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B2B technology solutions provider Jigsaw24’s COO, David Dudman speaks about, the hybrid evolution and how the company plans is to leverage its deeply rooted investment in Apple technology to continue its momentum, alongside its ongoing commitment to achieving its wider sustainability goals.
David Dudman had this to say.
Please can you tell us a bit more about Jigsaw24’s background?
Jigsaw24 was established in 1992 by Apple aficionados and the ethos of ‘loving the technology’ is embedded throughout our business still. We have the highest levels of Apple accreditation, which has enabled us to become leaders in Apple product sales and Enterprise-grade managed services nationally. We have a wealth of wider accreditations and accolades – CRN Reseller of the Year 2021, Microsoft Gold Cloud Productivity Partner, Avid Elite Solutions Partner, Adobe Platinum Reseller, and yet more with the likes of HP, Dell and Blackmagic Design. However, it’s the commitment to our customers and our values that has driven the 30-year longevity in this volatile market and underpins our growth.
What is your own professional background in the channel and your previous business experiences in tech?
I started in tech on my dad’s PC that, looking back, was the size of a microwave and had about as much processing power! Since then, I have worked in a leading blue-chip company, BT, and spent the vast majority of my time working with UK companies designing and delivering services with the customer needs at the heart. Ensuring that the service delivery to our customer is exemplary drives me to work with the best people and leading tech, always in search of the optimum customer experience.
What led to you join Jigsaw24?
I joined Jigsaw24 after being invited to talk to Roger Whittle about the potential of Apple expansion in the enterprise sector. Having led successful service growth in my previous role at BT, it was a logical step to bring my experience and insight to ignite their go-to market strategy and broaden the excellent customer experience from product only to support services. I wanted to be part of something that was exciting and had a solid platform, a commitment to great customer service and an environment that allowed me to build something from the ground up.
What growth and demands are you seeing from the hybrid world and how has this impacted revenue for the company?
Hybrid is an evolution that I saw coming some time ago and was part of my attraction to joining Jigsaw24: their investment in Apple and the value proposition that comes with Apple’s ecosystem meant that the combination of hybrid working and the push for best-in-class technology from users put the organisation in a great position to support the market shift. It was clear to me that, as working conditions were changing and mobility was coming more to the fore, the need to be able to deploy and support tech wherever and whenever would become an increasing priority. I think Covid put a rocket under the transition, but it was slowly happening in most parts of our sector. During 2020 and 2021, the demand exploded, and we have seen enterprise, public sector and partner demand triple for hybrid working options. Through hard work and investment, we have a strong working relationship with Apple and our wider supply chain, so as opposed to the demand and supply constraints limiting us, it enabled us to sell more, sell faster and reach far wider.
Can you tell us more about Jigsaw24’s rapid growth and how you plan to continue this momentum?
Jigsaw24 is a pretty unique proposition, as the deeply rooted investment in Apple technology has created an incredible platform to grow a pretty special service offering. The organisation has gone from strength to strength over the last four to five years, investing heavily in technical and management experience. With the growing demand for the adoption of Apple technology in the enterprise space, the need for a partner who has the technical expertise to truly understand how to deploy and integrate Apple has grown. The capability to understand how to apply Apple tech perfectly to UK enterprises, in our opinion, doesn’t exist anywhere else. The wealth of channel experience brought into the business has enabled us to build something from the ground up that we think offers customers services that are appropriate for the modern workplace. Balancing flexibility, agility and commerciality is something we pride ourselves on and I am personally really passionate about. Whilst Apple continue to be adopted and companies want to leverage the support and management services we offer, we really believe, as I said at the start, that we are a unique proposition with the greatest of opportunities in front of us.
What changes have you seen in the tech channel over the past couple of decades?
20 years ago, I was still in school! However, as a fresh-faced youngster entering the tech channel 18 years ago, I never imagined that change would be anything but a constant throughout my career. Some aspects still have me shaking my head, such as the ever-evolving nature of digital media – who ever thought disk drives would be redundant – and the innovation, growth and expansion of the cloud ecosystem when managed data centres were leading edge! The thing I take from all the change is the sense of wonder at how clever and inventive the channel is and a sense of excitement over what changes I‘ll get to see in the next 20 years.
Where do you think Jigsaw24 and the wider digital enterprise space is headed in the coming years?
I believe that, regardless of the technology, the way Jigsaw24 will continue to grow will be underpinned by always trying to do right by the customer. Putting them first has given us an order book of loyal and repeat customers, who are coming with us on the technical evolution journey. We see differing specific demands and trends in Enterprise than in Media and Entertainment, but the general direction is towards sustainability, flexibility and As A Service requirements – like our Device As A Service offering.
What are your views on how the UK SME sector is set to weather the economic storm?
I can see things being tough in some sectors where the cost base is higher and changing daily. There is more pressure on cost of living, employees needs, and technology lifecycles. To my mind SMEs will have to review their cost base so they can support their people, offer longevity in the tech cycle, and consider their investments wisely. It’s at times like these that working with a trusted partner can help keep assets at their best or offer schemes such as employee choice to keep them engaged and valued.
What are your views on building a sustainable business?
I think it is incredibly important and whilst sustainability has become a catch phrase for many businesses, it’s never been that within Jigsaw24. Our founder, Roger Whittle, has been a passionate campaigner for sustainability and the wider social value it adds for many years and that is an approach that permeates through the whole of our business. We have been offsetting our carbon emissions while we worked on our Net Zero plan, have planted forests of trees with the Woodland Trust, and have invested time, energy (carbon neutral energy of course) and money in all areas we work in. We have electric cars and vans, renewable energy in our buildings, sustainable supply chains, recycling everywhere and an ethos that this is a priority in everything we do. We work with the most sustainable tech companies, and we are proud of our successes to date. We are not resting on our laurels though…
Can you tell us more about how Jigsaw24 has already achieved net zero on scope 1 and 2, with an aspiration to gain scope 3 net zero before 2030?
We have signed up to the Science Based Targets Initiatives (SBTI), which is a long-term commitment to reducing carbon emissions in real time, without offsetting. In the short term, we will be looking to offset our direct scope 1 and 2 emissions, as well as our scope 3 staff commute and business travel emissions in 2022. However, we are conscious of the much wider scope 3 footprint from our product and supply chain and will be reporting and minimising all areas we can that affect us in 2022.
What are the key trends and industry demands that you are experiencing at the moment and how is Jigsaw24 poised to respond?
As a Service and collaborative service support are the sorts of trends we are seeing, and our approach has been to design propositions alongside our customers that meet their needs today and can change with them in the future. We see that consumption-based pricing is important – as seen in our Device As a Service offering, and that Mac Adoption is becoming an enterprise player in sectors that have traditionally shied away from the value a non-Windows estate can bring. This is definitely changing and we are working ahead of the curve to make sure the Jigsaw24 offer remains current, valid and compelling.
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