SKMEDIA

Company URL: http://www.skmedia.co.uk

About

Skmedia , primarily a developer of Internet Kiosks, is now a player in the support, management and design of intelligent devices.
In recent years, they have seen an exponential increase in the demand for their slingshot software and customised Kiosks.
SKMedia has been extending its platform (SlingShot™) to support virtually any device capable of communicating over IP, anywhere and at anytime. This includes:

Gaming Terminals

• Vending machines
• Internet access kiosks
• Transport content systems
• Wi-Fi Hotspots
• Car parking management devices
• Home Automation devices
• Retailing solutions

From stock management to the delivery of dynamic digital content, the impact of SlingShot is becoming evident across many industries and is felt by anyone who has a need to manage Intelligent Devices. With a reputation for excellence and a growing portfolio, SKMedia intends to become a world leader in Intelligent Device management.

Problem

In early 2006, SKMedia experienced a sudden increase in Sales and Customer relation activity.

As an IT provider itself, SKMedia were clear about the solutions they wanted to implement, but wished to apply their resources to their core business. This meant that all of their internal IT staff was either supporting existing clients, or busy, further developing existing products and services.

The managing directors hired XS-PRO to implement solutions and mechanisms to address the evolved business processes.

Objectives

All solutions must be implemented using virtualisation for improved efficiency in disaster prevention and recovery.

• Implement a CRM software solution that can track sales processes from start to finish, as well as maintain customer records (history and tracking) and service incidents
• Modularise the huge and growing database of emails to improve speed and redundancy
• Implement a collaboration solution for remote workers
• Implement a new database server to store data for the high communication load from the device management area of the business

Solutions

1. The CRM solution: we demonstrated Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 to SKMedia and recommended this as an upgrade path. As they already had a licensing agreement with Microsoft, this meant that upgrading to a Microsoft product would be an extremely cost-effective solution.
   As part of the upgrade we took care of migrating the data from their old CRM database, and implemented Microsoft CRM into their existing virtual server infrastructure, making sure all services were working efficiently and were accessible internally and externally (using web based clients).
2. Large mail database: All mailboxes in the Microsoft Exchange mailbox were carefully assessed and monitored for regular activity. By speaking to SKmedia staff we identified old mail and archived it into the backup store, so that it would not be backed up daily and consume unnecessary space.
   The mail stores were then further split to improve backup times and allow staff to separate backups into different areas for redundancy and efficiency in case of disaster. 
3. Collaboration solution:  VPNs are good solution, but they can be slow for transferring large files, and using them in public places can be difficult especially if special VPN software has to be installed on the remote PC, and firewalls need to be passed.
   It can also pose a threat to a company’s network if accessed from an external PC on a public network that is has not been checked for viruses and other malware threats.
   
   SKMedia wanted a web based solution that would allow their workforce to access company files from anywhere, securely, without having to install special software on the remote PC. For this we implemented Microsoft Sharepoint Services 3.0.
   Again, as the company had a licensing agreement in-place already, it made financial sense to opt for a Microsoft based solution. The company is currently planning to move to Sharepoint services 2007
4. New Database server: We migrated data from the old database server, into the new one housed inside the virtual server infrastructure. All database based application were then re-directed to the new Microsoft SQL server, and have benefited from improved performance.

M Hasnain Accountants and Finance

Company URL: http://www.mhasnain.co.uk

About

M Hasnain is a group of two companies that provide a number of accountancy and financial services.
M Hasnain Accountants provide all standard accountancy products and services and have been helping businesses since 1974
M Hasnain Finance established since 2005, is a specialist provider in car finance. The company has many satisfied clients and is excellent at sourcing great cars with financing deals (to be updated)

Problem

In 2005, M Hasnain had grown to a staff base of 20 and was using 20 PCs on a basic network.

The company had been using Sage Accounts Line 50 and Payroll for a long time, as well as Microsoft Outlook for email.

However, as there was no server hosting the data centrally, file sharing was mundane and laborious. Moving data from PC to PC was difficult, and backups were initially sparse. On top of this the company had a number of network outages and failures due to poor cabling and network equipment installation by previous suppliers.

Internet access was available on only two PCs throughout the organisation. All the PCs were running Windows 95 or 98 and had a number of reliability problems. The company suffered downtime often and struggled to maintain high levels of productivity due to a poor IT infrastructure.

The managing directors at M Hasnain had been trying to source a reliable IT Service provider for nearly for more than two years.

The Initial Meeting

Our sales representative visited M Hasnain at their office, to assess their current network, perform a basic audit and meet with the directors to discuss the problems and form a project plan to overhaul the IT infrastructure.

The directors explained that they had been working hard to source IT providers for a long time, but that no company seemed ‘brave enough’ to tackle the problems head on. They realised they would have to spend a reasonable amount of money on new equipment but were reluctant to buy New PCs to save cost.

The sales representative explained and highlighted the benefits of New PCs, a new server to host the data centrally and an upgrade on the network cabling and equipment. With some hesitation the managing director finally agreed, and work began.

First steps

XS-PRO talked to a number of IT hardware vendors, and in the end found Dell to be the most value for money vendor at the time. They worked with M Hasnain to order the new PCs and scheduled a date to install a new server and deploy all the workstations.

Implementation

The new server, 20 Dell PCs with Windows XP Pro, and updated network equipment were installed, setup and configured in just 2 working days.

The Result

Since 2005, M Hasnain have experienced more than 97% uptime across their network and desktop PCs and have had only one hardware problem on one desktop PC throughout.

Now, all desktop users have internet and email access.

Staff are able to store their files on the server and collaborate with each other without even leaving their desk. Central printing is now also available, and individual printers do not need to be maintained by the staff individually.

The Future

M Hasnain are now looking to revamp their company website, and implement centrally managed email services. They will be opting for XS-PRO as their trusted provider.