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Case Studies

Friis and Radstone Virtualisation Project

Background

Friss and Radstone are a firm of lawyers who specialise in property and probate work. Delivering a high-quality service to clients in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and beyond, the firm have two offices; situated in Letchworth and Stevenage.

The challenge

  • As a company who value the importance of their IT systems, infrastructure and staff the scope of the work was to update the company’s internal IT Servers after completing a full Windows 10 roll out across both sites, by up grading all physical on premise servers, in Stevenage and Letchworth by carrying out Hyper V Server Virtualisation and full site to site network connectivity.
  • All disaster recovery and backup was to be reviewed.
  • Update ADSL Broadband to Business Fibre at both locations.

The solution

All current physical servers were virtualised for both sites providing greater business protection, scalability and increase system uptime. By linking both sites via a secure Site to site connection this enables shared access to valuable information within the business, as well as allowing staff to work efficiently at either location. Konnetix provided a full review and audit of the backup and disaster recovery policy for the business, delivering a full server VM replication offsite – an extremely robust solution in the event of a disaster or system failure.

Benefits of server/data centre virtualisation:

  • Energy efficiency and cost saving
  • Faster server provisioning
  • Increased flexibility with virtual hardware
  • Business continuity and increased uptime
  • Robust disaster recovery
  • Isolation of applications
  • Limited capital investment

The results

Staff within the business can now work efficiently and effectively from either the Letchworth or Stevenage office. This has enabled greater sharing of resources within the business, which has in turn improved productivity. Having provided managed IT services to Friis and Radstone, Konnetix were keen to obtain feedback on their latest project.

Greg Blount, BA, LLB, LLM Solicitor & Licensed Conveyancer at Friis and Radstone said:

“The improved IT communication between offices that Konnetix have provided for us has made a huge difference in our ability both to share documents and also for individuals to work in either location.

The quality support and advice that we have always received from Konnetix means that we can rely upon their professionalism and be confident about the solutions which they suggest for our technological challenges as they arise.

As an IT dummy it’s great to have Darren and his team only a phone call away and to know that any computer problems we are having will very soon be sorted and the status quo restored”

To learn more about Friis & Radstone, please visit www.friislaw.co.uk

Hertford Estate Agents Streets Ahead with IT

Background 

Abel of Hertford is a leading estate agents. Providing something fresh into the existing market because of their passion for redefining the meaning of an estate agency. The company have gone from strength-to-strength because of a commitment to customer loyalty through trust and great service.

The challenge

  • Full network, service and IT installation.
  • Incorporate Abel’s other business, Eleventh Hour Medical.
  • Deliver robust backup solution and remote working capability.
  • Connect the company’s London office.
  • Provide all services and hardware within a tight timescale.

The solution

Working closely with the team at Abel of Hertford, Konnetix carried out a full network, server and IT installation. For a business that is centred around delivering the highest levels of customer service, it was important for Abel to know that this would come as standard with their IT provider.

Configuration at Abel included setting up all Apple iMac’s to run Windows 10 with Office 365 throughout. It was clear during consultation with Abel that the business was firmly rooted in building long-term relationships and not just achieving a sale. This is why Office 365 has and will continue to deliver the right results to support the business objectives.

Key capabilities of Office 365 or Abel:

  • Calendar management
  • Contact management
  • Organising and segmenting databases
  • Increase productivity
  • Promote remote working

Incorporating Abel’s other business Eleventh Hour Medical – a medical recruitment company –included running a separate VM server on a separate and independent VLAN. The two businesses are operating from the same premises using the same physical server, however all other IT procedures were required to be separate.

Abel of Hertford also runs a London office, which was fully connected via a secure VPN. This enables all data to be securely accessed and shared from one location, including full backups, so key shareholders and directors have fully visibility of all the work that is being carried out.

The results

Konnetix are now the managed service provider for both companies, including all data backups and disaster or system failure recovery procedures. The complete IT setup for both businesses has ensured that all systems are fully secure, and the sharing of physical hardware has reduced costs for the firm.

To learn more about Abel of Hertford, please visit www.abelofhertford.co.uk

Konnetix deliver solid IT foundation for Haywood’s

Background

Haywood’s is a family-run painting, decorating and building maintenance company based in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. Founded in 1946, it has continued to thrive and grow due to an innovative and forward-thinking approach, drawing on over 65 years’ of industry experience.

Having successfully worked with Haywood’s previously, the opportunity arose to assist the company with a major office relocation project.

The challenge

  • Upgrade the existing outdated server
  • Move existing users from Windows XP
  • Limit business and customer disruption during the move
  • Deliver robust backup solution and remote working capability
  • Provide all services and hardware within a tight timescale

The solution

The company required a seamless physical move, whilst upgrading existing hardware and software. Konnetix delivered a new server running Microsoft Server 2012 essentials, which would enable security features such as group policy, secure file access and data retention. The existing file structure was transferred to the new server; setting up access for users subject to file and folder permissions and access.

Haywood’s was supplied with dual-monitors to increase productivity throughout the workforce. Konnetix installed and configured new HP PC’s running Windows 10, moving users from the unsupported and outdated Windows XP and the aging Windows 7 platform. A priority throughout the project was to balance necessary upgrades with the existing infrastructure at Haywood’s.

To deliver unified communications across all devices, Konnetix transferred all worker data and company domain name to enable the set up for all users with O365. The key benefits of this for Haywood’s include: automatic Microsoft updates, effective syncing with mobile devices, larger mailbox storage, enterprise virus and spam protection with flexible increases or decreases in the number of users if required.

For Haywood’s it was important that the IT upgrades and physical move provided a greater level of flexible working and security. Konnetix set up a secure remote access for users who frequently worked from other locations. In addition, Haywood’s added to its bolster by attaching a Network Attached Storage (NAS) for localised back-up that would run alongside the Microsoft Azure offsite backup system.

To ensure the smooth transition of IT and telephony services, the Konnetix team worked with the clients’ existing telecoms provider to ensure timescales were met and any downtime or disruption was limited.

To ensure business continuity, Konnetix reinstalled all user programs and made upgrades where necessary. As the clients’ quoting system could not be migrated due to age, a new virtual machine was integrated which would allow access to the system.

The results

Konnetix continue to provide ongoing proactive server and user support to Haywood’s and value the strong relationship they have developed.