Mirus IT Increases Business Connections through CompTIA

IT support company Mirus IT have been members of CompTIA for almost two years. Before joining CompTIA, Mirus IT felt that they weren’t fully engaged in the industry and were unable to make the most of making business connections. Areas such as business planning were always fully managed within the company and had little external consultation. They were looking to join an organisation that could help them to develop relationships and increase their connections within the IT industry.

After taking the decision to join, they have have actively engaged with the IT industry through CompTIA’s events and sector communities.

“The communities are very helpful,” says Paul Tomlinson, CEO and founder of Mirus. “At every event, whether it’s a local meeting or the EMEA conference, you walk away with something. There are so many opportunities for face-to-face networking with other people and organisations, sometimes even with competitors.”

Through regular attendance of member events, Mirus has been able to find solutions to business challenges. “A lot of people who start IT businesses do so because they are great at IT, not necessarily because they are great at business” says Tomlinson. “So being able to discuss both the business and IT side of things in an informal setting is extremely valuable.”

“If a company is encountering business challenges, it’s more than likely that there are plenty of others who have encountered similar problems and can share their resolutions. For example, we were finding that chasing up invoice payments was taking up too many of our resources. We learned from others that switching to standing orders significantly reduced financial constrictions.”

One project Mirus IT has been particularly enthusiastic about is developing the new CompTIA UK Trustmark, an industry standard that will be validated across the channel. The UK Trustmark will show that accredited companies in the UK meet industry-agreed standards in areas such as data security practices, staff competencies and holding of adequate insurance. Mirus IT is hoping to be one of the first in the UK to achieve the standard.

“We believe such standards are important in ensuring that customers – who may not be IT experts – feel confident in the IT businesses they choose to work with” says Tomlinson. “Developing such a standard is great for the industry, and achieving it will be great for our company.”

As a CompTIA member, Mirus IT also qualifies for a 15-percent discount on CompTIA certifications, which has helped it certify half of its engineers, from apprentices to experienced professionals. “Usually, they start on A+ and Network+ before moving on to vendor-specific ones. We encourage all engineers to take the CompTIA exams that are relevant to them and we look very favourably on new applicants who have these certifications” says Tomlinson.

“The qualifications allow us to provide existing and prospective clients with an independent benchmark of our engineers’ skills. CompTIA A+ and Network+ set a solid foundation of knowledge to a trusted standard, demonstrating broad understanding and skills. After taking these exams, one of our graduates who only joined us 12 months ago, has doubled his salary and been promoted to a second-line engineer.”

With the support of CompTIA membership, Mirus IT has benefitted from the opportunities they needed to meet their business goals. For them, attending events led to relationships that solved problems, improved business efficiency and helped them highlight the value they offer customers more effectively. It illustrates how organisations and individuals within the same industry can support each other towards stronger futures.

“Survival in the current economic climate is vital and we don’t think we could have come this far with the support of CompTIA. We’re in exciting times now” concludes Tomlinson. “We have a new client project in the pipeline, this summer’s Olympics will be a big time for IT companies, and the rapid development of technology isn’t slowing anytime soon. There are opportunities and challenges on a large scale, but by talking to other members we can share our experience and address them together. Our focus is to continue to attend events, build relationships and work with others to advance the industry for everyone. We would recommend the same for any other organisation like us.”