éclat Marketing profits from K3 cloud solution
Cloud based solution provides marketing experts with greater IT flexibility, security and agility.
Background
éclat Marketing is a specialist public relations firm that works with leading global, US, UK and European technology and telecoms companies. In the fast moving world of technical marketing and communication, reliable cost-effective IT is important, with resilient, flexible and secure systems playing an important part in maximising efficiency. In addition, to boost productivity on the move, such systems must be accessible wherever the busy PR and marketing executive may be working at any time of the day. K3 Managed Services’ cloud based service provided éclat Marketing with the best solution to meet its needs.
éclat Marketing’s old IT system was supplied by a small local company that serviced it on a reactive basis. The cost of IT provision was running high and there was little visibility of what the company was actually paying for before the bills arrived. Additionally, the existing accounting package, email and print systems were all at end-of-life and ready for upgrading.
éclat Marketing needed a more flexible system that could be accessed and used from any location and at any time of day or night. The company also wanted the ability to centralise and synchronise all calendars and email contacts, so that the business ran as one unit - even when staff were accessing the IT system at different times and from different locations. This would ensure all records were up to date and management would have visibility of important business information.
The company recognised that by choosing cloud-based technology it should be possible for everything to be renewed at once. Also with such a system there would be no major upfront capital costs, instead it could pay for the system and its management by quarterly instalments; another advantage of selecting K3 Managed Services as its IT partner. With a hosted Exchange from K3 Managed Services, synchronisation of files and flexible IT access was made possible for éclat.
Richard Grant, the firm’s Financial Controller, reports: “I was previously using Team Viewer to access my work PC from home but it was very difficult to use. I couldn’t view a full screen and the quality of the data connection was patchy. It was clear that we really needed an IT solution that would enable us to gain quick and easy access to the business IT system anywhere at any time. By transferring our entire IT system to the cloud, K3 Managed Services gave us that flexibility we needed to operate as a modern business, working all hours.”
Securing business critical data
The company had a problem with backing up data; it could only do this manually and for very short periods of time, which was far from efficient. It really needed a secure solution that would allow automatic backups without a time constraint; in short the system had to do what the company needed it to do, rather than the system’s lack of functionality dictating the workflow.
“Backing up data was extremely difficult before we went onto the cloud. We couldn’t find a solution for enabling manual, long-term and secure data backups. We had to keep resetting our backup software every day so we could only restore up to a day’s worth of data. We have a lot of important information residing in digital files, so any kind of IT failure is harmful to our business,” says Richard Grant.
Alongside regular backup, K3 Managed Services also provided éclat with a disaster recovery solution, meaning that should éclat ever suffer an IT failure, company data can be quickly restored.
One-stop-shop cloud efficiency
Taking all of the company’s requirements on board, K3 Managed Services introduced éclat to the concept of cloud computing, explaining its core operations and how it would benefit the business. Once éclat had understood the benefits of cloud computing, K3 designed a robust and flexible cloud-based system to suit its specific IT requirements. A new state-of-the-art server equipped with Microsoft Windows 2008 was installed together with the requisite network infrastructure to provide a complete and integrated solution for email, printing, document management and the new Sage 200 business software. This provides éclat Marketing with its essential production system.
A new high-speed network communications line was also installed to provide reliable connectivity. The new server can be accessed from anywhere in the world which has already proven to be beneficial. During a power outage at the head office, various team members were able to access the system remotely from home and other locations, which would have been impossible with a manual system.
“Another really useful benefit of being in the cloud is that we can access everything remotely. As we now have hosted Exchange, we can pick up emails on the go from our mobile phones and stay connected to what is going on at work without always being in the office. It’s a simple thing but being able to access emails from your Blackberry® really does keep you involved in business processes at all times – even when you are on holiday!” says Richard Grant.
For additional security, K3 Managed Services provides 24-hour monitoring of all software
and hardware and handles all software licensing. Continuous backup operations are performed by K3 and any IT issues are rectified immediately, with éclat Marketing being notified of the issue and how it was solved.
“It is a real weight off our minds knowing all of our data is consistently backed up by K3 Managed Services at its secure datacentre. We no longer have to manually restore everything, which is a huge benefit. We tried everything beforehand from DAT backup software to external disk drives but nothing was able to restore beyond 24 hours. With the cloud, our data is backed up for much longer and it is much more secure than we could ever make it,” says Richard Grant.
Free and automatic upgrades
All platform software patches and upgrades are the responsibility of K3 Managed Services and are performed automatically without the need for any involvement from éclat.
“Manual upgrades always used to take ages and they would take us off our IT system for a period of time, causing us to lose precious uptime.
“Now that K3 MS handle all upgrades, we know that our system is always up to date. Upgrades do not affect our performance as they all happen within the cloud, allowing us to focus on our business,” says Richard Grant.
No hidden costs, no sudden shocks
éclat Marketing now benefits from a fixed annual fee with quarterly billing that covers the entire system and provides full support, including unlimited call outs, labour and parts. No additional charges are levied, regardless of how many times the firm may need assistance from K3 Managed Services.
“What we really needed was a one-stop-shop for our entire IT system and that is exactly what we have from K3 Managed Services. It is reassuring to know that we will always pay a fixed cost every month, no matter how many times we have contacted K3 MS for support and assistance. Previously I had to do all IT maintenance myself so it is great that I can now get on with other, more important aspects of my job and the éclat Marketing team can contact K3 MS directly should they have any technical problems,” says Richard Grant.
For more information please contact:
Editorial - Sarah Winterbottom, Marketing Assistant, K3 Managed Services on 0161 876 4498 or
John Edden, Bridge PR & Media Services on 024 76 520025, or e-mail john@bridgepr.co.uk.
About K3 Managed Services
K3 Managed Services is part of the K3 Group of Companies. As a key UK Microsoft channel partner, the businesses focuses primarily on the retail, manufacturing and distribution sectors, supporting some 3,000 customers in over 20 countries worldwide. Their services include but are not limited to; ERP solutions, business support, on site devices, business continuity, networking and communications and security and compliance.
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