While technology is at the heart of what we do here at 3Gi, our technical knowledge means very little without the trust of the businesses we support. In this case study, we explain how our CIO-as-a-Service model has been part of creating a strong partnership with the Marva Group, an ambitious and rapidly growing specialist in global recruitment and business support services, to ensure IT becomes an asset rather than a hindrance on the path to global expansion.
Founded by four brothers and a close family friend, the Marva Group was established with a deep commitment to empowering recruitment brands. They envisioned providing strategic advice, investment and comprehensive support to nurture growth and success. This vision has been the cornerstone of the Group’s approach, ensuring that the global businesses they support are not only thriving but also benefiting from a partnership that values their development and accomplishments.
The team’s outstanding dedication and entrepreneurial spirit created incredible success at delivering exactly what they set out to do - but IT systems have struggled to keep up. When Anna Cooper joined the team, part of her role involved identifying IT needs and making sure the Marva Group had the technology needed to facilitate their ambitious global growth strategy.
From the very first look at the technology needed to become a truly global business, it was apparent to Anna that a considerable amount of IT expertise was required. Not only would in-house recruitment have meant diverting significant funds earmarked for other projects, the recruitment and training timescales simply didn’t align with the business’s journey. These factors made a managed service provider the natural next step - and made 3Gi’s top-down CIO-as-a-Service model an attractive proposition.
While 3Gi came recommended to Anna, we weren’t the only managed IT services provider in the running. Realising the magnitude of the task ahead, Anna had meetings and conversations with a series of highly-regarded MSPs to understand how each would approach the challenges and opportunities faced by the Marva Group.
We are proud to have stood out from the crowd by thoughtfully challenging the Marva Group’s ideas to make sure our understanding was absolutely accurate and our proposals were perfectly aligned with what we considered to be the best solutions for the business as they embarked on their global journey.
“The 3Gi team have never just said “yes” in an effort to win our business. By actually listening and asking important, challenging questions, Jonathan and the team forced us to think about our tech plans in greater detail. For me, this inspired a feeling of trust I just didn’t get from any other MSP.”
Anna Cooper - The Marva Group’s Shared Services Director
When it was decided that 3Gi was the right fit for the Marva Group, we approached the onboarding process with our usual people-first focus. It was immediately apparent that IT had, understandably, been a reactive part of the fast-growing business - a series of slightly disjointed solutions that had been quickly brought in to cover immediate needs in different departments.
The symptoms the Marva Group were facing are common when speed and agility are of the essence - but aside from creating IT infrastructure issues, this approach can also create workforce issues. Individual choices and purchases relating to systems and products had led to departments finding it difficult or impossible to collaborate. The Marva Group team was aware that different departments and locations were in danger of becoming slowed down by technology and even further siloed, reducing the chance of the effective collaboration needed to grow.
When this happens, it’s very easy for “IT” to become a dirty word - something that hinders a person’s day rather than streamlines their role. This made the handover somewhat tricky for all involved, so we worked hard to cast light on areas where friction could be occurring and address these key areas as quickly as possible.
Having established a full working knowledge of current systems and challenges, along with playing a part in supporting the vision of a more positive IT future within teams across the Marva Group, the 3Gi team were able to identify key focus areas to apply knowledge and provide guidance:
Our CIO-as-a-Service model meant we could offer strategic advisory services, effectively bridging the gap between the Marva Group's business objectives and IT capabilities. This continues to ensure that technological solutions are perfectly aligned with business goals.
The 3Gi team stepped in to provide a pivotal role in managing and centralising the Marva Group's IT and digital transformation strategies, ensuring a cohesive approach to tech deployment and usage.
By implementing IT governance, we were able to support the Marva Group in governing tech delivery and politics, focusing on risk management and minimising negative business impacts.
The 3Gi team worked to consolidate and standardise technology across the Marva Group's global operations. This approach continues to maximise ROI and ensures better adoption and utilisation of tech investments.
We developed and proposed an IT service management system for the Marva Group to enhance tech data management - boosting communication and collaboration efficiency.
Through a carefully tailored design and service delivery framework, the 3Gi team were able to focus on increasing efficiency and productivity, thereby improving the end-user experience at the Marva Group.
From the very first stages, we have been dedicated to enhancing the Marva Group's cybersecurity posture. Doing so not only strengthens defences but also effectively identifies and manages various IT-related risks.
As part of our CIO-as-a-Service models, we are able to assist in recruiting, mentoring, and managing the Marva Group's tech function, fostering an optimised culture that embraces technological advancements and innovation.
From the very first discussions with the Marva Group, it was apparent how their multi-national operation and the demanding nature of the support they offer meant that robust IT systems with constant support from real people were essential.
Although this largely focuses on uptime, there are also unexpected events to deal with in a practical way too - like making sure laptops carrying sensitive information were remotely locked down when the Marva Group experienced a break-in recently.
“With offices around the world, the industry we work in doesn’t sleep - but our trust in 3Gi and knowledge that they are on-hand around the clock means that myself and other key decision-makers in the business aren’t kept awake at night worrying about IT systems.”
Anna Cooper - The Marva Group’s Shared Services Director
Put simply, downtime and unexpected surprises can cost money and reduce business agility - factors that cannot be compromised on with ambitious global business goals in mind. With foresight of these risks and contingency plans ready to be enacted at a moment’s notice, we’re confident we can keep the Marva Group moving in the right direction at all times.
From day one, Group CEO David Swali and the Marva Group team have had a vision of being a disruptive global force in the global recruitment and business support services industry - and they have no intention of taking their foot off the accelerator when their journey to date has been so successful.
Talk to anyone in either business today, and you’ll realise that aside from physical location, there’s no distinction between drive, goals, and passion for the journey ahead. We are proud to be considered a key part of the Marva Group becoming a global force - and we have a shared vision for the future that’s based on absolute transparency and a responsibility for the financial side of the Marva Group’s tech that you’d expect from a true CIO-as-a-Service solution.
The 3Gi team works every day to identify potential risks and tech-based opportunities for the Marva Group as a business. This proactive approach, combined with open and honest conversations, ensures that both teams are not just ready to face the risks and evolving demands of the global market but are also primed to lead and innovate within the healthcare recruitment industry.
“Ultimately, the best business partnerships are about unwavering trust - and the full team here at the Marva Group have that in abundance when it comes to 3Gi. We can be absolutely certain their decisions are always made with the business’s best interests at heart - and that creates the space for us to focus on other key areas of growth.”
Anna Cooper - The Marva Group’s Shared Services Director