Manx Gas has been nominated in two categories - Safety and Customer Service both in relation to the recent successful natural gas conversion project. The project which commenced in 2011 and which was completed, on time and under budget, at the end of 2012 was a  major undertaking for Manx Gas and involved surveying and converting over 9000 appliances in 67000 homes and businesses on the Isle of Man.  The project helped to significantly improve the safety of some gas appliances with engineers removing 420 dangerous gas fires, making safe 114 immediately dangerous appliances and resolving 4,200 minor safety issues for customers (at no cost to the customer).  Throughout the project, a great deal of emphasis was placed on customer communication and delivering high levels of customer satisfaction.  A converted bus provided a mobile support unit,  following the team around and ensuring that customers had access to all the support they needed right outside their own homes.  Manx Gas carried out an ongoing customer satisfaction survey which revealed high levels of customer satisfaction and over 150 positive comments. 

PDMS worked in partnership with Manx Gas to deliver an IT solution to help administer and mange the natural gas conversion project drawing on PDMS' experience of the gas sector through our work with Centrica and our expertise in mobile solutions.  This project was a great example of how the effective use of technology can help increase efficiencies, improve customer service and also achieve significant cost savings.  From a technical perspective it was also a great demonstration of the benefits of mobile technology.  Manx Gas used the solution to schedule and monitor work in real time. The system used 3G mobile network to send data back to and synchronise data with the Central Conversion System managed by the central project team.  Giving the engineers access to real time up to date information was absolutely critical to the success of the conversion project.

The awards will be announced at the Gas Industry Awards lunch, a prestigious annual event which is being held in London on the 7th May.  The lunch is attended by over 600 senior representatives of the gas industry and John Hayes, Minister of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change is presenting the keynote address. The very best of luck to Aidan Baglow and the rest of the team at Manx Gas!

The Hub (www.thehub-pacificquay.com/) is situated in Pacific Quay, the home to several of Scotland's most iconic buildings and media organisations. Scottish Enterprise (www.scottish-enterprise.com/) work with businesses across Scotland to stimulate economic growth and improve the business environment. The organisation has been of great assistance to PDMS, offering support, guidance and information on doing business in Scotland.

David Stickland PDMS' Consultant in Scotland commented 'The assistance that we have received from Scottish Enterprise has been fantastic. It has been an incredibly refreshing experience, the team at Scottish Enterprise in particular; Donna MacKenzie, Business services Manager at The Hub and Colette McBride, Scottish Enterprise have been extremely helpful in offering support and guidance on how to work within the Scottish Public sector'.

PDMS staff are looking forward to attending the official opening of the Creative Clyde Business Incubation Centre at The Hub on the 2^nd of May.

PDMS have also become members of Scotland IS (www.scotlandis.com), the trade body for Scotland's ICT industry which represents around 200 software, telecoms, IT and creative technologies businesses throughout Scotland.

If you are based in Scotland, we would welcome the opportunity to find out more about the issues your business is facing and how we could help. To arrange a meeting with David Stickland please contact us.

The Business Professional Certificate has been established by Intellect (www.intellectuk.org), the UK trade association for the IT, telecoms and electronics industries, to identify companies with professional and thorough business processes in place and a commitment to higher standards. This is a significant achievement for PDMS who are the first company on the Isle of Man to receive this prestigious award, and one of only 25 companies in total to receive the BPC accreditation. 

In order to become BPC certified, PDMS have undergone a rigorous process that covers their entire business operations. They  were required to provide evidence of their procedures in each of ten performance areas: Professional Indemnity, Information Security Policy, Business Continuity, Project Management, Proposal Review, Customer Care, Corporate and Social Responsibility, Human Resources, Customer References and Optional Escrow, and in a large number of performance criteria under each of these areas.

The project to achieve BPC status was overseen by PDMS' Quality & Standards Manager, Simon Edwards who commented, "The Business Professional Certificate complements our existing ISO Quality Standard accreditations by highlighting not only the fact that we adhere to best practice, but also the professionalism of our organisation and people".

Managing Director of PDMS UK, Giles Milner was officially presented with the certificate at Intellect's Board Meeting where he explained  "We have been very impressed with how easy the scheme has been to engage with and it is really positive to get further external endorsement of the processes we use to run our business.

The BPC was created to provide SMEs in particular a relevant and fit for purpose 'stamp' of professionalism. Professional organisations create confidence and trust in their customers, suppliers, staff and other stakeholders, which results in reduced costs, increased profits and an enhanced reputation for themselves and the industry as a whole.

The system was originally created to provide a safeguard in the event of an outbreak of a disease (such as Foot and Mouth which blighted the UK in 2007), so that every movement of an animal could be easily and quickly traced. However, in light of the current horse meat scandal, the system helps to give consumers confidence that Manx Beef is really what it says on the label!

For more information, please see our BITS case study.

Duncan Lawrie is an established niche private bank offering a range of integrated financial services that combine to create a real alternative to everyday high street banking, financial planning and investment management. 

The PDMS design team worked closely with Duncan Lawrie to refresh their online brand presence whilst retaining their core values as a traditional, relationship-led private bank. The deadlines for the project were tight as the launch of the new website was required to coincide with a New Year marketing campaign that the bank were carrying out.

Duncan Lawrie required an easy to use content management solution to enable their internal marketing team to edit and update their website in real time. The new website allows both current and existing clients to subscribe to newsletters and social media feeds, making it easier and more straightforward for the bank to keep clients informed and up to date.

PDMS used the Umbraco Content Management System which allowed the site to be rapidly developed in an agile environment and were able to get the site up and running in just a few weeks.  PDMS mapped and migrated content from the old website to the new Umbraco site which saved valuable development time. The new site (www.duncanlawrie.com ) is also hosted by PDMS.  Umbraco is a leading, open source CMS platform that powers an impressive number of international websites including corporate sites for Heinz and Peugeot as well as Microsoft's flagship www.asp.net. PDMS is an  accredited Umbraco partner and our staff have undergone in-depth Umbraco training to become Certified Umbraco Professionals.

Jane Parry, Director and Head of Marketing and Business Development at Duncan Lawrie Private Bank said, 'We have been delighted to work with PDMS on this important project.  Whilst digital channels will never replace the human touch for many of our clients, we all recognise the increasingly important role they play in growing our business and improving interactions with clients and contacts.  This new website is a great first step and we look forward to a long partnership with PDMS as we continue to develop our digital channels'.

PDMS and Duncan Lawrie are now working together on phase two of the project which includes further enhancements and new features.

The Bahamas International Investment & Business Forum will highlight the key advantages that The Bahamas, and Grand Bahama in particular, will have in capitalising on the expansion of the Panama Canal, which is due to be completed in 2014.  The event will also showcase The Bahamas as a global investment destination of choice with a wide range of opportunities across a number of key sectors.  Held under the theme 'At the Crossroads of 21st Century Trade and Investment'.

PDMS have been working with the Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) through the last two years and have developed their international ship registry enterprise system 'BORIS', the 'Bahamas On-Line Registration Information System', based on PDMS's existing MARIS platform for International Ship Registries.

The Bahamas is one of the world's largest Shipping Registers with over 50 million gross tonnage of ships currently flying the Bahamas flag.  The Registry has grown considerably over the past ten years and has a well-earned reputation for excellence in meeting international shipping standards and for the overall quality of its Registry.

The BORIS system, developed by PDMS, provides an enterprise backoffice management system as well as enabling registered users to securely submit applications electronically, via the web, for Bahamas Flag State Endorsements, Seaman Record Books, Ship Security Officers, Offshore and other relevant training and proficiency certificates on behalf of Seafarers who are employed or intended to be employed on-board Bahamian registered ships.

The BORIS system is being used by the Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) offices around the world including London and New York and will further help them to continue delivering high levels of customer service and to also offer new services as the Registry continues to expand.

Bruce McGregor commented "I am delighted to be attending this prestigious and interesting forum and look forward to meeting key people from the Organisers.  We feel that our continued investment in our MARIS platform for International Ship Registries; our on-going work with the Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) on their BORIS project; combined with our focus on the Maritime sector and general experience in delivering solutions to Governments, already aligns very well with quality jurisdictions like the Bahamas.  Through this event I look forward to finding out more about the Bahamas and its growing business opportunities and activities."

Today marks the 20^th anniversary of PDMS' official incorporation as a limited company. Our anniversary coincides with Pancake Day so to mark the occasion we celebrated with pancakes instead of cake.  

Back in 1993 the company was pretty much a 2 man band, originally set up to provide organisations with IT consultancy services around data management. Today the company has grown into a successful software company delivering online business systems to customers in the Isle of Man, the UK and as far afield as the Bahamas.  The technology industry has changed significantly over the last 20 years but PDMS has plotted a steady course, navigating the many ups and downs ranging from the rapid growth of the Internet and the burst of the dot.com bubble to the ascendancy of mobile devices and the rise of cloud computing.

The shape and size of the company has, of course, evolved but most of the original founders still play an active role in the day to day management of the company and one of PDMS' very first developers, hired in 1995, still works for us today!  Many of our clients have also accompanied us on our journey  - we still work with our first major website client (1995) and we've been working with over 60% of our clients for between 5 and 10 years.

Looking back over the past 20 years the principles that guided the business from the very beginning - to help organisations successfully use IT to deliver real business outcomes  - still holds true.  Here's looking forward to the next 20 years!

There are a number of interesting new initiatives happening in relation to public sector IT in  Scotland, including the SWAN (Scottish Wide Area Network) programme. SWAN aims to deliver a single, holistic public services network to enable infrastructure and service sharing. PDMS recently attended an informative conference in Edinburgh to find out more about the SWAN programme and how we could get involved.

The G-Cloud framework which allows public sector organisations to purchase cloud based software and services, quickly and easily, is also available to Scottish based institutions.  We appreciate that the G-Cloud framework is a whole new approach to purchasing technology services and solutions and we are setting up a number of meetings to help inform people about the many benefits of purchasing software through the CloudStore.

With an interest in the criminal justice sector, we are also closely following developments in relation to the new single Scottish police force (Police Scotland will come into force in April 2013). As a technology partner to PNLD (Police National Legal Database) we have developed a Scottish version of the popular Ask the Police portal.  www.askthe.scottish.police.uk provides answers to hundreds of frequently asked questions, helping to reduce the number of non-emergency calls to the police.

If you are based in Scotland, we would welcome the opportunity to find out more about the issues your business is facing and how we could help. To arrange a meeting with Dave Stickland, our representative in Scotland, please contact us.

PDMS are delighted to continue their support of the  Southern Nomads rugby team for the 2012/2013 season.

The Nomads are an amateur rugby team based in the South of the Island. Formed in 1982 the Nomads play competitively both on and off the island. The team had a great season last year, winning the coveted Manx Shield and the Cheshire Plate, the first island team to ever win a trophy in the UK.  The two year sponsorship deal provided by PDMS will provide the Southern Nomads and the Emerging Nomads with new shirts and equipment

PDMS' very own Santa, Lead Developer Tim Loton took part in the race and through sponsorship has raised over £250 for the Manx Diabetic Group's 'Pumps 4 Kids' campaign. Well Done Tim!