Business Showcase: CramdenTECH – Governance and Compliance Tracking Solution

CramdenTECH was established in 2013 and is the brainchild of Caroline Egan. The company helps non-profit and SME directors and trustees to manage critical governance functions in their organisations through its range of innovative cloud solutions, BoardPASS governance and management training workshops.
We spoke with Caroline to find out more about the company and her journey so far.

Q1 Hi Caroline. Can you tell me about what services CramdenTECH offers?

Hi John. We are a software company focused on helping non-profits and SMEs to better manage critical governance functions in their organisations. Because client needs are quite varied, we have 3 strands to the business, SaaS governance applications, eLearning content and capacity development and training.

Our first SaaS offering on the market is a governance management system for non-profit boards. In addition to this, we also provide clients with skills building eLearning content and LMS capacity. Where training support is required, we deliver workshops under our BoardPASS brand.

Q2 When was the company launched?

After incorporation in April 2013, CramdenTECH started operations quite quickly that June. We joined the Ennis Innovate programme for Clare based start-ups in the same month.

Q3 What was the inspiration for starting the company?

I can pinpoint the moment the seed for CramdenTECH was sown! It was late on a wet December night in 2012. I was sitting in my car waiting for traffic lights to turn green near Heuston Station, Dublin and was coming back from a training session I had given on corporate governance. At that stage, I had trained about 2,500 people in the previous few years. It was obvious how much time pressures and budget constraints that people were under. And as the cliché goes “I decided to find a better way!”

I’ve always had an interest in technology and developed my first eLearning courses back in 2000. So that combination of interests and corporate governance expertise influenced the initial shape and design of the first Governance and Compliance Tracking Solution – our governance management system. Getting more people involved with their ideas, particularly system users, confirmed that we were developing a very credible solution to a host of governance management problems. It was also important to me to found a company that could provide support to as many people as possible, without cost being an access barrier for them. A cloud-based solution was the obvious answer. And that is how CramdenTECH came into being!

Q4 Who would you say is your target market?

Our current SaaS offering is aimed very much at directors, trustees and senior executives of non-profit organisations in Ireland and the UK. Our eLearning and training services are targeted at both the Non-profit and SME sectors. And we are nearing completion of a new eLearning platform that will enable us to expand this side of the business internationally.

Q5 Can you explain to our readers what the Innovation Voucher from Enterprise Ireland is and what that means for your company?

The Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher scheme provides companies with vouchers worth €5,000 each. They are non-cash supports that are redeemed against the cost of working with approved knowledge providers. These knowledge providers are higher education institutions in the main. So vouchers provide a means to encourage companies to access readily available third-level expertise.

Receiving our first Innovation Voucher from Enterprise Ireland was a significant milestone for CramdenTECH, as it enabled the company to access the software development expertise of Mark O’Leary from LIT. This collaboration meant that we could accelerate the development of the governance management system located at www.cramdentechsolutions.com.  The innovation voucher provided a very practical support, at just the right time, in the early product development phase.

I would encourage any company to look at the opportunities that collaboration with a third-level institution can offer, particularly when there is an EI backed scheme to help offset some of the cost.

Q6 Can you explain what advantages your platform offers to Non-Profits?

Our SaaS governance management system for non-profit boards has a very intuitive design, making it easy for people to use. The platform is presented to users as a board control panel and is set-up and ready to go.

It is quite a unique offering in the non-profit market, as it combines board document storage, governance applications and eLearning on a single collaborative platform. In essence, directors have an “out-of-the-box” governance management system to work with. They can concentrate on leading the company, whilst saving time on administration, board systems development and director training. Information recorded on the platform also enables boards to better understand the performance of their organisations. This leads to improved decision-making, compliance tracking and risk management.

We have included an eLearning governance training suite in the Skills Development section of the platform. This means that directors and trustees can learn what they need to know about governance from their Smartphones or tablets. No workshops required on a wet winter’s night!

Given the media attention on charities in Ireland this year, it is a very timely solution to come to the market.

Q7 How much does the service cost?

A one year board licence to access the platform costs €150. Support agencies who roll-out the platform to their beneficiary organisations obtain a master licence, the cost of which is dependent upon the number of groups availing of the service.

Q8 For users who may be unfamiliar with corporate governance or have little experience, do you offer any training services?

We do. Our BoardPASS training suite offers three alternatives. BoardPASS Standard training is a 2.5 hour workshop aimed at people who want to learn about the roles and legal responsibilities associated with board membership. BoardPASS Plus training is a 3 hour workshop that takes an in-depth look at the governance applications and systems required to manage a company in a compliant fashion. BoardPASS Premium training enables client organisations to customise training workshop content, to suit their own needs. We typically deliver customised workshops on topics relating to governance and board development, business planning, human resources, social enterprise management and communications.

Q9 If people are interested in finding out more information about your service what’s the best way?

People can learn more about our SaaS Governance Management System by visiting www.cramdentechsolutions.com. We also have details and brochures on www.boardpass.ie outlining our training options and upcoming events. I’m always happy to talk to anyone who would like additional information on the services we offer! I can be contacted on 087-2194541 or via email at caroline@cramdentech.com.

 

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase get in contact with me on John@IrishTechNews.net