LOC Consulting announces the appointment of Brian Ford as Lead for its new Testing and Quality Management Practice
London, UK, 8th May 2014 – LOC Consulting, a management consultancy specialising in the delivery of business change and IT programmes and projects, has announced the appointment of Brian Ford to lead its new Testing and Quality Management Practice. LOC has formalised its capability in this area due to growing client demand, having established a strong portfolio of customer references, and with several significant engagements in the project pipeline.
LOC’s new Testing and Quality Management Practice brings a strong focus on quality to projects and programmes to help clients address issues early and ensure successful business outcomes are achieved. Focused primarily on IT solutions, but also includes business transformation and process improvement projects and programmes. LOC can help transform how testing is performed, restructure where necessary, and introduce formal governance and standardised processes to ensure testing is delivered in the right way.
“Recently, organisations have been focussing on cost reductions often to the detriment of quality. The realisation that this is not a sustainable approach is becoming evident and they are looking to correct the imbalance. Quality is not a line item on a project plan, it should be part of a company’s DNA, yet senior figures in large organisations are putting millions of pounds at risk on a project or programme without applying the necessary testing or quality assurance processes,” says Brian. “Where organisations are experiencing project delays, budget overruns, or production instability, or even if they are struggling to define what quality looks like, we can help identify the root cause and implement corrective actions to ensure a successful recovery and delivery. We can also manage the set-up of a centre of excellence under a nearshore, onshore, or offshore model.”
Brian was previously a Global Director within IT Services at a big four firm, where he was responsible for heading up the quality assurance and testing function globally. The function provided a number of services from nine locations around the world in support of a $1 billion+ annual IT budget. He has also held numerous senior level testing roles at a number of Blue Chip global investment banks.
“Brian has an impressive roster of previous engagements and we are delighted to add someone of his calibre to the LOC team,” says Peter Osborne, managing director, LOC Consulting. “Brian’s core strengths include building and integrating global teams, being able to align business and IT strategy, together with a strong ability to identify areas for improvement from a quality, process, and profit perspective. With high-profile programmes continuing to run into difficulties, overrun or fail, there is growing demand for top-quality resources in the testing and quality management space. Brian will be pivotal in cementing LOC’s position as a leading provider of testing and quality assurance services in the UK.”
About LOC Consulting
LOC Consulting is a management consultancy that specialises in financial services, healthcare, new media and consumer markets. We partner with our clients to deliver complex business change, IT programmes and projects. Since 2005, we have worked with global and niche organisations across a wealth of disciplines to achieve sustainable, measurable business benefit. Our deeply experienced, dynamic and innovative consultants are experts in programme health check, project recovery and programme delivery. We apply leading practice methodologies to enhance clients’ business delivery. Our capabilities span the entire project delivery lifecycle – from the initial shaping of ideas through to implementation and the embedding of outputs for sustainable, long-term business advantage. For more information please visit: www.locconsulting.co.uk
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