Benefits

Membership Benefits – (Full Membership)

Full Merit membership entitles organisations to access a range of exclusive benefits and services.

Membership benefits can be broken down into the following key elements:

Summary of ICT Full Member Benefits

Attend seminar and networking events free of charge (non members charged up to £45 +vat)

Discounted sponsorship opportunities

Discounted exhibition stands at seminars and networking events

Upload your company logo, web link and details to the member and supplier directories FOC

Discounted sponsorship of merit newsletter

Submit Requests For Tenders (RFQs) via merit’s tendering service to receive quotes from merit’s panel of approved ICT suppliers

Access FOC to the Merit Knowledge Base

Free editorial in the merit newsletter upon joining or re-joining merit

Advertise your job vacancies

Submit your CV

Members’ Meetings, Events and Networking

Hear leading keynote speakers from the ICT sector talk at our monthly events. Previous speakers have included Microsoft, IBM, O2, Oracle, VMWare, Blackberry (RiM), Rapid Technologies, Polycom and Avaya.
Network,
Collaborate and develop strategic alliances with fellow Merit members
Receive significant discounts for specific Merit events.
Sponsor or exhibit at seminars at a discounted rate for members.
Access the PowerPoint slides and speaker notes from each event.
Access information from past events within our event archive.

Promote & Grow Your Business

Upload your organisation’s logo and profile to Merits member directory. With the merit site receiving thousands of hits each month this is an ideal way to raise your organisations profile and website ranking.
Sponsor the Merit newsletter at a discounted rate.
Submit feature articles about your company’s products, services and achievements to the Merit newsletter on joining or re-joining.
Submit (FOC) your company’s ICT requirements via the merit tendering service
Advertise your job vacancies within the recruitment section of the newsletter/website
Submit news articles about your company.
Receive exclusive offers from Sponsors and Accredited suppliers.
Assistance to develop Special Interest & Innovation Groups.
Mentoring – receive guidance and advice from the merit panel of ICT experts
Free sponsored link and feature article in the Merit Blog on joining or re-joining

Business Improvement

As a full merit member you will receive a Best Practice IT review with referrals to merit’s specialist supplier partners. This process will help to ensure that your company is implementing appropriate IT solutions whilst observing industry recognised best practice.

The Merit website has a number of restricted areas which only full members can access. They include:

Tender Alert System:

Members are able to submit requests for quotes (RFQs)
Supplier members are offered the opportunity to reply to RFQs

Knowledge Base:

Access examples of best practice within the ICT sector.
View Case studies which explore new and emerging technologies within the sector.

ICT Training:

Access a wide range of online and classroom based training courses at heavily discounted prices.
Access to funding where available

Continuing Professional Development (CPD):

Maintain your CPD record by attending merit seminars, presentations, workshops and professional training courses

Best Practice Workshops
End user training
Technical training and certification

Merit Blog:

Exchange ideas, views, problems and information.
Share good practice with fellow members.

Merit Newsletter:

Receive members' special offers to events, training courses, products and services.
Receive regular ICT news updates.
Keep abreast of developments within the industry.

Projects and Funding

Merit has managed a number of high profile government funded projects in the last 20 years. They have included The MerseyBroadband Project and the Harnessing Digital Technology Project. Membership ensures your company will:

Be the first to be notified about our government funded projects.
Be signposted towards potential funding streams.
Will receive assistance on how to apply for funding merit is involved in managing

Other Products/Services

Members can benefit from substantial savings on a wide range of services including:-

Access exclusive offers from accredited ICT suppliers.

Savings on utility bills and get everything on one bill and customer services based in UK (packages tailored for Business and home users):

Landline telephone and line rental
Mobile
Internet
Non-geographic numbers (e.g. 0845 and 0870)
Gas
Electricity

Offer reductions on the above utility services as a staff benefit (your organisation could become a distributor and develop an income stream)

Receive a FREE waste/energy audit. This will ensure you receive the necessary support to dispose of your waste safely and legally.

Protect your business assets, Professional Indemnity (PI) and IT equipment on and off-site via merit’s Commercial Insurance Policy partner.

Help you to protect, secure, manage & audit your data, systems and users.

Provide guidance on how to effectively store, backup, archive & retrieve your company information.

Supplier Membership Benefits

Full Merit membership (supplier membership) entitles organisations to access a range of exclusive benefits and services.

Membership benefits can be broken down into the following key elements:

Summary of ICT Supplier Member Benefits

Attend seminar and networking events (with buffet lunch) free of charge (non members charged up to £45 +vat)

Discounted sponsorship opportunities

Discounted exhibition stands at seminars and networking events

Upload your company logo, web link and details to the member and supplier directories FOC

Discounted sponsorship of merit newsletter

Apply FOC to become a member of the merit supplier panel receiving referrals via the merit tendering service

Unlimited FOC article submissions to the Merit Knowledge Base

Join the merit partner programme FOC

Free editorial in the merit newsletter upon joining or re-joining merit

Advertise your job vacancies

Members’ Meetings, Events and Networking

Members discounted sponsorship opportunities – including pre-event, during event and post-event branding on mail shots, e-shots, web presence, press releases, mail out via partner organisations
Exhibit at seminars – discounted for members
Attend standard seminar and networking sessions free of charge
Collaborate and develop strategic alliances with fellow Merit members

Promote & Grow Your Business

Upload your organisation’s logo and profile to Merits member directory. With the merit site receiving thousands of hits each month this is an ideal way to raise your organisations profile and website ranking.
Sponsor the Merit newsletter at a discounted rate.
Submit feature articles about your company’s products, services and achievements to the Merit newsletter on joining or re-joining.
Submit press releases.
Advertise your job vacancies within the recruitment section of the newsletter/website.
Submit news articles about your company.
Assistance to develop Special Interest & Innovation Groups.
Get referrals from the merit user and IT professional communities by joining the ‘Approved Supplier’ panel offering mentoring and guidance to organisations
Free sponsored link and feature article in the Merit Blog on joining or re-joining
Send security alerts to the Merit membership credited to your organisation

The Merit website has a number of restricted areas which only full members can access. They include:

Tender Alert System:

Members are able to submit requests for quotes (RFQs)
Supplier members are offered the opportunity to reply to RFQs

Knowledge Base:

Submit best practice articles to the Merit Knowledge Base FOC with your name and/or your company name contact details to raise your profile.

ICT Training/Best Practice Workshops:

Become a merit training partner/provider

Continuing Professional Development (CPD):

Maintain your CPD record by attending merit seminars, presentations, workshops and professional training courses

Best Practice Workshops
End user training
Technical training and certification

Projects and Funding

Merit has delivered a number of high profile government funded projects in the last 20 years. They have included Merseyside ADAPT 2000 Project, The MerseyBroadband Project, ICT Investment Fund and the Harnessing Digital Technology Project. Membership ensures your company will:

Be the first to be notified about our funded projects
Become a preferred supplier to projects
Opportunities to tender for projects

ICT Professional Membership Benefits

Full Merit membership (IT Professional membership) entitles organisations to access a range of exclusive benefits and services.

Membership benefits can be broken down into the following key elements:

Summary of ICT Professional Member Benefits

Attend seminar and networking events (with buffet lunch) free of charge (non members charged up to £45 +vat)

Continuing Professional Development Opportunities

Discounted sponsorship opportunities

Discounted exhibition stands at seminars and networking events

Upload your company logo, web link and details to the member and supplier directories FOC

Discounted sponsorship of merit newsletter

Apply FOC to become a member of the merit supplier panel receiving referrals via the merit tendering service

Unlimited FOC article submissions to the Merit Knowledge Base

Join the merit partner programme FOC

Free editorial in the merit newsletter upon joining or re-joining merit

Advertise your job vacancies

Submit your CV

Members’ Meetings, Events and Networking

Request or recommend guest speakers
Request specific subjects or technologies to be featured at seminars
Attend standard seminar and networking sessions free of charge
Member discounted Sponsorship opportunities – including all event mail shots, e-shots, web presence, press releases, mail out via partner organisations.
Exhibit at seminars (discounted for full members)

Promote & Grow Your Business

Upload your organisation’s logo and profile to Merits member directory. With the merit site receiving thousands of hits each month this is an ideal way to raise your organisations profile and website ranking.
Sponsor the Merit newsletter at a discounted rate.
Submit feature articles about your company’s products, services and achievements to the Merit newsletter on joining or re-joining.
Submit press releases.
Advertise your job vacancies within the recruitment section of the newsletter/website.
Submit articles about your company.
Assistance to develop Special Interest & Innovation Groups.
Free sponsored link and feature article in the Merit Blog on joining or re-joining
Receive security alerts

The Merit website has a number of restricted areas which only full members can access. They include:

Tender Alert System: