The Landscape
Streamtec had a real challenge on their hands with their internal IT. With a team of 15 employees and a rapidly growing business, they knew that a secure and expandable IT platform was essential to support the company to achieve its goals. The challenges were:
- Their server infrastructure was old and was starting to creak.
- There was a lack of storage/disk space on their current system.
- The reliability of the office internet connection was a problem.
- Access to systems when working away from their base was difficult.
- The current office required a redesign to make better use of the space.
Although everyone was “getting by”, there was so much frustration for the team as often their IT systems were slow, and the sharing of information and documents was problematic. Ultimately, staying productive and working together as a team became a real challenge for everyone.
Let's Talk
Initially, Streamtec was an ad-hoc client of Shackleton Technologies, accessing assistance as and when an issue occurred. Following a discussion with Streamtec’s Managing Director, Ian Gauld, he recognised the likely benefits of investing in their IT infrastructure and understood how this could make a positive impact on their business.
We subsequently met with Ian and worked through a solution with him and his team.
Ian was looking for a solution that would allow easier collaboration when working on internal documents, for the team to work across all platforms (e.g. laptops/phones) and for documents to be shared easily with clients.
A further consideration to incorporate within the plans for the IT project was the ongoing physical modifications and renovations to the company’s office.
Solution Please!
Our recommendation was for Streamtec to leverage the full benefits of Office 365, including SharePoint storage and migrating their data over to this platform.
The company invested in a leased line, which delivered superfast internet connectivity, greater reliability and a secure gateway to a whole host of cloud-based solutions that would bring several benefits to their business.
Easier, more efficient file sharing and the ability to work collaboratively was now a reality.
The company’s on-premise servers were removed entirely as the business’s accounting software was all cloud-based.
To obtain the benefits of Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 10, all Streamtec’s PCs and Laptops were replaced.
The company’s data is now backed up with a solution for Office 365 called Backupify, which reduces the risk of data loss, ransomware attacks or indeed accidental deletion that could go unnoticed for some time.
The company no longer required its outdated backup solution, Windows Server Backup, which required a team member to take the removable USB drives offsite. Their days of manual backup were over, and their business was more secure as a result!
The Result?
Speaking with Ian a few months after completion of the project, we were keen to understand the benefits that the team had experienced. Ian identified that:
- It’s far easier to locate and access files using SharePoint.
- It’s simpler to produce more accurate costings and pricing for projects consequently benefiting the company and its clients.
- They are far slicker internally in sharing information and collaborating on documents and projects.
- The ability to work from anywhere is a real benefit allowing for flexibility in the way they work
- Overall, Ian feels they are more efficient when it comes to delivering on projects
So, has it been worth it?
“It’s made a huge difference to the business and how the team fully engage in projects, accessing necessary information in real time.”
“It’s the best investment we made in 2018.”
