As anticipation builds for the upcoming Silicon Summer event, we are thrilled to showcase BJSS, a distinguished global consultancy specialising in technology and software engineering. BJSS stands out for its significant contributions to major organisations worldwide, impacting millions daily with innovative solutions.
In this interview, we delve into Marc Russell’s experiences as a seasoned leader at BJSS. Marc shares insights from his career and highlights his role in fostering technological growth and innovation throughout the North East.
Interview with Marc Russell, Regional Manager and Head of Delivery at BJSS
Q: Can you tell us about your role and background?
A: Originally born in Sunderland, I relocated to London with my family at the age of 5, and since relocating back to the North East at the age of 18, I have worked in technology and transformation in the North East across Enterprise Mid Market, SME and start-ups across the North East for over 20 years.
My current role at BJSS is Regional Manager / Head of Delivery for BJSS in the North East, one of 19 locations and offices in the UK and 25 locations and offices internationally.
My responsibility is to help our local and national customers solve their complex technology problems and deliver transformative outcomes that harness the collective power of the technology industry while ensuring that our North East business is successful and sustainable.
Q: What inspired you to get involved in working in this space? Was there a particular moment or experience that sparked your interest?
A: In my early days as an apprentice and then graduate at Nissan Europe, I was fortunate to travel around the world across Nissan’s National Sales Companies and contribute to their technology transformation as a Project Coordinator in a team that was leading technology transformation at the time.
The exposure to how technology can increase efficiency, provide greater business agility and, ultimately, unlock new value for employees, customers, and shareholders really opened my eyes and excited me. This, combined with exposure and learnings of how businesses operate across people, processes and systems and how there are many different paths leading to digital transformation, and each organisation’s journey will be unique, ultimately initiated my desire to make a long-term career in technology and transformation.
Q: Can you tell us about BJSS and its history in the tech space?
A: BJSS is a global technology and software engineering consultancy. It has solved and continues to solve some of the hardest and most complex technology challenges organisations face.
BJSS started in 1993 to challenge the possibilities of the technology space and deliver the best-in-class solutions that truly make a difference to clients.
For more than 30 years, BJSS has grown to become an international company delivering complex, innovative technology solutions used by millions every day. And now we’re made up of thousands of talented technologists united by a commitment to excellence, a spirit of continuous innovation, and a dedication to think and act differently.
Together with our customers, we collaborate to:
- Accelerate with Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Migrate and Modernise
- Elevate User Experience
- Optimise Delivery
- Do More with Less
We deliver:
- Technology Strategy and Innovation
- Customer Experience, Product and Design
- Technology Delivery
- Managed Services
Our key technology expertise includes:
- Software Engineering – Business-critical software systems are designed, built, and managed at an enterprise scale to the highest possible standard.
- Artificial Intelligence – Adopt AI at scale to generate new revenue streams, increase margins, and improve customer experience and satisfaction.
- Data – Harness the transformative power of your data and insights to support decision making at every level of the organisation.
- Cloud and Platform. – Support to migrate, build and scale your estate in the cloud to unlock better ways of working and take advantage of new opportunities.
“Find a mentor and network horizontally”
Q: Regarding tech, what common mistakes are companies making, and how can they avoid them?
A: Every organisation is under pressure to do more, faster, and with reduced resources. Every organisation is looking to drive innovation, accelerate growth and increase efficiency.
However, research and case studies across the consultancy industry have found that fewer than one-third of technology transformations succeed in improving a company’s performance and sustaining those gains. The latest case studies find that the success rate of digital transformations is even lower.
Improving the odds of a successful transformation programme can be greatly increased in balancing the effort between the technology and operating model aspects of those programmes, adoption is absolutely key. The key enabler to improve this is placing the customer or end user at the heart of everything that drives the transformation programmes.
Other key factors to consider in improving the chances of a successful transformation are:
- Digital-savvy leaders, experts or consultants
- Building capabilities for the workforce of the future
- Empowering people to work in new ways
- Communicating frequently via traditional and digital methods
Q: What advice would you give to entrepreneurs who are just starting?
A: Some of the key pieces of advice I would offer from my career to date are to:
- Find a mentor and network horizontally to gain guidance, expertise and challenge your thinking by learning from other entrepreneurs in your peer group. They can also guide you through the process as they will have done it before.
- Design and seek contributions from seasoned experts and market analysis into a business plan. This will be the foundation for you to evaluate your idea, set a strategy and realistic goals, consider the costs of starting and running your business.
- You will need to take risks and inevitably pivot your strategy or goals along your company journey, embrace that this will happen and adapt accordingly.
- Develop your personal brand as this can help can help your target audience understand who you are and what you do.
- The people you hire can influence the direction of your company and its success, so it’s important to choose the right people with the right personalities and values.
“Step back and take a breath”
Q: What key message would you like to share with the readers?
A: Find a way to consistently step back and take a breath throughout your entrepreneurial journey to ensure that you are aligning to your overall vision, principles and beliefs in achieving what you want from your company.
Learn more about BJSS here: https://www.bjss.com/
We appreciate Marc and BJSS for their invaluable support and insights. Don’t miss the chance to connect with them and other innovators at Silicon Summer on August 29th at The Grove in Byker.
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