About Us
Although we are technology practitioners, we have worked with businesses at all levels for long enough that we recognise that technology by itself rarely solves business problems. An appropriate solution to a business problem will often involve technical solutions, but without a thorough understanding of the needs which driving the implementation, it is unlikely that a purely-technical solution will be helpful.
Our approach is to focus first on the needs of the business, and then derive an appropriate technology implementation to address those needs. We believe that it can be risky to select a technology and then fit the way a business works to the technology; it is better to understand how the business needs to work, then select an appropriate technology which may be configured, customised and extended to properly address the business requirements. At the same time, we acknowledge that it is often possible to realise significant cost savings by balancing requirements against existing technical capabilities: where this is the case, Ballaird consultants will explain the cost/benefit tradeoff, leaving the client in control of the solution.
 |
Independent
Ballaird delivers solutions based on a range of technologies, both proprietary and open source, and deals with a wide range of vendors. Ballaird Ltd is also privately held. Because we are not dependent on any technology vendors, we are able to use our experience to determine and recommend the objectively-best solutions without being influenced by the agenda of a key trading partner or shareholder. |
 |
Pragmatic
Our independence and detailed understanding of a wide range of technology allows us to recommend solutions, technologies and methods which fit well with the unique requirements and circumstances of each client. By analysing the constraints relevant to each client - such as budget, size and scalability needs, flexibility, extensibility, existing technology and others - we are able to recommend and implement solutions which are most appropriate for a client, rather than solutions chosen because of vendor pressure or ideological preferences. |
 |
Experienced
Should you work with Ballaird, the consultants you engage with will have both breadth and depth of experience: breadth provides the strategic understanding required to select products and technologies which are best suited to each client's circumstances, and integrate well with other solutions which may be in place. Depth provides the assurance that Ballaird consultants are not learning their craft at your expense - instead, their expertise in the selected technology dramatically improves the cost and risk profile associated with your project. |
 |
Partnership
Acknowledging that our clients have different levels of in-house technology skills, Ballaird supports a broad range of engagement patterns, including:
Because we design an engagement model to suit each client's requirements and capabilities, Ballaird projects are characterised by excellent cost, maintainability and knowledge transfer. By adopting this partnership approach, we seek to contribute to the success our clients' businesses. We aim to foster long-term partnerships rather than squeezing as much revenue as we can out of a one-off project. |
 |
Cost-Effective
We aim to create solutions which deliver significant business value to our clients. The value of the best solution can, however, be undermined by excessive costs. Ballaird aims to be cost effective in a number of ways:
|
