K3 adds Microsoft expert to its Hosting team

A former Chief Technology Officer with significant experience in deploying mission critical systems, has been appointed as the new head of Microsoft technologies at international ERP consultancy K3 Hosting (K3), strengthening its CRM, Dynamics, AX, and Navision provision.

Richard Ward, who is a technical architect specialising in Microsoft technology, brings a wealth of experience to the business and was offered the position with K3 Hosting to bring together the complete business solutions packages available from the wider K3 Business Technology Group (K3 BTG). Richard is already working closely with group subsidiaries K3 Retail and K3 Business Solutions to deliver entire platform infrastructures for customers deploying Microsoft Dynamics AX, CRM, and Navision products.

K3 Hosting Managing Director, Neil Farnworth, explained what Richard's appointment means for the business. "Because Richard brings a wealth of experience in Microsoft technologies to K3 Hosting, having him in our team enables us to quote more competitively for our ERP hosting packages, and keep costs down for our customers.

"Few hosting consultancies have the ability to translate ERP hosting requirements, map these against existing business processes, and decipher how it equates to servers and hardware needs, in order to deliver a tailored quote as part of a total ERP hosting package. Working as a key part of the wider K3 group, and in particular our Retail and Business Solutions divisions, Richard gives us this competitive edge."

Richard Ward has seven years' experience in mission critical hosting and has been working with Microsoft technologies for the past 18 years. As part of his role, Richard will be working to offer complete mission critical business hosting solutions across the entire K3 Business Technology Group.

He commented: "I am delighted to be part of the K3 group. This is a great opportunity for me both personally and professionally. K3 is in a very unique market position as one of very few businesses that can deliver the whole platform for mission critical solutions. Working together as a group, we can deliver a total solutions package from base install up in order to provide functionality and security for businesses and for me that presents a number of exciting opportunities. I am very keen to encourage collaboration between the entire group and present one K3, providing and hosting mission critical applications to businesses everywhere. "

Russell Dorset, Group Managing Director at K3 Retail added: £It is a real advantage to the K3 group as a whole to have someone of Richard's experience working across the entire group. With his knowledge and expertise, it will only enhance further the cloud and managed service offering that K3 provides to the retail sector and can really strengthen our group position as a leading Microsoft partner and solutions provider."

Richard will also be working closely with K3 Business Solutions, a division of K3 which delivers Microsoft Dynamics ERP packages to businesses in the manufacturing, food, and distribution sectors. Managing Director for K3 Business Solutions, Gary Vincent also added: "Cloud and Managed Services are becoming more relevant to our customers when looking for a new ERP solution. Manufacturing and distribution businesses require a service that just works without having to worry about managing the hardware or recruiting the staff to maintain their core business systems. Richard joining K3 adds further skills and knowledge to our Microsoft Dynamics hosting division."