How Our Managed IT & vCIO Services Drive Growth
Discover how Cohesis partners with Western Australian organisations to solve complex technology challenges through custom roadmaps and proven IT success stories.
We worked with Simon and the Cohesis team on a Katana to Xero integration as part of a broader move toward a more autonomous operating model. The integration itself was straightforward, stable, and well thought through – it does exactly what it’s meant to do without adding noise or complexity.
More importantly, Cohesis helped us reduce unnecessary and repetitive administrative tasks that were eating up time. By automating the right things and keeping the systems clean, they’ve genuinely improved efficiency and freed our team up to focus on what we do best.
Throughout the process, communication from Simon and his team was clear, honest, and practical. Expectations were well set, issues were explained in plain terms, and there was never a sense of overselling or over‑engineering. It felt like working with people who understand how real businesses run, not just how the software works. We’d be very comfortable working with Cohesis again.
Cohesis was instrumental in helping us to understand the benefits and capabilities of Teamwork through their in-depth analysis of our current processes and future needs. Their staff are first-rate and their collaborative approach enabled the team to quickly and easily reach and understand the important “bottom-lines.” We would certainly work with them again in the future if the opportunity arose.
Cohesis has been a revelation! Their diligence and relentless pursuit to progress and complete our project far exceeded my expectations. I would not hesitate in recommending them to any company wanting to take their processes to the next level.
Guardian Exercise Rehabilitation engaged Simon Cohen and Cohesis early in 2021. We had identified a lack of longer-term orientation with our ICT ecosystem and wanted to do better to improve our business performance.
Simon was introduced to us and immediately we identified a great fit between our organisations. Simon initially immersed himself in our organisation to understand our challenges and areas for development, soon after providing his recommendations at to what we needed to focus on to achieve our longer term objectives.
Those recommendations were well thought out and tailored to our needs. Simon and his team at Cohesis soon got to work on our identified projects to help us to execute on our strategy. I was impressed with how quickly Simon became one of our team.
To date we have realised some great efficiencies in our business and Simon has helped us to view ICT issues through a completely different lens, but one that will ensure our future success. Thank you Simon and Cohesis.
Cohesis has played an integral role in the City of Bunbury’s journey towards Digital Transformation. Simon assisted with some key Project Management input and guidance for the project, ensuring that the City is set up for an optimal outcome from what became a very complex project.
Simon also assisted with the City’s Digital Strategy and it’s Cyber Security Action Plan, and helped to ensure that the team structure was revised to provide the best outcome for the City. I would highly recommend the services offered by Cohesis.
The content of the Cyber Security Awareness Training provided to IPWEA was very thorough and relevant covering both the working environment and personal. The trainer was very knowledgeable responding to all questions asked. The examples used and explanations surrounding them were excellent! The flexible offering allowed attendance to one of two sessions with a video recorded session sent afterwards for reference.
Thank you very much again, we really appreciated and needed the training.
PSM Upstream Solutions provides asset management services to the oil and gas industry. As a relatively new organisation, our I.T needs have been fairly simple and have largely been managed in-house. However, following a period of sustained growth and also the introduction of new Data Breach legislation we recognised the need to improve our levels of IT Governance.
We initially engaged Simon from Cohesis to provide us with a suite of IT policy documents to help us improve our levels of Cybersecurity and IT governance. Simon provided us with a comprehensive suite of policies which are easy to understand and we have been successful in embedding these within our organisation. Following on from that initial engagement, we also asked Simon to perform an ICT Health check on our systems, infrastructure, security and processes.
Simon provided a thorough yet easy-to-read report highlighting a number of key risks as well as providing us with detailed, cost-effective options and recommendations to help us to securely scale our IT operations as we grow our business.
We have already started to follow Simon’s advice in switching our internet connection provider and we will look to implement the other recommendations in due course. We’ve really appreciated the help Simon has provided to us and would have no hesitation in recommending him to any other SME looking for help in uncovering risks and developing their IT Strategy.
Simon was recruited by myself to be the Head of IT Consulting at Moore Stephens Perth in December 2017. This was a new position in the Organisation and Simon’s remit was to create an IT consultancy service to address the technology challenges and needs faced by the firm’s accounting and audit clients.
I had the pleasure of working closely with Simon for 6 months to the end of June 2018 when I retired from the firm. During this period Simon reviewed the internal IT needs of the firm and made recommendations and developed and deployed a Cyber security and advisory product for our clients. He also contributed to technology assessments and plans for the Moore Stephens network in Australia.
It was clear early on that Simon was an expert in his field. He was passionate about technology and how its application could be used to improve business operations taking into account the balance required between technology, people and systems to deliver a working result.
He has an infectious enthusiasm which inspires and encourages others. He is a good communicator both orally and on paper. His assessments and recommendations are supported by clear explanations, logic, pertinent visual materials linked to commercial realities, capabilities and business requirements.
He is a highly effective project leader and manager and demonstrates excellent planning skills. Simon works effectively with clients and third parties who respect his depth of knowledge and reliability in delivering. Simon is a motivated man and self starter.
He seeks advice when required, listens well, asks pertinent questions, has the courage of his own convictions and is prepared to robustly defend his thoughts and recommendations in a constructive manner.
I would have no hesitation is working with Simon again whether as his employer or with him as an external consultant. A first class man who delivers first class results.
At Chemron, we manufacture and supply a wide range of specialty chemical products to industries across Australia. With our business growing steadily, we began to see that our existing systems were holding us back. Managing production schedules, inventory, and customer orders with outdated tools was creating bottlenecks and inefficiencies that impacted our day-to-day operations.
Previously, we were relying on a patchwork of spreadsheets and manual processes, which left too much room for error and took valuable time away from focusing on customers and growth. We explored several ERP and MRP solutions before settling on MRPeasy, which offered the right balance of functionality and flexibility for our needs.
While MRPeasy was the clear choice for us, we knew that a successful implementation would be critical. That’s what led us to Cohesis. We needed a partner who could not only guide us through the technical aspects of the transition but also understand our business processes and help align the system with them.
From the very beginning, Cohesis impressed us with their professionalism, responsiveness, and hands-on approach. They took the time to listen and understand our specific challenges and then worked closely with our team to configure and implement MRPeasy in a way that truly fit Chemron’s operations.
The transition itself was remarkably smooth. Cohesis provided clear guidance, practical training, and ongoing support, which minimised disruption and gave our team the confidence to adopt the new system quickly. What could have been a daunting project ended up being a very positive and empowering experience.
Since moving to MRPeasy with Cohesis’ help, we’ve seen significant improvements:
- Better visibility across production and inventory, allowing us to make faster, more informed decisions.
- Reduced errors thanks to streamlined processes and real-time data.
- Improved efficiency, freeing our staff to focus on delivering even better service to our customers.
Looking ahead, Chemron is focused on continuing to expand and innovate, confident that our systems can now support that growth. Cohesis has been a trusted partner in helping us reach this point, and we look forward to building on that foundation for the future.
Cohesis worked with us to transition from an outdated legacy system for project management to a modern, integrated CRM and project management tool to improve our work practices. Cohesis provided the complete package, including understanding our requirements, investigating our options, implementing the chosen system and training our staff. Cohesis were responsive to our needs and went above and beyond to satisfy the unique business requirements of our company.
Simon Cohen presented recently in one of our Stay Connected Series of virtual events for AIM WA members and clients. He was recommended by a trusted contact as someone who offered really engaging and valuable content. I found Simon to be extremely professional and focused on delivering up to the moment information in his field of expertise.
He was totally flexible around content and during the webinar, there was certainly no shortage of value in what he presented. It was a real pleasure to work with Simon on the event, and we received great feedback from our community of members who were keen to connect with him further.
Thanks again, Simon! I’d have no hesitation in recommending Simon to other organisations looking for engaging speakers and I look forward to more of Simon’s presentations in the future.
The Shire of Narembeen engaged Cohesis as a strategic ICT partner in January 2020 and in the 9 months since there initial onboarding we have experienced a practical and progressive approach to improving our ICT environment.
Cohesis undertook an onboarding ICT Health Check to identify the Shires level of maturity and risk, from this a clear and easy understandable report was developed to highlight to the Executive Team where priority areas were and what remediation activities may be required.
This initial ICT review was quickly followed by the commencement of an ICT strategic planning process and although the Shire had never had a strategic ICT plan before, Cohesis made the whole planning process easy to understand and kept action areas relevant and realistic for a Shire of our size.
By June 2020 the Shire had adopted its first ICT Plan and Cohesis had ensured the plan was developed in line with DLGSC frameworks, OAG recommendations and incorporated Essential 8 action areas that would ensure the Shire was protected from Cyber Security threats. The plan provides realistic 12-24 month targets to improve the Shire’s ICT maturity as well as setting out priority areas based on risk factors. The plan also provides the Shire with realistic cost estimates to guide its business planning process.
As a small rural Local Government we place a great emphasis on a collaborative approach and feel the best outcomes are achieved when the Shire’s contractors buy into what the Shire’s goals are and understands how we operate, this has very much been the case with Simon and the Cohesis team. Simon has worked with the Shire to convert technical information and issues into an easy to digest plan that ensures strategic ICT objectives can be relied to all employees and Council.
Overall, it is very refreshing to work with an ICT provider who is willing to spend time to understand our business requirements and who can convert technically challenging information into an easy to digest format. I would be very happy to recommend Simon and Cohesis to any Local Government looking to review their ICT planning, processes, governance, or cyber security.
In February 2019, Simon was engaged to project manage Project ‘Spark’, an internal, cross-functional programme required to address the root causes of the non-compliances identified in the 2017 electricity performance audit submitted to the Economic Regulation Authority.
Simon quickly established key relationships within Synergy’s ICT, Compliance and Retail functions and established an effective project team to:
- Review, improve and document the improvements in all ICT controls related to Synergy’s electricity retail licence (ERL1).
- Introduce internal awareness to the need for improved ICT controls.
- Ensure all project streams delivered their outputs to the required standard and timeframes.
- Run training courses to all ICT functions to embed ICT compliance-led changes within the organisation.
- Introduced a new governance panel to ensure appropriate Risk Management oversight is incorporated into technical changes.
Project Spark was a major compliance initiative for Synergy and Simon’s expertise, determination and ability in driving organisational change helped Synergy achieve a positive audit outcome. Based on Simon’s experience in delivering Project Spark I would have no hesitation in recommending Simon to deliver ICT Risk and Compliance Management projects.
