In our latest ‘Spotlight On’ feature we chat to Alasdair Macleod, owner of Adaptdev, a digital transformation company and EMN member which helps businesses and organisations take advantage of agile ways of working.
Tell us more about AdaptDev.
Adaptdev was launched in 2016 and is based in Bishop Auckland, however we work with companies and organisations nationally and internationally.
I set the business up on the back of working for a large technology consultancy, having gained significant experience as a trainer and securing my licence as a professional scrum trainer for scrum.org.
I felt that after six years of helping the government deliver its digital transformation, I wanted to take the training to a wider audience.
Initially, I ran the business part time but after a couple of years I was offered the chance to deliver a full-time contract on behalf of a client so in 2018 Adaptdev became fully independent.
In November 2018 we were offered another opportunity to partner with one of the biggest training providers in the UK, and that was the catalyst for the next stage of the company’s growth, enabling us to focus on training over delivery.
What about the sectors you work in. Tell us more about them.
We have worked in the public sector, for financial services companies and utilities firms, as well as large and small businesses who come to us for our support and expertise. A common trend we’re finding among employers in the business community is that large enterprises are trying to adapt their processes to be more nimble and remove the layers of bureaucracy which have previously existed, while SMEs that we are engaging with are becoming less agile because they’re adding in processes and delivering in a waterfall format where the value isn’t delivered until the full term of the project.
What we try and do is help them to understand incremental delivery, small batches and lean principles which promote design thinking and early delivery of value to the customer.
You recently attended the manufacturing and engineering expo, EMCON 2019. How was that for you?
The business has so far had a very national and international focus, and I was especially keen to meet businesses in the North East area, companies a bit closer to home that could potentially benefit from our training and consultancy services.
I found the event a great way of raising our profile and I came away with some good contacts which could lead to work further down the line.
Some of the conversations we had have given us food for thought in terms of our overall offering and we may look to add in new, more innovative delivery methods as the business continues to grow.
What are your plans for 2020?
We are looking to introduce learning techniques which accommodate more distributed ways of working. This will save companies and organisations money on having to bring their staff together under one roof for training events.
We are also trialling virtual learning environments that we hope to release late in quarter one or early in quarter two, which will enable us to support organisations in a more flexible way.
For more information visit www.adaptdev.ltd or call Alasdair on 07885 504359 or email, alasdair@adaptdev.co.uk.