Simon Charlton , Commercial Director for Columbus Global , on successful partnerships , futureproofing businesses and digital transformation

“ I think a lot of people took certain elements of meetings for granted . Things were easier to solve if you were face-to-face ”, said Charlton .

From traditional in-person meetings to video calls , Columbus ’ partnership with Robert Walters Group , a recruitment company , has grown stronger over the pandemic . Through the use of Microsoft Teams , complemented by additional tools to replace the good old whiteboard , Klaxoon has proved a very useful tool for many types of activity , brainstorming , categorising and collaboration to name a few .

“ Columbus works with Robert Walters Group in many ways . We provide consultancy , project management and development .”

Global IT consulting company , Columbus , has spent over 30 years creating innovative solutions for their customers , using their intimate industry knowledge and technology skills . Simon Charlton , Commercial Director for Columbus Global UK , sat down with Technology magazine to discuss how the company is working to help customers futureproof their businesses .

Providing a true digital platform “ We are a systems integrator which works alongside Microsoft in the Dynamics space ”, said Charlton . “ We have delivered over 8,000 customer implementations globally . The way that Columbus goes about future-proofing their client ’ s businesses is reflected in a number of ways ; not only with solutions such as ERP and CRM , we also have a fantastic pedigree in e-commerce and data analytics . When we look at a lot of the challenges which our customers have faced over the past 18 months , we find having a great breadth of experience in all of those areas helps us to provide a true digital platform .

A Microsoft house with successful partnerships The pandemic period has offered everyone an opportunity to self-reflect on their business practices . At Columbus Global , it was the way meetings were managed .

What makes the partnership with Robert Walters successful ? “ I think our success with Robert Walters as a partnership , from their perspective , is our focus on value , which comes in many different guises . Not only in our services , we pride ourselves on having a very knowledgeable delivery team . That leads to a very trusted relationship between the partnership .”