Rowley Hughes Thompson
When Birmingham based retail property consultancy Rowley Hughes Thompson set up in January 2004, it needed to find an IT provider that could help them get up and running quickly and efficiently, then provide the necessary ongoing support to help manage day to day issues and future growth. Cost efficiency was a major issue because the practice had already identified that at this stage it could not justify an in-house IT specialist.
This had the potential to be a nightmare but Icomm worked with us at every stage of the process to ensure a smooth deployment
Jon Rowley, Rowley Hughes Thompson
This had the potential to be a nightmare but Icomm worked with us at every stage of the process to ensure a smooth deployment.
The Challenge
To develop and manage the installation of a complete IT infrastructure from scratch for the fledgling practice and ensure it was up and running in as short a time as possible.
Icomm was also asked to look at establishing a back up procedure to ensure the practice could continue to function in the event of a major incident occurring.
In addition, Icomm also had to work closely with the providers of a bespoke surveying database solution PRIME, to ensure it worked on the proposed platform.
The Solution
The Icomm team divided the task into 2 key work flows:
- Installation of the cabling infrastructure on site
- Design and configuration of the overall system which was undertaken off site at Icomm's headquarters
This decision minimised disruption to the new business and allowed them to get on with getting up and running.
Working against the clock Icomm installed a 40 point CAT 5 voice and data network within the practice's Bennetts Hill offices to permit seamless use of both telephones and computers across the same infrastructure.
To provide an infrastructure that would be able to cope with future expansion of the practice, Icomm recommended the installation of an HP ML310 Server and a Microsoft® Small Business Server along with a number of networked PCs running Microsoft® Windows XP Professional and Office XP Professional.
Email & Internet services were fully configured, a back up system was installed, plus a Symantec Anti-Virus solution was deployed to minimise the risk of business disruption.
The complete deployment including all testing took just seven working days.
Reaction
As Jon Rowley points out, "This had the potential to be a nightmare but Icomm worked with us at every stage of the process to ensure a smooth deployment. Critically, they continue to offer us support on an ongoing basis. Although we have not had any problems with the solution, it is reassuring to know that help is just a phone call away and the systems Icomm have in place actually allow them to undertake remote maintenance of our infrastructure".
If you would like to know more about what Icomm could do to benefit your company, or have any other enquiries, please contact our sales team.
For more information on this article or the content discussed within, please contact Ian Callens on 0121 248 7931.
