P3 / CASE STUDY. Connected

UK businesses are

switching on to the cloud.

It is estimated that the

number of SMEs using a

private cloud for some of

their IT infrastructure will

rise to 30% this year.

The business case for embedding your infrastructure in the cloud is strong;

increased agility, lower costs and improved business continuity. What’s more, cloud services are more cost effective than ever and are now available from Abtec. Cloud services are a game changer for IT managers. They can help remove

mundane tasks, focussing resource on your organisation’s strategic objectives. Budgets can be transformed; migrating from capital to more predictable operating expenditure. Finally, they can enable IT

P1

/ SWITCHED ON

As more SMEs use the cloud to build their IT infrastructure we look at the business case behind this move,

P2

/ CLOUD SERVICES Abtec has a range of new cloud services, you’ll find details about them here.

P3

/ CASE STUDY

Find out how our thin client computing recommendation helped East Midlands based chartered accountants The Rowleys Partnership.

P5

/ SPECIAL OFFER Test drive our new Veeam Cloud Connect service with a free three month trial.

30% of UK SMEs plan to use cloud

services over the next 12 months.

Connected

“

”

Switching on to the Cloud

>> CONT. PAGE TWO

IS#7

SPRING EDITION





📰

📣

Switching

on to the

Cloud

teams to deliver their services more effectively and efficiently.

Improved perception

As we’ll see in this edition of the newsletter our cloud services could improve your users’ experience of your IT services. Remote workers could have faster access to business applications. IT services could be deployed quicker, with fewer reasons to raise capital expenditure. Problems could be resolved faster, without having to travel to the user’s site.

Cloud partner

With our networking and infrastructure expertise we are your ideal cloud partner. We can help you design and deliver your cloud strategy, enabling you to capitalise on this game changing technology. Contact our team on 01858 438 500 to find out more.

>> CONT. FROM PAGE ONE

Whether you are starting your journey or are ready for full deployment, we’ve got the services and expertise to help you get the most from the cloud. Here’s an overview of some of our cloud services.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

With our IaaS proposition infrastructure means just that, your IT infrastructure. Firewalls, switches, servers and applications, almost all of your physical resources can be can be moved to the cloud. Moving those resources removes some of the associated costs too; for example power, cooling and server maintenance costs. We can even issue software patches and updates too.

Security as a Service

Our cloud security services can help eliminate threats before they reach your users. Proofpoint, the email filtering service, can quarantine malware and viruses, and remove phishing emails that can cause so many problems.

Veeam Cloud Connect

Abtec is now a Veeam Cloud Connect provider. This means you can use our cloud as a repository for your backups; ideal if you need off-site storage. Our optimised network can help reduce recovery time objectives (RTO), getting you back up and running faster. Check out our free trial

of Veeam Cloud Connect later in this newsletter.

Hosted Voice Services

If you have a telephone system at each of your sites, it’s time to consider a cloud based service instead. As well as reducing your maintenance and management costs a hosted system could provide new features too, such as centralised call recording. Having one, cloud based system, makes it easier to integrate into your business continuity plan too.

From email filtering to infrastructure and

applications our cloud services can help

you create an efficient IT platform.

New Cloud Services



• Run your applications in the cloud • High spec servers • Increase/reduce capacity on demand • Secure UK data centres

Infrastructure

as a Service

• Smart backup of VMs • Store backups off-site, securely • Veeam optimised network to speed up backup delivery • WAN Acceleration • Strengthen your DR plan

Veeam Cloud

Connect

• Reduce complexity with centralised security services • Proofpoint email filtering • Email backup and archiving

Security as a

Service

• Cloud based telephone system • Calls delivered to deskphones • Music on hold, call transfer, voice mail, call recording and more • Flexible, increase extensions for short periods of time • Works well with SIP telephony

Hosted Voice

Services

More employees are working from home. According to the Office of National Statistics 13.9% of the UK workforce, that’s 4.2 million, are classed as homeworkers.

One of the challenges of homeworking is ensuring that remote workers don’t feel isolated or cut off from the rest of the company. Cloud technology can play an important role in keeping employees physically and emotionally connected. It can even improve productivity to boot.

VPN problems

Homeworkers traditionally access corporate applications through an Internet VPN connected to the head office. This can be problematic, particularly when homeworkers are fighting for limited head office upload speed, and can cause applications to appear to run slow.

Hosting applications in our cloud and accessing using our broadband network can accelerate application and employee performance. Essentially our broadband network provides another node on your private WAN, avoiding the internet. If the connection supports it, quality of service could be implemented too. Internet access could be provided from the cloud through your cloud based firewall, ensuring consistent Internet security and safety policies.

Improved performance

Technology that’s been difficult to deliver over Internet VPNs, such as telephony, video conferencing and sensitive data sharing, are now achievable. Direct access to the same corporate applications, including voice and video, that an office worker enjoys is an important step in removing the ‘remote’ from remote workers.

For more information about Abtec’s cloud and remote working services contact our specialists on 01858 438 500.

Cloud Connected

Case Study:

IT that Adds Up

Founded in 1883 The Rowleys Partnership Ltd is a leading firm of chartered accountants based in Leicestershire.

Rowleys knew much of its IT infrastructure was coming to the end of its natural life but it wanted to get away from its traditional approach to updating IT. Mark Hook, Director at Rowleys, explains, “Previously we’d updated our computing infrastructure in a piecemeal way, but this left us with the problem of having a variety of operating systems, which was difficult to manage.” This was affecting productivity, with older systems slow and sluggish. The firm turned to its trusted IT partner, Abtec, to explore its options.

Partner with expertise

Abtec created a strategy that would support the organisation. Phil Kennerdell, Abtec’s Sales Director, notes “We presented Rowleys with a thin client computing option. This addressed Rowleys’ immediate issues as well as providing a flexible platform that could respond better to market and regulatory changes.”

Thin client and virtualisation

Abtec deployed Wyse thin clients for Rowleys’ 40

users; new Cisco and NetApp servers. These operate in a virtualised environment, powered by VMware. This increases the servers’ energy efficiency and improves the resilience of applications. Kennerdell points out “The beauty of virtualisation is that if a server failure occurs applications instantly migrate to other servers and continue to work”.

Flexible, agile platform

By providing thin client architecture Abtec has removed Rowleys from its IT purchasing ‘treadmill’. Thin clients are simply ‘dumb’ terminals and there’s less hardware to go out of date. Rowleys should see a saving in energy use too. Thin client PCs use less than a quarter of the energy of their traditional counterparts. The platform will support Rowleys’ flexibility and agility. As Mark Hook says “Thanks to Abtec we’ve now got an IT infrastructure that’s much easier to manage. This infrastructure will make it easier to capitalise on market opportunities.”

Lower cost, simple to use and a platform for growth. These are benefits that add up for Rowleys.

Thanks to Abtec we’ve now got an IT

infrastructure that’s much easier to

manage

“

Choosing a

Cloud Partner

Choosing the right

cloud partner is an

important factor

in the success of

your IT strategy.

Here are some

questions that

will help get that

decision right

Does the provider have any existing customers that can vouch for the service? Any provider worth their salt will be happy for you to talk to a client of theirs.

TRACK RECORD

What security measures do they take? This includes physical, network and data encryption. Do they hold any security accreditations, e.g. Cisco CCNP Security?

SECURITY

How do you access their cloud? Services often work best when the computing resources are delivered over the same provider’s network, not a third party network.

NETWORK

Where is the data centre based? Storing certain data outside the European Economic Area (EEA) could put you in breach of the Data Protection Act.

LOCATION

What is the financial history of the cloud provider? Trusting your IT with a provider without a strong financial history could lead to problems.

FINANCES

What happens if something goes wrong? Unfortunately no IT works perfectly. Does the provider have a documented process with timescales to resolve issues?

SERVICE LEVEL

How flexible is the service contract? Your organisation has unique needs and requirements. Can the provider cater for these in your contract?

To celebrate the launch of

our Veeam Cloud Connect

service we’re giving you the

opportunity to take a free

trial. You can test drive the

service for three months to

see if it improves your backup

regime.

Veeam Cloud Connect tackles an ever present problem for IT managers; off-site backup storage. Ideally we’d all use the ‘3-2-1 backup rule’. In the real world limited bandwidth and growing data volumes prohibits many organisations from

Cloud backup

Not for much longer though. You can now strengthen your off-site backup regime with Abtec and Veeam Cloud Connect. We can store your primary or secondary Veeam backups in our secure cloud. Our Veeam optimised network connections can help speed up your backup and recovery process. And our ‘pay per GB’ pricing ensures that you only pay for the backup infrastructure that you’ve used.

How it works

You can get your backups offsite into our cloud with no additional Veeam licensing, it’s part of Veeam Availibility Suite v8. Access and

recover data directly from your backup console; track cloud repository consumption and receive reminders for hosted storage renewals. Rest easy by encrypting all data at source (before it leaves your network perimeter), or use our secure Veeam optimised network to speed up the delivery and recovery process.

Contact our specialists for a free trial on 01858 438 500, or visit www.abtecnet.com.

Choosing a

Cloud Partner

Smarter Business

Backup with Veeam

3-2-1 Backup backups

3

media types

2



1

off-site

FREE TRIAL

Winning Combination for

Aspirational Home Builder

📣

Barents House, Compass Point, Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 9HW www.abtecnet.com

01858 438 500 [email protected]

Abtec Network Systems and

Abtec Building Technologies

have joined forces to create

a new team, and it’s already

winning business.

The new Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) team combines the expertise and resources of both businesses. Dave Watkins, Commercial Director, Abtec Building Technologies, explains, “We’ve now got unique team with skills focussed on the construction market”.

Story Homes

Aspirational home builder Story Homes selected Abtec to support the renovation of its new headquarters in Carlisle. The team delivered heating, ventilation and lighting control; in addition to the IT and communications infrastructure.

Collaborative working

George Thomson, Project Systems Manager for Story Homes led on the project and was keen to work with Abtec as having he had worked with Abtec previously he was confident that they could successfully deliver a project of this size. George said: “It was important that we could implement integrated systems in our new headquarters which would not only create a comfortable space for staff, but also deliver efficient and effective platforms to users in their daily activities and support the development of collaborative working which will be critical in achieving our growth plans. We have done this with the new Business Management System and the deployment

of a variety of new technologies, including Smartboards, video conferencing and integrated telephony throughout the.”

IP networks

An issue many in the construction industry are facing is the rise in the importance of IP networks. There’s a demand to connect building control devices, for example air conditioning, heating and lighting, together over Ethernet networks. This helps devices communicate with each other and reduce energy consumption.

“For many M&E contractors IP networks are an unfamiliar technology. Our team has Cisco accredited engineers that ensures devices are connected safely and securely.” Continues Watkins.

Collaborative technology, such as interactive smart boards, should aid productivity for Story Homes employees