Cloudmetix provides Prestige IT solution to recruitment specialists

Prestige Recruitment benefit from a more flexible IT system, cutting costs by up to 50% after migrating to Netmetix’s cloud computing solution.

Prestige Recruitment is a specialist recruitment agency with offices in North West England and Birmingham. An independent owner-managed business, Prestige has had its IT infrastructure provided by Coventry IT experts Netmetix for the last five years. However, upon moving its headquarters to new premises in Birmingham in 2011, Prestige needed a more flexible IT solution to enable all offices to integrate through one IT network.

As a satisfied customer, Prestige again turned to Netmetix for help. The solution was Netmetix’s cloud computing product, Cloudmetix, together with a hosted Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephony service. Prestige recognised that Cloudmetix would provide flexibility for the business across its four sites, while VOIP would save money on telephone costs.

“We needed a solution that offered us the flexibility to operate as one unit from multi-sites,” says Annejulie Webb, Managing Director of Prestige. “We have a team of 18 staff in total who all access our IT from different locations. I also do a lot of work from home so having Cloudmetix installed enables us to access our business network on demand from anywhere at any time. Our job is not always nine to five so it is good to have such flexible access to our IT,” explains Annejulie Webb, Managing Director, Prestige.

Operating on the Software as a Service (SaaS) model for providing software on demand according to user need, the system allows Prestige staff to log in and out of its business IT system from anywhere at any time The system operates on a robust infrastructure platform, meaning that if one element fails, the system as a whole will continue to operate. Cloudmetix is operated from a datacentre in Derby and this means that Prestige has flexible access to a comprehensive IT system, anywhere, any time, without the need for local hardware or software.

The VOIP telephony service enables Prestige to integrate its communications through its Internet connection rather than through the public switched telephone network. This is advantageous because all of Prestige’s communication lines run through one central location, hosted and managed securely offsite. All of Prestige’s phone lines are hosted by a third party through Netmetix, leaving Prestige to concentrate on recruitment, rather than Internet connections and telephone lines.

Prestige has grown from having only three computers within the entire business and working solely with index cards, to having a computer for each member of staff and synchronised communications. Today, Cloudmetix allows Prestige’s computer system to grow or contract with the business as required. Adding or removing members is all handled by Netmetix and takes literally minutes.

Security

Cloudmetix includes fully managed Endpoint Security to prevent infection from viruses, Trojans and other malware as well as nightly backup to ensure maximum security of Prestige’s valuable data and the entire application server. The datacentre is protected by perimeter fencing, CCTV, and a strict photo ID swipe entry system.

With data managed offsite a single file can be restored quickly, or the entire IT system if the need arises. For Prestige, which has thousands of personal records on file digitally, protection and security is of paramount importance.

In a business like ours you cannot allow personal data to fall into the wrong hands. Knowing that Cloudmetix offers extensive security and protection is very reassuring. Should something ever go wrong with our IT, we know that data can be quickly restored for us,” says Annejulie Webb.

“As a company we are excellent at recruitment but know very little about IT. With Cloudmetix we don’t need to because Netmetix looks after our entire IT network for us. What you tend to find with IT providers is that they have excellent IT knowledge but aren’t good at getting this across to customers. Netmetix is very good at communicating to those that don’t understand technical IT terms,” says Annejulie Webb.

Cutting costs

As well as making the business more flexible, converting to the cloud has also enabled Prestige to cut costs. On a regular IT system, Prestige paid for any maintenance costs additionally to the IT infrastructure.

With Cloudmetix, however, Prestige benefits from fixed costs on a monthly basis. The Netmetix Managed Services team is always on hand to answer any questions Prestige may have on its IT system and all maintenance costs are included in the monthly fee.

Prestige pays or each user that it adds onto the system meaning that there are no additional charges.

“With the expense of moving offices, we wanted to stabilise the costs that we were paying for our IT which is what made Cloudmetix such an ideal package for us,” says Annejulie Webb. “Cloudmetix costs the same each month, no matter how much support we ask for. When we hire someone, we simply pay a little extra to have them put onto the cloud. It has really helped us to streamline our business finances and enables us to know exactly how much we are paying for all IT expenditure.”

In total, Prestige is set to save up to 50 per cent through its new VOIP telephony service alone, not to mention the costs associated with packaged monthly hosting and support rates.

Netmetix continues to work closely with Prestige, offering solutions and proposals to the business as it evolves.

“Cloudmetix is working well for us. It is providing us with the freedom and flexibility to work around the clock and grow our business at the pace we want to. Knowing that our IT is being looked after by experts is reassuring for us. Since moving onto the cloud, our IT has been very uneventful – which is exactly how you want it to be,” says Annejulie Webb.

For more information please contact:

Natalie Hunt, Bridge PR & Media Services on tel: 02476520025, email natalie@bridgepr.co.uk

Netmetix is based in Birmingham Road, Allesley, Coventry. The company offers IT and network solutions including Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and more recently a complete cloud-based solution through Cloudmetix. 

Netmetix also provides a full and detailed installation and implementation service for everything it sells. The company provides sensible, reliable and professional advice at both a business and technical level. It works closely with manufacturers to bring effective and innovative solutions to its customers.

The company has achieved Microsft Gold Server Platform status following a rigorous examination process by its team of qualified technical engineers.

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