Oracle Archives - de Novo Solutions

Just as a sunrise represents a new beginning and limitless possibilities, Value as a Service™ (VaaS™) offers Oracle Cloud customers a continuous journey of innovation and improvement. By embracing VaaS™, you can ensure that your cloud environment evolves in tandem with your business needs, delivering ongoing value and opportunities for growth.

Value as a Service™ is designed to provide ongoing value through continuous innovation. Unlike traditional support models that offer a fixed set of features, VaaS™ ensures that your Oracle Cloud environment evolves with the latest technological advancements. In the concluding chapter of our three-part blog series, discover how VaaS™ marks the dawn of a new era for your Oracle Cloud journey, driving continuous innovation and keeping your business at the forefront of technology and innovation.

How VaaS™ Keeps Your Oracle Cloud Evolving

1. Strategic Goal Alignment

With VaaS™, we start by aligning your Oracle Cloud strategy with your organisation’s strategic goals. This ensures that every aspect of cloud adoption and management is purpose-driven, addressing the gap between projected and realised value by ensuring that cloud initiatives contribute directly to achieving your business objectives.

2. Regular Performance Assessments

VaaS™ includes regular performance assessments to evaluate your Oracle Cloud environment. These assessments help identify areas for optimisation and ensure that your cloud services are continuously aligned with evolving business needs and benefits from regular vendor updates.

3. Adherence to Best Practices

Our VaaS™ agreement includes the implementation of industry best practices in Oracle Cloud management. This encompasses security protocols, compliance standards, and performance optimisation techniques. By staying updated with Oracle’s latest updates and best practices, we ensure your organisation benefits from the newest features and improvements.

4. Proactive Monitoring & Support

We provide proactive monitoring and support through advanced tools and methodologies to identify and address potential issues before they impact your operations. This approach maintains high system reliability and maximises the value from ongoing updates and new releases.

5. Continuous Training & Development

We provide ongoing training and development for your IT team and end-users, keeping them informed about new Oracle Cloud features and best practices. This continuous learning approach empowers your team to fully utilise Oracle Cloud capabilities and adapt to new functionalities.

6. Strategic Innovation Roadmap

VaaS™ includes the creation of a strategic innovation roadmap outlining strategic initiatives and projects that leverage Oracle Cloud to gain a competitive advantage. This roadmap focuses on integrating emerging technologies and staying ahead of digital transformation trends.

7. Expert Consultancy & Guidance

VaaS™ provides access to experienced Oracle Cloud consultants who offer specialised expertise and industry insights. This collaboration helps optimise cloud performance and navigate the complexities of cloud innovation.

8. Feedback-Driven Optimisation

VaaS™ agreements establish mechanisms for collecting feedback from stakeholders, including end-users and business leaders. This feedback loop drives continuous improvement initiatives and helps us refine your Oracle Cloud strategy and adapt to real-world needs, ensuring that the solutions remain effective and relevant.

9. Dynamic Value Management

VaaS™ redefines value measurement with a dynamic approach, moving beyond static ROI calculations. Our four-dimensional value framework—covering Optimisation, Efficiency, Adoption, and Innovation—provides real-time assessments and adjustments, ensuring your cloud investment delivers ongoing, impactful results.

Embrace Change This Summer

Summer is the ideal time to reflect on your current cloud strategy and explore how VaaS™ can enhance your Oracle Cloud journey. During this season of renewal, let de Novo guide you in evaluating your current Oracle Cloud technology stack and exploring how continuous improvements can propel your business forward.

Here's How We Can Help

Evaluate and Evolve Assess your current cloud setup to identify areas where VaaS™ can provide improvements. Whether you need to optimise performance, enhance security, or explore new features, VaaS™ offers the tools and expertise to keep you ahead of the curve.
Plan for the Future
Reflect on your long-term goals and see how VaaS™ can support them. With a focus on continuous innovation, VaaS™ ensures that your Oracle Cloud environment stays adaptable to future demands and evolving needs.
Leverage New Capabilities
Explore the latest features and capabilities of Oracle Cloud introduced through VaaS™. Discover how these innovations can enhance your operations, increase efficiency, and create additional value for your organisation.

Ready to Reimagine your Oracle Cloud Journey?

Step confidently into the future with Value as a Service™. Contact us today to discover how VaaS™ can transform your business and keep it at the cutting edge of technology. Let’s partner to reimagine your Oracle Cloud journey and open the door to new opportunities for continuous innovation.a

#ReimagineWithVaaS

Read the Full Blog Series Here

🔹Part 1: Refresh your Oracle Cloud Expectations with VaaS™
🔹Part 2: Realign your Oracle Cloud Mindset with VaaS™
🔹Part 3: Reimagine your Oracle Cloud Journey with VaaS™

Ready to Explore VaaS™?

Learn how de Novo's unique approach to Managed Cloud Support will significantly bring value to your organisation.

Just as yoga stretching helps your body recalibrate and optimise its performance, reevaluating and realigning your approach for Oracle Cloud will maximise value and optimise service experiences.

Embrace a New "Posture" This Summer

This summer, adopting a new ‘posture’ will empower Oracle Cloud Applications Support Managers to contribute to the better health and wellbeing of the organisation’s Oracle Cloud performance. In the second part of our 3-part summer blog series, discover how adopting a new mindset can help you recalibrate and optimise your Oracle Cloud experience. Think of it as a strategic stretch—realigning your Oracle Cloud management approach for greater agility, efficiency, and success. Whether you’re experiencing a failing or stalled implementation or seeking a fresh perspective, VaaS™ offers proactive management and continuous innovation to restore harmony to your Oracle cloud strategy.

Why Choose VaaS™?

de Novo stands out as award-winning pioneers of Oracle Cloud. Our culture of thinking differently and commitment to developing new client sets us apart.

Our energy and innovation have enabled our team of trusted experts to develop VaaS™ into ‘this season’s’ must have accessory for Oracle Cloud managed service support. Unlike traditional support models that often rely on reactive approaches and limited scope, VaaS™ offers a comprehensive, proactive framework that drives continuous improvement and maximises your Oracle Cloud investment.

Today, we engage clients seeking a fresh approach to managed service support delivery. This includes clients looking to recover from a problematic transformation programme, or those whose relationship with their current managed service support partner is no longer effective. Here’s how VaaS™ stands out:

Our Approach

Relationship Management

We assign a dedicated Service Manager who acts as a consistent point of contact for your team. Unlike traditional models, which often operate reactively and address issues as they arise, VaaS™ shifts the focus to proactive management. This manager works to maximise your return on investment in Oracle Cloud by identifying continuous improvement opportunities. They conduct regular strategic and operational service reviews to analyse trends and adapt our approach as needed. Through VaaS™, our Service Manager gains a comprehensive understanding of your short- and long-term aspirations for the system, ensuring we align our delivery with your goals.

Continuous Service Improvement

In contrast to traditional support models that can be static and limited to immediate fixes, VaaS™ emphasises continuous service improvement. Our service delivery managers partner with client stakeholders to assess end-to-end service quality. This involves identifying any areas for improvement and implementing strategies to optimise the overall support service. We leverage data-driven insights and performance metrics to ensure our clients receive maximum value from our services.

Pro-active System Health Checks

Traditional support often involves occasional reviews or health checks. VaaS™ offers regular, in-depth system health checks to identify and address inefficiencies and unmet needs. These evaluations revisit the original business needs, identify what is working or not, and develop a roadmap for improvements. For example, we may recommend enhanced processes or system solutions to address specific issues and unlock greater value from the system, ensuring that your system consistently delivers maximum value.

Pro-active Incident and Problem Management

We employ effective incident and problem management techniques to proactively identify and address recurring issues. By analysing high-traffic ticket areas, we detect trends and root causes, implementing remedial actions to prevent future occurrences. This proactive approach contrasts with traditional models that might only respond to issues after they arise, allowing us to prevent problems before they escalate.

Knowledge Transfer

Traditional models often provide training in isolation from actual support work. VaaS™ integrates knowledge transfer into the service delivery process through hybrid collaborative delivery teams. This holistic approach ensures both formal and informal education opportunities are maximised, fostering collaboration and building internal capabilities. Our goal is to build internal capabilities and empower your teams to manage and utilise the Oracle Cloud system more effectively and independently.

Real-World Examples of VaaS™ in Action

Case Study: Payroll Process Optimisation
In one instance, we worked closely with a client’s payroll team to eliminate manual workarounds. By streamlining operations, we significantly reduced processing time and enhanced the accuracy of payroll payments. This not only improved efficiency but also ensured more reliable payroll operations.

Case Study: Internal Support Training
For another client, we provided training for internal support teams to handle in-house user management and second-line support. This approach reduced external support costs and bolstered internal capabilities, leading to a more self-sufficient and cost-effective support structure.

Case Study: Health Check and System Enhancement
During a transition from a previous support partner, we performed a comprehensive four-week health check across all Oracle Cloud modules. We identified issues, streamlined payroll processes, and reverted to best practice standard designs. This resulted in enhanced system performance and more efficient operations. The transition also included a prioritised improvement roadmap that addressed complex custom solutions, leading to greater efficiency and reliability.

Case Study: Bi-weekly Functional Calls
We established bi-weekly functional calls between de Novo specialists and key users for another client organisation. This ongoing dialogue facilitated the creation of a comprehensive roadmap of initiatives and enhancements, managing improvements alongside regular support and project work. This approach led to better adoption, increased efficiency, and enhanced innovation across all four VaaS™ pillars for the client.

"de Novo's cloud support has been critical in helping us realise the benefit of Oracle Cloud and trust in the solution's capabilities. de Novo has quickly demonstrated how committed they are to understanding both OGAT's needs and those of the wider MAT sector to make optimal use of Oracle and ensure our digital transformation journey is a success. This valued partnership and Value As A Service™ (VaaS™) support model allows us to confidently focus on securing our strategic objectives and we're excited to bring these to fruition with de Novo."

Chris Mills, Project Accountant, Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT)

Ready to Realign your Oracle Cloud Mindset?

Take the first step toward a better, more agile Oracle Cloud managed service support mindset. Contact us today to explore how VaaS™ can help you achieve your strategic business objectives and optimise your Oracle Cloud environment. Embrace a new posture with VaaS™ and experience the benefits of a service model designed for continuous improvement and sustained success.

#RealignwithVaaS

Read the Full Blog Series Here

🔹Part 1: Refresh your Oracle Cloud Expectations with VaaS™
🔹Part 2: Realign your Oracle Cloud Mindset with VaaS™
🔹Part 3: Reimagine your Oracle Cloud Journey with VaaS™

Ready to explore VaaS™?

Learn how de Novo's unique approach to Managed Cloud Support will significantly bring value to your organisation.

Just as a pitcher of ice-cold lemonade refreshes on a hot summer’s day, refreshing your approach to managed service support for Oracle Cloud will be equally quenching and rejuvenating.

Summer is the perfect time for Oracle Cloud Applications Support Managers to refresh their expectations regarding the service experience they receive today. Why not take a few moments to explore de Novo’s Value as a Service™ (VaaS™) – the new standard in managed service support for Oracle Cloud? Learn more in our latest blog article, the first in a 3-part series, for insights into VaaS™ and its transformative benefits.

Why Choose VaaS™?

de Novo stands out as award-winning pioneers of Oracle Cloud. Our culture of thinking differently and commitment to developing new client sets us apart.

Our energy and innovation have enabled our team of trusted experts to develop VaaS™ into ‘this season’s’ must have accessory for Oracle Cloud managed service support.day,

Choose VaaS™ For a Fresh Approach

A conversation about VaaS™ managed service and support framework will inspire you to think, act and perform differently creating new experiences for all.

Our experience and client feedback demonstrates that VaaS™ stimulates organisations to challenge existing operational processes and outcomes. Re-balancing human experiences with business imperatives to improve outcomes and increased business value.

Let’s Have a VaaS™ Conversation

VaaS™ is anchored around your success, focusing on ensuring clients maximise the value from their Oracle Cloud investment. With VaaS™ de Novo has developed new managed service experiences and innovations at every turn. Here are three key benefits our clients enjoy:

1. VaaS™ Four Value Dimensions

Client managed service support engagements are underpinned by a unique four-dimension value and success measurement process inspired by Design Thinking. These dimensions span cognitive, strategic and practical measurement encouraging clients to explore new ideas and experiences. Measurement is vital for evaluating a managed service, identifying strengths, weaknesses – inspiring action and collaboration on your unique transformational journey.

Optimisation

With VaaS™, our clients are inspired by knowledge share, recommendations, advice and contextual guidance for achieving leading practice all designed to optimise your organisation’s performance

Efficiency

With VaaS™, our clients receive quarterly reviews focusing on streamlining and automation Oracle Cloud to reduce the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) while maximising Oracle Cloud release capabilities to the fullest

Adoption

With VaaS™, our clients explore and measure end-user adoption and satisfaction levels to secure and improve Oracle Cloud service engagement with user journeys and experiences that make a difference

Innovation

With VaaS™, our clients participate in forward-looking industry-centric discussions, assessing the important content within the regular Oracle Cloud release and Oracle Redwood documentation

2. VaaS™ Flexible Commercial Models

VaaS™ managed service support means modern thinking and practicality, as a team we are inspired by our regular ‘domestic’ lives and constantly strive to bring consumer-like experiences to the table to deliver better outcomes.

de Novo offers clients the flexibility to select the most suitable commercial agreement for service they seek – suiting their needs, expectations and budget.

Providing term-based agreements, Units (Pay as you Go) based agreements, and Service specific agreements spanning various Oracle Cloud transformation topics.

We find that our clients benefit from an open, transparent commercial conversation to ensure they are not overpaying for services that are not required or deliver substandard experiences that don’t align to their vision or expectations.

3. ServiceNow - Connected, Innovative and Agile

As an Oracle Cloud and ServiceNow accredited partner de Novo use best-in-class technology to deliver a game-changing managed service support delivery experience.

Our VaaS™ client managed service and support portal is powered by ServiceNow the leading business workflow technology. ServiceNow enables our four-dimension VaaS™ measurement framework tracking benefits, and success metrics plotted in the client’s Value Action Report.

de Novo’s ServiceNow experts bring their skills, capabilities and their focus on customer success to our VaaS™ client portal experience. An experience that is rich in capability and surpasses well beyond a basic SR (Service Request) ticket management system.

Partnering for Success

de Novo’s core business philosophy is built on partnership, collaboration, and trust. We work closely and transparently with your organisation, blending your vision and ambitions with our expert knowledge to deliver maximum value and efficiency from your Oracle Cloud.

Ready to Refresh your Oracle Cloud?

Ready to embark on a refreshing Oracle Cloud experience? Contact us today to discover how VaaS™ can transform your managed service support experience. Book a consultation with de Novo today, your trusted partner in feel-good Oracle Cloud support.

#RefreshWithVaaS

Read the Full Blog Series Here

🔹Part 1: Refresh your Oracle Cloud Expectations with VaaS™
🔹Part 2: Realign your Oracle Cloud Mindset with VaaS™
🔹Part 3: Reimagine your Oracle Cloud Journey with VaaS™

Ready to explore VaaS™?

Learn how de Novo's unique approach to Managed Cloud Support will significantly bring value to your organisation.

Author: Richard Twelvetrees, Experience & Value Enablement Director, de Novo Solutions

Multi-Academy Trusts (MAT) today are heavily focused on achieving effective sustainable growth. Committing precious funding, resource, energy, and time toward exploring how best to ‘grow’ and strengthen the organisation’s various experiences to benefit Pupils, Staff, or other educational stakeholders alike.

Optimising Central Services: The Hub and Spoke Model

Digital technology is a critical conversation to hold when enabling MAT effective growth. However, technology is not a magic bullet.

To achieve meaningful growth, MATs must ensure efficient traction to journey successfully toward triumph. A MATs transformational process needs to confidently embrace a review of the existing operating model, challenging the evolution of central services (back-office) advancement to deliver meaningful change, increase value, and improve quality.

Balancing Finance and People Management for Efficient Growth

Revisiting the best approach for the MAT ‘Hub and Spoke’ service delivery mechanism will mean re-evaluating which services are performed centrally to save time, money, effort, and resource and which services remain at a federated school academy level. Balancing MAT Finance and People Management services execution is pivotal to deliver efficient growth, provide the best experiences moving forward and resulting in the most efficient leveraging of technology innovations.

Supporting MAT Growth with Modern Cloud-Based Technologies

At de Novo Solutions, we assist our MAT clients in fulfilling their ambitions for effective growth by providing expert advice on modern cloud-based digital technology transformation supporting the critical delivery of MAT-wide people and finance management services modernization. Our six-step growth planner will help MATA readers plan and execute effective conversations when exploring growth.

Developing a Unified Vision Across Academies

Ensure all academies within the MAT participate in the formulation and understanding of a unified vision that spans the complete organization. The vision is essential to guide all growth-related decisions. The vision should establish value markers (see the efficiency and utilization targets below), and through regular communication, the MAT’s vision is shared with stakeholders, including staff, pupils, and parents to foster vision adoption along with progression monitoring markers

Operational Efficiency

KPI: Cost per Student

Below Average Savings: 3-5% (low of £142,200)
Average Savings: 5-10%
Above Average Savings: 10-15% (high of £711,000)

Example: A MAT spends £5,000 per student annually. Below average savings would result in savings of £150-£250 per student Average savings would result in savings of £250-£500 per student Above average savings would result in savings of £500-£750 per student.

Multiplier is 948. 948 is average number of pupils per secondary school (Department for Education (DfE) for the academic year 2022/2023

Resource Utilisation

KPI: Utilisation Rate of Shared Resources

Below Average Savings: 5-10% (low of £SOK)
Average Savings: 10-15%
Above Average Savings: 15-20% (high of £200K+)

Example: A MAT annual budget for shared resources is £1m. Below average savings would result in savings of £50K-£100K. Average savings would result in savings of £100K-£150K. Above average savings would result in savings of £1S0K-£200K+.

Tailoring Growth Strategies to Address Specific Need

Identify specific needs and gaps across the MAT organisation to tailor and right-size the growth strategy. Establishing priorities and goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) will lead to effective strategic goal progress monitoring. Growth plans must connect technology, process, and people alongside service delivery to deliver a flexible and resilient strategic framework that can accommodate expansion and innovation without compromising the quality of educational service experiences.

Enhancing Engagement and Learning Outcomes through Technology

Deploying robust People and Finance Management services will improve efficiency and transparency. Cloud-based technologies such as Oracle Cloud or ServiceNow are powerful and play a vital role in supporting growth and improvement of MAT operations. Process simplification, adopting leading delivered best practices, and harnessing Odyssea (de Novo Solutions MAT Industry ready solution) will help expedite delivery, reduce cost, and improve the efficiency of People and Finance Management services.

Collaborating for Realistic Growth Scenario Planning

Exploring and evaluating new technology will enhance engagement and improve learning outcomes for all. The delivery of quality, consistent experiences across academies and central services is important for successful People and Finance Management services. Growth plans that are enriched with structured, engaging, and personalised experiences will ensure the diverse and evolving needs of stakeholders are addressed, promoting MAT inclusivity and equal opportunities at every stage.

Work in partnership with other local MAT organisations to learn about their own digital transformation journey experiences will assist with realistic growth scenario planning. Providing regular communication across the community on academy and MAT growth ambition will continuously improve and strengthen flexible development strategies and help people understand the traction achieved and the distance on the journey that remains.

Embracing Digital Transformation for MATs

Conducting regular reviews on the plan for effective growth will assist in identifying areas for improvement, areas to be replicated and cascaded and those to be ended. Data and analytics will inform decision-making processes and measure the impact of growth. Feedback will assist with service improvement; help deliver course correction to ensure the navigation remains on path and arrives on time and on budget securing the right organisational outcomes for all.

To learn more about de Novo Solutions or our leading services that include: Odyssea™ for Multi-Academy Trusts -for’ fixed price, fixed scope, and fixed timescale digital transformations (People / HR Management, Payroll, Talent Management, Finance Management, Procurement, Financial Planning and Reporting) powered by Oracle Cloud and ServiceNow technologies support service. Or to explore Value as a Service™ (VaaS™) our managed support service that enables our MAT clients to maximise their Oracle Cloud and ServiceNow technology investments using four dimensions to monitor value and benefit spanning – optimisation, efficiency, adoption and innovation. Please visit: Odyssea™ for Multi-Academy Trusts or follow de Novo on Linkedin and Twitter.

Ready to embark on your journey to sustainable MAT growth?

Unlock MAT Excellence with Odyssea™

Experience Value as a Service™ (VaaS™)

Why are mergers happening more often?

Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) increasingly view mergers as avenues to develop growth and excellence. Achieving a smooth transition and unification is essential for centralised back-office services, and automated digital-first transformation is the future. Embracing technology enables a trust to navigate the complexities of mergers more effectively, enhancing efficiency, transparency, and advancing the journey to becoming a High-Quality Trust.

Powering mergers with digital automation

Trusts encounter multiple complex challenges during mergers, including disparate, duplicated systems, communication alignment, and slow disconnected data silos. A digital transformation provides tools and frameworks to overcome these hurdles. Adopting cloud technology means processes and systems are automated, streamlining stakeholder involvement and expediting the value of data across the trust. The growth of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) enhances operational efficiency, exception analysis with data-driven decision-making as emerging technologies are embraced.

Mergers aim to:

Improve educational standards

Deliver economies of scale

Develop innovation and evolution

Foster collaboration and unity

Balance flexibility and autonomy

Accelerate growth ambitions

Optimising back-office efficiency and innovation

Well-run centralised back-office support services are vital to any trust’s reputation and performance. Post-merger by consolidating and reducing low-value administrative functions with automation on a unified platform, streamlined processes will result, eliminate duplication, and freeing time to focus on high-value strategic activities. Cloud agility and responsiveness will enable a trust to adapt more quickly and cascade a culture of continuous improvement across operations.

Measuring success and improvement

Trustees that support a MAT bring valuable external perspectives and objectivity. Assisting with prioritising new methods and innovations, balancing contexts, and value are important considerations. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) provide useful benchmarks for discussion, highlighting the importance of due diligence and feedback on realignment decisions to drive value and growth savings.

How does your trust measure up?

Success rate: 70-90%

70-90% of mergers fail to meet their intended objectives, highlighting why due diligence and strategic re-alignment planning is essential

Synergy realisation: 20-30%

20-30% of mergers achieve the anticipated synergies, underscoring that post-merger integration and commitment is essential to drive value and growth savings

Employee retention: 30%

30% of employees voluntarily resign within 365 days following a merger, highlighting importance of change management, communication, and cultural integration to retain talent

In summary

Remaining flexible and open is important in post-merger life. It is the people and culture that help make a trust. People and people management are just as essential as the balance sheet when aspiring to unlock the full post-merger potential. It will take planning, focus, give and take, and understanding to recognise the benefits and value outcomes associated with a merger in order to provide better educational outcomes for all.

As trusts embark on their merger journeys, we at de Novo Solutions stand ready to partner with organisations on their digital transformation journey, driving innovation, efficiency, and success every step of the way.

Better empowering and enabling today's Chief Financial Operating Officer (CFOO)

Navigating today’s complex Multi Academy Trust (MAT) Back-Office operation is a key challenge for a Chief Financial Operating Officer (CFOO). With rocks and reefs waiting to catch out the business service support team that manage the Trust’s Finance, Procurement, Human Resources, Payroll and Reporting activities.

The continuing emergence of Trust CFOO underlines the important connection between finance and operations. A properly equipped and empowered CFOO will better support the C-Level with one eye on the Trust’s balance sheet and the other on Back-Office operational performance.

Trust challenges continually evolve in shape and placement meaning that an effective radar warning system is needed to navigate a safe passage to High Quality Trust.

Our MAT clients are circumnavigating challenges such as:

A Trust often experiences ‘choppier waters’ with Merger and Acquisition (M&A) activities – growth pains to be overcome to prevent unnecessary risk and poor performance. Multiple legacy overlapping business applications left as shipwrecked data silos or islands strewn across the Trust will cause danger if left unsecured, unmarked, and unmanaged.

Our Trust clients typically want to address major M&A headaches – looking for lifeboats to overcome:

Post M&A consolidation is the essential ‘SOS lifejacket’. Centralising processes, rationalising terms, suppliers, and systems, while developing new scalable and consistent ways of working.

Our digital experts are MAT Pilots and alongside the CFOO strengthen the Trust ‘bridge’ to be better equipped for all weather conditions.

A better-informed Trust C-Level Team will anticipate and predict conditions as opposed to just responding to them, determining the best course ahead to achieve the Trust’s future vision.

Harnessing modular and integrated Oracle and ServiceNow Cloud technologies – for the Back-Office will mean Trust automation and efficiency savings. Improving Trust transparency, control, and continuous innovation will deliver better educational outcomes benefiting the Trust, community, and pupils alike impacting:

Finance

Revolutionising Trust finance execution with streamlined solutions for budgeting, reporting, and forecasting reducing administration for improved strategic MAT decisioning

Procurement

Collaborative procurement initiatives to leverage economies of scale within MAT by pooling resources and negotiating bulk contracts achieving significant cost savings across the Trust

Human Resources

Improving people and talent management strategies to ensure all Trust employees are attracted, developed and retained contributing to deliver inspiring education for pupils

Payroll

Supporting sophisticated payroll eligibility rules and payroll processing frequencies with detailed cost control management and Trust compensation reporting and modelling analysis tools

Reporting

Game-changing analytics with deep insights into financial performance, operational effectiveness using predictions to anticipate future trends, areas for improvement, and mitigate risk

So, if you are charged with transforming your Trust’s Back-Office future and this article has stimulated your ambitions for financial and people management activities – please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Let us navigate your success as experts in MAT focused Oracle Cloud and ServiceNow digital Back-Office transformations.

LANGSTONE, South Wales — 2nd February 2024 — Leading Oracle Cloud and ServiceNow digital transformation consultancy, de Novo Solutions, has been named among the top 10 in the UK’s Top 100 small-to-medium sized enterprises [SMEs] in the UK by Elite Business, a leading publication for SMEs and high-growth companies.

The Wales-based company, which specialises in the implementation and support of cutting-edge Finance, Procurement, HR and Payroll solutions, has been ranked seventh overall in the 2024 Elite Business 100 (EB100). This annual league table serves as a definitive celebration of business excellence in the UK.

Now in its second year, the competition has witnessed a substantial increase in the number of applicants compared to 2023. The judges noted that de Novo Solutions stands out as a true leader in the SME sector due to its remarkable sales and growth metrics, commitment to technological innovation, and active involvement in community engagement initiatives.

Piers Linney, former investor on BBC’s Dragon’s Den and Co-Founder of Implement AI, said, “The EB100 is evidence of the overwhelming entrepreneurial spirit in Britain. Across every sector, we have seen truly impressive businesses that are devoted to achieving in all areas.”

On the evening of the 13th of March 2024, de Novo Solutions will join the crème de la crème of the UK SME community at the prestigious awards ceremony in St Paul’s, London. The event will serve as a platform to honour the UK’s top-performing businesses and share insights into their success stories.

“de Novo Solutions are innovators in the British SME community and deserve the spotlight shone on them from the Elite Business 100,” said Scott English, Brand Director of Elite Business. “This definitive league illustrates the crème de la crème of UK SMEs”.

Mark Sweeny, Founder and Chief Executive at de Novo Solutions, said, “It is a genuine honour for us to be acknowledged within the top 10 of the Elite Business 100. This remarkable achievement is yet another testament to our team’s unwavering commitment to excellence, innovation, and making a positive impact in the community. We are very excited to be attending the awards ceremony and extend our heartfelt thanks for the recognition bestowed upon us by the judges of the Elite Business 100.”

To view the full EB100 list, click here: https://elitebusinessmagazine.co.uk/eb100.

Media Contact

Hannah Haffield
hhaffield@makemorenoise.co.uk
0121 594 0712 / 07939 468 567

LANGSTONE, South Wales — 23rd January 2024 — Leading Oracle Cloud and ServiceNow digital transformation consultancy, de Novo Solutions, has announced the appointment of Ramya Govindarajan as Vice President of de Novo Solutions India Pvt. Ltd, effective 15 January 2024.

Ramya will be responsible for all aspects of de Novo’s India Operations and follows the company’s recent disclosure regarding expanding its delivery capability in Chennai, India underscoring its strategic focus upon growth and affirming its commitment to leading in technological innovation and providing cutting-edge solutions to meet the evolving needs of its clients.

Ramya, a seasoned leader in enterprise digital transformation will report directly to recently appointed Tom Mann, Senior Vice President, Client Services. Ramya brings over two decades of experience in successfully leading large and complex transformation programmes as a trusted client advisor and solutions architect, both in the context of large multinational companies as well as the UK and European Public Sector organizations. Her strategic vision, technical proficiency, and leadership skills make her a valuable addition to de Novo Solutions’ leadership team as the company expands internationally.

Mark Sweeny, Founder and Chief Executive of de Novo Solutions, confirmed: “I have known Ramya for over a decade and have had the pleasure of working with her in my previous business Certus Solutions, so I’m absolutely delighted to welcome Ramya back into our team. Her appointment is a fantastic milestone for de Novo, with Ramya taking responsibility for leading our operations in India. I have no doubt that we’re in for an exciting journey of enhancing our innovation and delivery capabilities as we grow our business in India. This really is an incredibly exciting development for de Novo. It’s a step that not only will allow us to double our size over the next 12 months but will also allow us to accelerate our investments in new and innovative service propositions using Oracle Cloud and ServiceNow technologies”.

Ramya Govindarajan, VP of India Operations at de Novo Solutions, said: “It’s truly exciting to be joining the de Novo Solutions family and to be working with Mark and the team once again. Having had the privilege of working together at Certus, I’ve witnessed firsthand Mark’s unwavering commitment to excellence. Chennai, is home to some of the top Universities, has strong infrastructure and is a hub for exceptional tech talent. I am confident that the Chennai centre of excellence will complement the exceptional talent in the UK and I am excited about the opportunities that our combined teams can unlock. I look forward to working together to drive innovation and contribute to the continued success of de Novo.”

Since its official launch in 2021, de Novo Solutions has successfully developed and introduced a range of new solutions to market. This includes its next generation managed services offering, ‘Value as a Service™’ [VaaS™] for Oracle Cloud and ServiceNow applications. Additionally, the company has introduced its innovative industry cloud solutions, Odyssea™, driven by Oracle Cloud and designed to meet the needs of a range of sectors such as Local, Central Government and Education Sector – Multi-Academy Trusts.

Headquartered in Langstone, Wales, de Novo Solutions now employs a team of over 50 business and technical digital transformation specialists, experiencing a 50% growth in headcount over the last 12 months.

Media Contact

Hannah Haffield
hhaffield@makemorenoise.co.uk
0121 594 0712 / 07939 468 567

LANGSTONE, South Wales — 15th January 2024 — Leading Oracle Cloud and ServiceNow digital transformation consultancy, de Novo Solutions, proudly announces its role as Headline Partner for the highly-anticipated Wales Technology Awards 2024. As the UK’s leading experts in technology enabled digital transformation and Cloud-led innovation, de Novo’s partnership highlights their dedication to fostering innovation and excellence within the Welsh technology sector.

The Wales Technology Awards, organised by Technology Connected, is scheduled to take place on the evening of 22nd March 2024 at the Mercure Cardiff Holland House Hotel and Spa. The Awards are a prestigious platform poised to showcase and honour those who underpin Wales’s thriving and vibrant tech industry.

Based in Langstone, de Novo Solutions is at the forefront of reimagining how businesses operate in the digital age, using Oracle Cloud and ServiceNow technologies. With a clear mission to drive innovation, create value, and empower businesses, the company specialises in Finance, Procurement, Payroll, HR systems and Managed Cloud Support. Their comprehensive solutions address the multifaceted challenges of the modern business landscape.

Mark Sweeny, Chief Executive at de Novo Solutions, said: “Having launched in Langstone, South Wales, nearly three years ago, the de Novo team and I have played an active role in supporting the future growth and development of technology in Wales – be it through connecting with like-minded organisations or recruiting and training local tech talent.

We are, therefore, delighted to have partnered with Technology Connected as the Headline Partner for the Wales Technology Awards 2024. We look forward to joining in the celebrations at the awards ceremony on the 22nd March in Cardiff, where we are excited to meet and applaud the businesses who are flying the flag for tech innovation across Wales.”

Avril Lewis MBE, Managing Director at Technology Connected, said: “We are thrilled to have de Novo Solutions join us as the Headline Partner for the Wales Technology Awards 2024. This partnership is a testament to our joint commitment to driving innovation, creating value, and empowering businesses for sustained success. Together, we eagerly anticipate shining a spotlight on the outstanding Welsh tech industry at the Wales Technology Awards.”

The Welsh tech community is reminded that award entries for the Wales Technology Awards 2024 close on the 22nd January. The Awards are free to enter and organisations can apply to multiple categories.

For more details regarding tickets, how to enter, and partnerships, please visit the Wales Technology Awards website.

About Technology Connected
Technology Connected is the leading network for the technology industry in Wales, previously known as ESTnet. For nearly 20 years, we have worked alongside our members to forge new business connections, raise their profiles and to create a powerful collective voice for the technology industry in Wales and beyond. Other events and initiatives from Technology Connected include Wales Tech Week, Emerging Tech Fest, and Year In Industry.

https://technologyconnected.net/

#WalesTechnologyAwards / #WTA

@TechnologyConnx

For PR & Comms enquiries please email Stephanie Stephens stephanie.stephens@technologyconnected.net

About de Novo Solutions

Headquartered in Langstone, Wales, de Novo Solutions is a specialist Oracle Cloud and ServiceNow digital transformation consultancy. Focused on the experience economy, the company aims to ‘re-imagine the world of work’ by delivering data-driven personalised experiences over standardised business processes, leveraging emerging technologies and analytics to provide significant business value.

For more information, please visit www.de-novo-solutions.com.

Follow de Novo on Linkedin and Twitter.

Media Contact

Hannah Haffield
hhaffield@makemorenoise.co.uk
0121 594 0712 / 07939 468 567

Making a Digital Difference with Odyssea™ for MATs

Typically, 75% of a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) budget today is spent on people costs. It begs the question: Is your MAT modernising its approach to people management, investing in its most valuable (and expensive) asset? Are your skilled people benefiting from a progressive digital revolution or evolution journey, or is your trust experiencing inertia—confused, stuck, or unsure how to begin.

No matter your MAT situation, de Novo is here to help. This article showcases the capabilities of Odyssea™ for MATs and emphasises the crucial role of people management in achieving overall MAT goals.

Learn how de Novo’s expertise, recently recognised with a ‘HR Tech Innovation’ award commendation, can support you on your journey to a digitally optimised future.

With the emphasis today placed upon quality pupil education and engaging pupil experiences, Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) across the nation are under pressure like never before. Expected to simultaneously ‘juggle’ other operational MAT priorities alongside the needs of their pupils with an aim to deliver a well-respected, compliant, successful, safe, and performant MAT that the community is proud of.

To achieve those aims the role of people management should not be forgotten, understated, or delayed in lieu of other items on the MAT agenda as it is the people working within a MAT that impact pupils and contribute to the goals of the organisation.

The seemingly never-ending list of operational priorities and activities that MAT leadership teams are expected to focus on can often cause an inadvertent negative impact on other equally important aspects, such as people management.

The Pressures Facing MATs Today

Combatting increased threat of cybercrime
Focusing on operational efficiencies and transparency
Adhering to legislative compliance and GDPR constraints
Pressures on funding, budgets, and MAT self-generating income
Managing risk and the pressure to embrace cloud digital technologies

These classical MAT priorities will not be going away anytime soon, and no doubt the average MAT Leaders’ to-do list runs the risk of expanding still further and with a potential change in UK Government who knows what the future will bring.

To help dispel a few urban myths that may exist it is important to confirm that a large slice of MAT priorities and focus areas can be better addressed through the effective deployment and use of cloud enabled digital technology to complete much of the heavy lifting.

Without balancing the time and effort spent on the ‘digital agenda’ versus other operational matters a MAT might well run the risk of missing out on the advantages that a modern cloud enabled people solution brings to the operation but more importantly to the people.

The heavy lifting typically associated with preparing and executing a digital transformation can be reduced by de Novo’s Odyssea™ for MATs, a purpose-built strategic HR / Payroll people management solution powered by Oracle Cloud.

With such a high proportion (75%) of MAT operational budgets spent on people related costs it is essential that such a precious and valuable investment (MAT people) is properly managed alongside well thought out people experiences.

Odyssea™ for MATs brings industry ready profiles, functionality and default settings that are specifically purpose designed to enable a MAT to make a fast start to their people transformation. de Novo’s experience in the industry has been gained through other MAT people and finance focused transformation projects. That knowledge means that de Novo is essentially simplifying and breaking the barriers of inertia that might on occasion paralyse people management progress within a MAT.

Navigate your Cloud Journey with Confidence

To support MATs in their transition, de Novo brings a new flexible, supportive approach to the table – known as a Cloud Readiness Assessment (CRA). Without a well-defined roadmap, navigating the cloud journey can lead to challenges, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities.

This is where our Cloud Readiness Assessment (CRA) becomes invaluable. CRA is performed in partnership with a MAT and reviews the existing working approaches related to people management, with that research in mind de Novo can advise on recommended way forward – be that revolution or evolution. de Novo’s team of experts can guide a MAT on project delivery approaches, future target operating models, functional capability discussions, cloud solution demonstrations alongside building the funding business case and value proposition.

A plan toward a cloud enabled digital future is essential for a forward thinking, MAT leadership team.

People management and strategic HR is an imperative benefiting those working in a MAT enterprise whether they are Employees, Teaching Professionals, Operational Managers, Governors, or Volunteers. People working in a MAT environment have an impact daily on pupils – the next generation that will guide the way – and it is vital that these people feel valued, connected, and aligned with the MAT vision.

Supported at every stage of their employment journey with connected HR solutions that are modern and engaging ensures a person record is entered once and leveraged across the employment lifecycle.

People Management Lifecycle

Introducing Odyssea™ for MATs

Odyssea™ for MATs is a fast start, modular solution for people management – a solution that comes predesigned to support the needs of the education industry to ease the burden and expedite the digital transformation journey.

Partnering with several MAT clients has enabled de Novo to co-design Odyssea™ for MAT to be a solution that enables a digital people transformation strategy supporting either a one-step revolution or a more pragmatic and phased evolution journey.

Key People Management Capabilities

Delivering a Single Central Record (SCR) for people management
Supporting efficient School Workforce Census management activities
Pre-defined education industry absence management, payroll elements and pension schemes
Position management for funding and budgeted headcount management activities
Self-service HR with secure access to view and update information on any device with a browser
Complete talent management to include mandatory and renewal training activity tracking
Performance management monitoring and observation assessment tracking capabilities
Unified cross-MAT organisation succession planning and talent pool management strategies
Life event and career ‘Journey’ pathway checklists delivering cross-MAT process continuity
End-to-end reporting and management information reporting with interactive dashboards

Navigating the Digital Transformation Journey

Advancing and modernising MAT people strategy or people management services will without doubt save time, money, improve efficiency, communication and collaboration across the organisation.

Whether the digital transformation is done in a single leap (revolution) or a series of purposeful steps (evolution) it is essential that progress occurs. Inertia is not acceptable.

Progress can begin with a CRA, a conversation that is supportive and not judgemental – it is about supporting a MAT on their own unique digital journey so that the organisation can better focus on delivering better educational outcomes for all.

It takes time to develop a mature, high performing people management strategy and that elevated view and ambition should not be set as a success measure from day one.

The digital people management journey takes time and requires the regular input of multiple parties to help ensure adoption, innovation, efficiency do not ‘scare or destabilise’ the MAT’s primary activities – namely, pupil education.

Value as a Service™ (VaaS™): Supporting MATs Beyond Implementation

de Novo provides additional aftercare and managed support services for MATs beyond the implementation process and the point of go-live with Value as a Service™ (VaaS™). VaaS™ helps MATs to continue maximising their Oracle Cloud solution capability beyond go-live de Novo’s innovative approach to delivery excellence continues forward into expert aftercare designed to ensure MATs feel supported at every step.

Unlocking Efficiency and Substantial Cost Savings for Multi-Academy Trusts

An optimised people management strategy will impact that 75% spend ensuring you are getting the most from that investment. Helping a MAT to save on:

Expensive hiring though better succession and lateral talent planning
Reducing ‘agency’ and ‘supply’ costs through alumni deployment
Reducing on and off boarding cost and time with automation
Time and effort to control people and position management budgeting
Lost momentum in encouraging MAT culture and value messages
Tracking timely people certification renewals

A modern people management strategy is the future, but it is not always easy to achieve or even prioritise. With de Novo, MATs can navigate the path toward a digitally transformed and optimised future for people management. Our proficiency and expertise in HR/People Management systems have earned us industry recognition, notably with de Novo Solutions receiving Commendation in the ‘HR Tech Innovation’ award category at the prestigious ERP Today Awards.

So, why not have a discussion with de Novos’ MAT experts and hear more about Odyssea™ for MATs, our past projects and learn how the CRA first step can ensure evolution becomes revolution and inertia is bypassed successfully.

Ready to embark on your journey to leading-edge People Management?

Unlock MAT Excellence with Odyssea™

Experience Value as a Service™ (VaaS™)