CASE STUDY / Universities Scotland

Strategic IT partnership for Scotland’s Third Sector

CLIENT Universities Scotland

SERVICE USED People Centric Support

LOCATION Edinburgh, Scotland

About Universities Scotland

Universities Scotland is the representative body for Scotland’s 19 higher education institutions. It advocates on their behalf through policy development, sector leadership and public campaigns, serving as the unified voice of universities and advancing Scotland’s higher-education agenda.

The Challenge

As a national body representing higher education, Universities Scotland was seeking more than day-to-day IT support. They were interested in having a service partner who could safeguard operations, strengthen resilience and horizon scan to ensure their technology was future proofed and users were well supported.

Our Solution

Grant McGregor provides a partnership model designed to deliver stability today and readiness for tomorrow. The service combines dependable daily support with strategic guidance, ensuring IT drives the organisation’s growth, resilience and future ambitions.

Our Approach and Results

What began as a search for IT support in 2012 has become a trusted and valuable partnership. By combining proactive reliability with forward-looking strategy, Universities Scotland has achieved a sustainable IT management approach designed for effectiveness.

This includes:

Improved Reliability

A proactive model that prevents downtime, rather than waiting for failures.

Future-Proofed IT

Being aware of trends and changes in technology to ensure systems and infrastructure are ready ahead of the demands of the next 3-5 years.

User Education

Upskilling staff via self-led training programmes to use new software and digital tools effectively, ‘drip feeding’ information to build user confidence, and promoting safety awareness.

Strategic Partnership

By working closely with Grant McGregor, they receive guidance on IT procurement, planning and business strategy.

Tailored Support

Ensuring right-sized IT support services, scaled to organisational needs, with the personal attention larger firms can’t match.

Long-Term Value

Creating a balanced but flexible approach across their IT and user needs in proportion to the organisation’s size and resources to ensure sustainability, whilst reducing hidden costs by avoiding constant repairs and short-term fixes.

In Their Words

If what you need is someone who just comes in and fixes stuff when it breaks, there are lots of companies who will do that. Grant McGregor works differently, as a partner. Over the last ten years they’ve supported us strategically, in procurement, future-proofing, and user education. I would never have understood how crucial a partnership relationship is between a small organisation and its IT service provider if I hadn’t worked with them.

Sonya Johnston

Head of Operations, Universities Scotland

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