Kathryn McDonnell joined the team at Integra as new Business Development Manager back in January, some of you will already know Kathryn from her work with EC Harris.

It’s with great excitement that we welcome Kathryn to our expanding team here at Integra Associates. Having previously managed a global implementation of Unit4 Business World, Kathryn brings this wealth of experience to Integra.

Kathryn will be focused on ensuring our clients can benefit from the full breath of our services, in addition to heading up our new services, in particular our new Application Support Service.

We have already seen great success in our Application Support Service deployment, and Kathryn and the team will continue to extend this service to more clients throughout 2015. Kathryn will also be working with Unit4 to develop our partner relationship further, expanding both our UK and International services and client base.

Q. Welcome to Integra Associates, Kathryn how has your first couple of months been?

I joined Integra Associates in January 2015, having moved from a long term client. I can honestly say it’s been the best working 3 months of my career to date. I think the stand out, most enjoyable factor is the people. In particular getting to know our clients, understanding their needs and understanding all the partnership relationships Integra has in place, from being an official Unit4 partner, to both the formal and informal network of relationships, it’s been really interesting.

I’ve been really made to feel welcome by both our expanding Integra team, and our clients. The Integra team consists of some of the most knowledgeable, experienced and friendly people I have worked with. There’s an real “value add” ethos running through Integra, that I had assumed was just because I was always keen to seek out value as a client, but having spent several months now, working with many of our team, I can feel this is prevalent though out the whole business.

In a nutshell, I’ve moved to a business where the size and scale allows for quick paced development and opportunity to influence change, but with the ability to stay in close contact and have real working relationships with clients.

Q. Tell us a little about yourself?

I’m 43, married to my husband Mark, we’ve been together for 18 years. Having not been able to have, but loving children, I take great pride and pleasure in being a good Aunty, to my 4 nieces and nephews. Sport, and in particular football, plays a large role in family life, as my husband has managed a local semi-professional team for 20 years. Food is also a passion and I am a keen cook. I enjoy walking our 8 year old Labrador, Molly, every opportunity I can. We are lucky, in that living around an hour away from the Lake District, and having lots of open space locally, does provide a great resource to explore.

Q. What’s your working background?

I bring to Integra, a very client focused delivery and support background. Having enjoyed over 18 years’ experience utilising the Unit4 Agresso product, now known as Unit4 Business World. My experience on implementing and supporting global business process, particularly in people centric organisations assists very much in appreciating the challenges that our clients face, and I can whole heartedly relate and state “I’ve been you”, “I understand the challenges and we can help”. From working with Unit4 for years, assisting in client site visits, and on assisting other clients to choose Agresso, and outline all the benefits leveraged from software selection, it’s a great opportunity to assist providing services for the implementation, delivery and long term development of the application.

My previous role with EC Harris LLP, a long term client of Integra, is where I gained my experience as a Senior Business Systems Analyst, project manager and implementation specialist, in addition to being Prince II & ITIL qualified.

Q. You have joined as new Business Development Managers, how do you see your role developing over the next twelve months?

The reason I chose to move to Integra associates is that, as not only are they the largest independent Agresso partner, with great ambitions, Mark Bloomer along with the other Directors and associates, made it clear that as a team we are very keen to ensure we continue to evolve as a business and provide true value to our clients. It’s a very collaborative working environment, where ideas are shared and the focus is on forming long term relationships with our clients, where their needs are valued. I see my role to support this being focused in 2 main areas.

Development of our services to clients, Integra is known and valued for its application, technical and project management consultancy service, and I am really keen to ensure that our clients are further supported across our full service portfolio, underpinning all of this is the business relationship management. As a client myself, I appreciated the breath of service Integra can provide, having that “partner” relationship with our clients is key. I appreciate the investment a business makes in their ERP software, managing a service to a budget is a big challenge for our clients, as is the challenge to work smarter, faster and more collectively than ever before, and I am keen to ensure we work them to develop services that meet these challenges. I am really looking forward to developing the portfolio further, In particular our new “application support service”.

 The second and equally exciting are of development is our partner relationships. As an official Unit4 partner since 2011, Integra has worked hard to realise the benefits to clients in delivery partnerships. As a client I loved the opportunity to freely choose to whom I sought UBW professional services from, sourcing reliable, quality professional forward thinking resources had been something I found I learnt from experience. Finding the right calibre of resource for the right project, at the right time, was always key to being successful. Now, working for Integra and being able to bring that experience to clients, and outline the benefits of partnerships is really rewarding. Working with Integra with Unit4, on developing this partner relationship further, looking to expand services, and also build on assuring quality, through accreditation of the services we offer. As we expand both our UK and International services and clients, I am also looking forward to assisting Integra in developing our partner network, there are some very exciting relationships being expanded and built in the months ahead, and it’s really a great place to be heading towards.

Q. What is your favourite quote?

I have a couple of favourites, my work related inspiration often comes from Richard Branson. My current favourite is:

And my second, is from my nephew – kids often speak without barriers…