After being shortlisted for not one, but two TechAwards this year, we’re thrilled to catch up with SystemLabs, who have been a member of the Digital Jersey community for the past five years. In this month’s Member Spotlight, we chat with Courtney Dawson, Marketing Manager at SystemLabs. She gives us a glimpse into the exciting projects that have marked their journey and the team’s unique ways of celebrating and staying motivated.
Tell us a little bit about SystemLabs and what they do
SystemLabs is a local IT company that develops and provides IT services and solutions to clients across Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man and the UK to help people grow their business. Specialising in smart solutions that add value for customers, we provide outsourced IT support, software, mobile and web application consulting and strategic support.
SystemLabs was formed in 2018 and continues to grow and deliver comprehensive IT services tailored to business needs. Our clients span finance, legal, government and hospitality as well as construction sector business. Whether an organisation has an existing IT team or not, SystemLabs experienced professionals ensure their clients’ systems stay operational.
Our local presence is paired with the team’s international experience to deliver projects seamlessly to clients. From inception to delivery, SystemLabs are with you every step of the way, ensuring that every need and expectation is met.
SystemLabs team of IT consultants specialise in a wide range of areas, including Cyber Security, cloud-based corporate networks, Office365, Microsoft Azure, systems and network monitoring, Zabbix, Web Development, User Experience (UX) Design and more. As a partner of choice, SystemLabs partners with market leading organisations including Microsoft, Dell and HPE.
SystemLabs has a proven track record. On average SystemLabs achieves 98.9% compliance with SLA requirements and is rated ‘excellent’ for their client service, according to their instance of IT support software, Halo.
What has been a highlight for System Labs so far?
Our remarkable growth continues to be a highlight for us. In 2023 we doubled in size and formed our Senior Leadership Team which has been a substantial step in maturing our organisation providing strategic direction across the organisation.
Working with a team of such talented individuals to seamlessly deliver unparalleled IT solutions and enable agile business growth across Jersey drives us forward!
Other highlights have included, celebrating our 5-year birthday, strengthening our networking capabilities which are excited to continue growing this year with a key appointment we will be announcing in May, the growth of our client base and recognition of our leadership excellence with our CEO, Steve Quinn, winning an IoD Director of the Year Award.
What exciting projects has your team been working on recently?
We are always working on cool projects with our clients but most of which we can’t discuss, some of most exciting projects include cutting edge RegTech.
We have also recently achieved several cyber security certifications including, Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials+, ISO 22301, ISO 9001, and ISO 27001.
As a testament to our commitment to raising industry standards is their recent initiative to provide Cyber Essentials (CE) to their clients without additional charges. SystemLabs firmly believe that cyber security should be a baseline for the service they provide to organisations. By offering CE as the minimum for their services, SystemLabs are pioneering a shift in the industry, advocating for a universal standard that every organisation should uphold.
Have you collaborated with other Digital Jersey members?
SystemLabs is passionate about enabling people to grow agile businesses through digital solutions and are keen supporters of the digital sector in Jersey. This aligns with Digital Jersey’s work in support a digital island.
We work closely with Digital Jersey supporting them with managed services but have also had the chance to collaborate with Digital Jersey and Jersey Finance to deliver ProMatch, making digital even more accessible for Digital Jersey and Jersey Finance members.
How does the team stay energised and motivated during long-term projects?
We have an incredibly close-knit team, who work together to motivate each other and support each other when needed. With the on take of lots of new and large projects in 2023, we have seen the importance of wellbeing and reducing burnout, so this is a focus for us in 2024.
We focus on people skills in the individuals we add to our team ensuring that our team are not just helpful to clients but also their colleagues. We create an open space in which we can both succeed and fail together ensuring we use this continue moving forward.
In 2024 we have introduced personal growth plans for development and to encourage our growth mindset. We may be a smaller organisation, but we have a passion, hunger and pack a huge amount of knowledge, experience and skills. In 2024 we have also increased our holiday allowance to 30 days a year to ensure we stay energised throughout the year!
How does the team at SystemLabs celebrate the successful completion of a project? What do the team do outside of work?
It’s all about celebrating the small wins for us. You will probably find us in the Langtry Pub on a Friday afternoon celebrating the successes of another week.
We pride ourselves on being a high performing team. Our performance culture is at the epicentre of our team and is the glue that binds us together. It impacts our decision-making, keeps us on track, and allows us, collectively and individually, be the best we can be.
We have recently introduced a Culture Committee to the business, sometimes confused with the Culture Club, but we promise we only break out into Karma Chameleon a couple of times a day.
We believe our culture starts with each and every person at SystemLabs and the committee’s aim is to bring this vision to life. From Fridays in the Langtry, pizza in the office and our well stocked drinks fridge to our wellbeing initiatives, this year we are even hoping to try some Wim Hoff methods.
We also encourage our team to share their hobbies with us including a number of musicians in the team, who knows maybe we will be giving the Culture Club a run for their money one day with a SystemLabs band.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to start their career in technology?
Working in technology is all about challenging the status quo and learning from everything. It isn’t your mistakes or successes that define you; but how you use them to move forward. We focus on creating a leader-leader culture where our team members our empowered to make decisions.
As we continue to grow our team in 2024, we are always looking for the next generation of techies to join our team. With a focus on those all-important people skills and a passion for technology, we are looking to recruit people to our Managed Services and Network and Security Teams: SystemLabs | Careers
