s great when you re-kindle a long-standing and successful client relationship from within the Idealogy network, carry out an innovative and fruitful BrandPrint™ analysis, then develop an evolved logo, proposition and new brand guidelines that demand a major leap of faith for all involved.

So, experience tells us that it’s all pointing to a fresh and innovative new web experience for Lifetime and it’s customers. As the UK’s No.1 training provider in the active leisure sector, Lifetime trains and qualifies more people than any other provider. And the new site had to reflect just that – layers of experience delivered through the offer, the environment and the information.

Working alongside technical partners and full service digital agency Solid State Group, Idealogy have designed a web experience that clearly represents Lifetime and it’s values, the new branding, the new visual language and the unique benefits delivered to their diverse targets. Audiences ranging from learner level 16 - 18 year olds looking for funded training, self-funded individuals from 16 – 60, Managing and Operations Directors to General Managers running active leisure establishments.

The very latest CMS technology allows easy and topical management of the restructured site and provides logical information delivery, with illustrated training/results journeys. The new site is an altogether more comprehensive, informative and rewarding user experience, while still retaining it’s user simplicity. And for good measure, the site also incorporates data capture with information and analysis feeding directly into Lifetime.

The site will have a phased roll out - Phase 1 structures information into 3 logical and distinct audience areas - FOR YOU (Learners), FOR BUSINESS (Potential Partners), ABOUT US (Lifetime Corporate). Next steps in the initial phase include new venue information, newsletter templates and a Press Centre.

Then onto Phase 2, which will see the site move into the world of E-commerce and the capability to book and pay for courses on-line.

It’s a major step for Lifetime as the active leisure sector gears up for serious growth in the next decade. The site has been designed and developed with the future of the industry clearly in mind – and doesn’t it look good!

Posted by Simon Johnson & Anna Ecuyer

Wing UK. Onwards, upwards, online, out there!

Wing UK is a nationwide service provider for the Care Industry, and a brand totally committed to offering its Customers a first class experience. As a division of Millbrook Industries’ Ultimate Care Group, Wing works alongside the NHS, Social Services, Mobility Retailers, Internet Retailers, Direct Sales Companies and High Street Retailers by providing Direct Delivery, Repairs, Servicing, Decontamination and PAT and Loler Training from it’s 4 UK locations in Southampton, Barnsley, Ayr and Cookstown in Northern Ireland.

In the early Summer of 2009, Idealogy were asked to provide a new brand name and logo for this important Nationwide Care Service provider, which in turn has developed into vehicle livery, product and care labelling, commercial stationery, collateral, and now a contemporary, CMS based online presence which speaks directly to Wing’s 3 key UK customer groups – Care Customers, Network Engineers and Care Retailers.

The site itself – www.winguk.com - is a bright and optimistic web environment, designed to communicate quality, confidence and reassurance to all site visitors. Supported by the strapline ‘Onwards and Upwards’ and some eye-catching visual themes, Wing UK is all set to become the largest direct delivery and service provider for the UK Care Industry.

For more information about the website contact Simon Johnson at Idealogy, Southampton, 02380211642

Posted by Simon Johnson