Case study Meet GDPR Consultant, Lindsay Charman, from Chaucer

The business problem

The problem we faced was coming up with a point of difference for Chaucer's GDPR offering, to present something different to customers that they wouldn't be able to get just by saying they had experts in this area. One of the big issues we saw early on was that larger companies like to engage with numerous consultancies at the same time, so having something unique like the GDPR Navigator Tool, to map out, manage and track this complex business process and give management instant visibility as to what's going on, has been very beneficial to some clients. 

With the ability to build in and visualise the articles of the GDPR in one interactive view, it instantly becomes more manageable and engaging.

When we started creating additional advisory services, specific to GDPR such as Data Protection Officer and EU Rep, the natural progression was to build out 'business as usual' components into the navigator. Rather than it just being a project management tool for GDPR, we created something functional and part of the services we are delivering, which has worked really well and again been an excellent point of differentiation for us.

Why had other tools not worked?

There was nothing else in the market that could be tailored the way we have designed the Navigator in SharpCloud, or with the same flexibility. SharpCloud offers modern real-time reporting, great visuals and is user friendly, you don't need to be a programmer to use it.

Nor does it solely focus on the IT aspects of things. We can use SharpCloud from a business angle, which is really important, as even though we're dealing with technology programs all the time, we're always looking at it from a business benefits point of view and how to improve the business process.

Nothing else out there allowed us to build the various components we needed into the tool, specifically the legislation, or offer the visualisation, simple layout and ease of reporting that SharpCloud does. Being able to map the inter-dependencies is also hugely important as you get a clear view of how each element relates to others, their progression in time and and how they impact one another. In addition to that, it's all in one place. 

Because GDPR is relatively new, a lot of companies have only really read about it, so it's great to be able to give customers confidence in an area they are panicking about which is so critical to their business. 

How is SharpCloud solving the problem?

It's giving everybody what they need.

• It's giving us a point of difference in our service offering
• It's helping us manage GDPR in a simple manner
• It's giving senior management visibility over what they only need to see, in a way that isn't just in a powerpoint
• It's giving people on the ground the ability to update information, interact in their own time and make comments about projects with ease, in a non laborious way
• It's so easy to use

It makes us think what more can we use SharpCloud for?

What makes SharpCloud unique?

• You don't need to be a programmer to use it - SharpCloud evolves with your learning - you can use it at a very basic level but the more you use it, the more you develop your skills.

• SharpCloud caters to different ways of thinking - people tackle problems and prioritise things differently and SharpCloud enables them to do that by exploring their data through multiple views. 

• Real time updates and increased transparency - information and data is current and all activity can be monitored and tracked easily. The audit trail is really useful given we're dealing with compliance and transparency. If an external auditor needs to see what we've done, we can demonstrate our activity effortlessly and not having to track it manually is a godsend. 

• Mapping inter-dependencies - how they impact one another and your business over time offers invaluable, high level insight and highlights the gaps: the missing technology, resources or projects.

Benefits of using SharpCloud

My role is sales, so anything that helps me to stand out is beneficial. With SharpCloud, I can tell clients that we are doing things differently and these are the benefits to your company; it's going to be easier, we're going to be able to communicate with you better and it's a single source if truth, so should you be audited, we have everything covered.

"It's hard to say one consultancy is better than another, but SharpCloud is something tangible that people can experience and see it's different, better and can adapt into their world. That certainly benefits our consultancy."

Quantifiable Results

From a clients point of view, they are dealing with all this legislative change and having to spend money to make the necessary improvements in their company. If we can come in and say we are dealing with these parts of the process, it's already been built out, explain how it's going to be managed, we immediately remove their worry. This is huge for clients, anything that's making it easier to deal with third parties is a positive result.