Why participate?
 Ben Rapp is CEO of Managed Networks, an SME that provides IT and telephony support, outsourcing and hosted services to SMEs throughout the UK from offices in London, Birmingham and Runcorn, Cheshire.
Intellect decided to ask Ben exactly why his company continues to be so active within Intellect:
Why on earth has Managed Networks joined Intellect?
- We are a fast-growing SME
- All of our management team are very busy
- Most of our management team are also a chargeable resource
- We do not work with the public sector
- We do not work with large integrators
- We have no real prospect of selling to Intellect members
but...
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Five things Managed Networks receives from Intellect
- Brand exposure
As far as we are concerned, being a member of Intellect is a positive brand statement. Intellect has a code of practice and a growing reputation, with which we are associated and which we promote to our customers and prospects. Activity within Intellect provides a platform to expose our brand within the industry; co-authoring the recent white paper 'The 10-minute guide to MiFID and outsourcing (PDF 119KB members only)' not only helped shape Intellect’s response to this regulatory change, but also promoted our brand to all readers of the paper.
- Collateral
On joining Intellect, you’re given a username and password for the website. Most of the content is accessible without these credentials, but if you use them, a whole raft of additional material is unlocked. This ranges from boilerplate service contracts through guides to working with government to the majority of the presentations given at Intellect meetings in the past. In some cases this material alone can justify the cost of membership. In addition to the website collateral, there are also Intellect’s white papers, including the recent major piece on the environmental impact and responsibilities of the IT industry. We’ve found that these are not only useful for our own information, but are an invaluable resource in our efforts to differentiate ourselves from the competition in the eyes of our customers.
- Lobbying
Individually, few companies - and almost no SMEs — have any influence over government, or over the development of our industry. Intellect provides a collective voice for the industry; the organisation is listened to in government and included, along with other IT institutions such as the NCC and BCS, in government consultative processes. By being active within Intellect, we influence its lobbying, and its contribution to consultations, in directions we believe will help our business.
- Partnering
Although we expect to sell nothing to Intellect members, we have bought a number of services from them; generally from associate members, such as lawyers, whose membership and contribution to meetings, committees and initiatives demonstrates specialist understanding of our requirements. We’ve also found a number of industry partners we can work with to broaden or strengthen our service offering. Particularly when we’re looking to add expert knowledge to our approach to a business issue, Intellect is now our first port of call.
- Thought leadership
Formally, at Intellect meetings and events, and informally by networking, members can use Intellect to understand where the industry is going. This understanding covers a huge range, from technology developments, through industry trends to regulation and social perception. Through Intellect we meet trend-setters and trailblazers, and learn from their failures as well as their successes. We also benefit from research commissioned by Intellect itself and by members and guest speakers.
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Five things Ben receives from Intellect
- Access
Mirroring the point I made earlier about lobbying, as the CEO of a small-ish IT business, there are limits to my ability to get an audience with key players in the industry. As past Chair of the SME Advisory council in Intellect (and, in fact, just as an active member) I have been able to get real engagement with some very serious players in our marketplace, including most of our major vendors. I’ve learned a great deal from these connections, and may occasionally have been able to influence their policy in our direction.
- Fun
On a final note, it’s worth reminding ourselves that we are allowed some fun during our business day. Intellect is a very diverse community, but you’re likely to find something in common with most of the people you meet there. The more you attend, the more active you are, the stronger those connections become. I find my time at Intellect ranks amongst the more enjoyable things I get paid to do.
- Informal mentoring
As the founder-manager of a fast-growing SME, I have no-one guiding me from above, nor do I have peers within my organisation with whom to compare myself. Intellect, and specifically the SME Advisory council of which I was previously Chair, has given me a fantastic opportunity to compare notes with others who are, or have been, in my situation. It also gives me the chance to learn from people inside the large corporate world, in a collegiate and collaborative atmosphere.
- New ideas
Intellectual property theft for fun and profit! Well, no, not exactly, but if you listen as well as speaking it’s amazing what useful business tips you can pick up at Intellect. I don’t know if you could buy consultancy that would provide the same value as the numerous ideas I’ve shamelessly borrowed from clever people I met at Intellect, but if you could, it would be expensive.
- Personal profile
Intellect also provides me with a platform to build my own personal profile, by being active, contributing to meetings, chairing groups and so on. I believe that the CEO’s role is about communicating the core messages of his business to internal and external audiences. Not only can I do this within Intellect, I can also leverage my Intellect exposure to get noticed elsewhere.
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Read this if you read nothing else
- If you want to get the most out of Intellect, you need to put effort into it. Some of the benefits will come to you, but the really compelling ones are the result of getting involved and staying active.
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