A small family-owned and run business with 30 staff, based in East Grinstead. The company supplies profiled metal sheeting and other roofing products to commercial builders, farmers, tradespeople, and the general domestic market.
Issues
- With business expanding, Southern Sheeting was still relying on an outdated server platform, which was straining to cope with more people using it and more information to process. This slowed down the speed and efficiency of the operation.
- Similarly, its landline-based private network telephone system had insufficient capacity and capability to meet growing demand and was missing out on innovative functions which would help the smooth running of the business.
What was needed: A complete infrastructure refresh to bring everything up to date, balancing cost against required performance and offering the flexibility to accommodate further expansion in the future.
Our solution
- We replaced the server to provide Microsoft Exchange email and file sharing/printing services for business teams and we added a second server which was dedicated to running the stock control, sales order management and accounting.
- We also designed and installed a new telephone system based on Avaya IP Office on-premises PABX technology. This is a unified communication system for calls, messages, and conferencing whatever the device being used or the location of the user.
- In addition, we provided an onsite disaster recovery package, leased line connectivity to a second site to support business growth, internet security with server/desktop endpoint protection and cloud-based email scanning, which were all backed up with ongoing support services to ensure everything continues to run as intended.
Result
- Efficient IT and telephone systems which speed up the operation of the business and allow integrated access from multiple devices regardless of location – all supported with internet security, disaster recovery and ongoing technical support.
- Southern Sheeting can now get on with the day-to-day work of suppling roofing materials and growing their business without having to spend valuable time on IT affairs.
Tony Hobbs, Managing Director of Southern Sheeting, said:
“Following an internal review, I quickly identified the growing complexity of small business IT and recognised our inadequacies and knowledge gaps. Wanting to maintain our policy of using local businesses, we were recommended Ashdown Solutions. Following a comprehensive system review, the Ashdown Solutions team quickly identified a number of vulnerabilities and scope for improvements, which were implemented over the subsequent months/years. For the past 10 years, it has continued to provide us with prompt, efficient and cost-effective support matched with genuine and straightforward advice.”
www.southernsheeting.co.uk
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