About estm

Hello, my name is Ian Edwards, thank you for visiting my site.

I formed estm in 2006 as a bespoke information technology management company based in Shropshire. My working base has been in the West Midlands since 1976 and I have lived in Shropshire since 1979.

Company Objective 

estm's objective is to offer an affordable, independent, professional information technology management service to businesses, and through this service add business value by using information technology to enable cost reduction and business growth. We emphasise the value of having a well thought out IT strategy allied to an equally well thought out business plan. If you don't have either of these in place we can help.

We are a small business ourselves and have encountered and had to solve many of the problems most small businesses encounter when setting up. I understand the SME sector ( I use the DTI definition of an SME as 1 to 250 employees). I know that information technology is under utilised in the majority of small businesses with cost and lack of skills being the main obstacles.

Personal Profile 

I have 15 years IT experience, 12 of those in management at increasingly senior levels. Prior to forming estm I was Head of Technology Infrastructure for a major UK broadcaster responsible for the technology at sites across the UK and some 1200 users 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

My personal technical skills are many and varied covering all the usual (operating systems, networking, web, software development) and quite a bit of the less usual so would be too tedious to list here. If you want to know more about my technical background please give me a call.

An advocate of Open Source software I have particularly strong experience with Joomla content management system and Asterisk PBX (Voice over IP and SIP). I would be very interested to talk to you if you are wondering if Open Source software can be of benefit to your business.

I am an experienced project and people manager having managed teams varying from 1 to 30 people. I have coaching, appraisal and team building skills and am experienced in managing remote teams. I am well used to managing relationships with suppliers, negotiating contracts and SLA's.

In 2005 I embarked on a Masters Degree in Strategic IT Management at Wolverhampton University as a mature student, and attained my MSc in June 2009. My research project investigated the development of an IS/IT system selection tool using customer relationship management (CRM) systems as an example.

British Computer Society (MBCS CITP)

I am personally a member of the british computer society (MBCS), the Chartered Institute for IT, and as of April 2009 have been awarded Chartered IT Professional (CITP) status.

Accredit UK

In 2008 I put estm forward for assessment for the new Accredit UK quality mark for ICT Consultancy. I am happy to report that, despite being a very small company ourselves, we passed the test and estm is now an Accredit UK certified ICT Consultancy, one of the first six companies in the UK to qualify for this new standard. Our Accredit UK certification is your assurance that you are dealing with a reputable, capable company.

Business Link Approved supplier

As of April 2009 estm is a Business Link approved supplier and is listed on the Business Link select supplier register.

CRB Enhanced Disclosure

Because a number of our projects are in the education sector everyone at estm holds an Enhanced CRB disclosure.

Professional and Public Liability Insurance

estm carries £5m Professional Indemnity and £5m Public Liability Insurance as an IT Consultant.

Vendor Independence 

Our vendor independance is important to us, we sell our expertise and have no obligation to sell any particular product or service from any particular vendor. We have over time accumulated preferences but each new customer is a blank sheet of paper and our recommendations will be based on what is right for you.

How we operate

As a result of commercial experience topped off with academic study I am very business aware, I am used to operating at all levels. I understand the importance of connecting IT with business objectives and, more importantly, know how to do it. 

As an information technology management company we have, and continue to develop, contacts with other companies and people with specialist skills that can be called upon to supplement our own resources. The important thing for the customer is that you have one point of contact and the assurance that things are being managed professionally with your interests paramount.

I hope you find the site useful and of interest, if you have questions that aren't answered here please give me a call on 10746 708114, and I look forward to the opportunity to work with you very soon.

Ian