TECHNOLOGY
SYSTEMAGIC CELEBRATES BUSINESS BIRTHDAY WITH LANDMARK MOVE
Award-winning IT support company Systemagic is currently celebrating 18 years in business with a move to new premises in Bradford on Avon .
Following a period of significant growth , the firm has invested in their future to accommodate further expansion . Based in the Old Gas Warehouse on the Frome Road , the office space stretches over 4000 sq ft .
Systemagic ’ s office boasts break-out space for staff , meeting rooms , shower facilities and a large , modern , open plan office space allowing the team to work closer together as they continue to grow .
The IT firm has grown from a team of 5 to 13 in just two years and is currently looking to appoint two new recruits to take the business forward . These include an account manager position and a space for their next apprentice . This bucks the trend of most IT firms , who get to a team of six and stop growing .
James Eades , managing director of Systemagic said :“ With such a growth in the team and more new staff to come , it was important to find new office space that can support our growth . Our new space allows us quick access to Bath and Bristol using the train network as well as easy access to our customers throughout Wiltshire , Somerset and further afield . It ’ s a great environment and the local business community has been extremely welcoming .”
Systemagic provides IT support , cloud computing and connectivity solutions to South West businesses and prides itself on offering flexible 30-day terms on all its services . Notable Wiltshire clients include Elm Workspace , Sureset and Cobb Farr .
Exploring the capabilities of VR with Mark Miles of Rendermedia
Mark Miles is creative director of Swindon-based Rendermedia . The firm specialises in building immersive content for global brands using the latest techniques in virtual and augmented reality , alongside CGI animation and 3D Graphics . Here Mark discusses the power of understanding the context of your content .
In April , I attended the Virtual Reality Show 2017 at the Design Centre in London . It was a fantastic venue and the Show highlighted some amazing names in the industry , demonstrating the cutting edge developments in Virtual and Augmented Reality .
This select event , contained high-profile names including NASA , McLaren and BAE systems . It was a great opportunity to be able to share our insight into what Virtual Reality ( VR ) can do for industry . It was also fantastic for a small , but growing firm like Rendermedia to be representing the UK and our home town , Swindon .
VR is still a buzz word for a lot of people and educating audiences remains to be a priority , for audiences to fully understand the capabilities of this technology and the contexts in which it can be used .
I have an analogy I call ‘ Caveman ’ that I often refer to when describing how a person looks at content and context and it begins like this .
Imagine a caveman who sells his goods at market each day , he loads up his cart with square wheels and takes the gruelling trek to market each day to sell his produce .
Can you imagine the efficiency if you went up , chiseled and smoothed the edges of the wheels to be rounded then surely , he could make far more trips to market selling more goods .
The caveman is ecstatic that he can now make several trips a day and that his journey is made easier , he ’ s very happy .
Now imagine that you turned up with a car , he simply could not comprehend what this could do for him because the comparison he is making , is between the cart with round wheels and the cart with square wheels he previously had . That is all he can compare it too .
Now imagine that the square wheels are a PDF , and that the round ones are 3D and CGI , then think about the car as VR . You can see that educating your audience depends on what their perception is and what they are doing now .
I have met a lot of companies and in auditing their content I still have conversations with people who still use PDFs , this is very much an every day tool and of course it still has its place . But , when people are open to what 3D and CGI animation can do for their business , it ’ s amazing to see the penny drop in their faces when they see just how this can be used to bring their business to life .
You can only imagine what VR can do as a step up from CGI and 3D , therefore for the industry education with relevant and purposeful content alongside a case study to back it up , will really change the way VR and AR is adopted as a technology across business . The Virtual Reality Show this year in London offered a great platform for us to share with our industry an insight with our peers , and we look forward to sharing our knowledge with industry with our technology partners throughout 2017 and beyond .
Mark Miles speaking at the Virtual Reality Show @ rendermedia info @ rendermedia . co . uk 01793 533797
20 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2017