The Customer:
Ellesmere Group Ltd is a leading design and installation contractor for mechanical and electrical building services. Established in 1945, this North West company serves business and public sectors bodies nationwide, offering technical consultancy, site surveys, detailed specifications and tenders for all types of building services.
The Business Requirement:
Ellesmere approached inTec in 2016 with a requirement for a full service review of their existing IT support, infrastructure and software licencing. The business had an IT estate of 25 PCs, a number of disparate servers and poor options for remote working. The team was relying on outdated IT systems, which were inconsistent from department to department. In particular, email was proving an issue — Ellesmere found themselves continually experiencing problems with mailbox size and unreliable anti-virus solutions. What’s more, the leadership team knew that job management and financial reporting were both areas that would benefit from an IT overhaul, in order to improve efficiencies. An internal systems review led to the business engaging with inTec in order to find a way to work smarter.
First Steps:
Following an initial review, the inTec team highlighted a number of key areas for improvement: IT support, email and the infrastructure estate (which was, at that time, a mixed estate of IT kit and software licencing).
A subsequent technology and process review, focussed on service, identified a further need to improve the incumbent job management system. Working closely with the customer, the inTec team lead a systems review, which ultimately highlighted the need for a new, company-wide job management system update.
It was agreed that inTec would undertake a Vendor Selection Process on behalf of the business, to select the most suitable partner for delivering the required business system. Ellesmere and inTec also agreed that Microsoft Office 365 would be a good fit for the business.
What to expect from Microsoft Office 365?
Microsoft Office 365 helps to empower your team, safeguard your business and simplify IT management with a single solution, purpose-built for your business. Features and benefits include:
• Access to the full Microsoft Office suite you’re familiar with including Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote
• A full Unified Communications solution with Skype for Business (formerly Lync), so you can communicate and collaborate with instant messaging, presence and conference facilities
• Synchronised mail, calendar and contacts, enabling employees to collaborate and edit documents on the go.
The Solution
inTec addressed email and licencing issues by implementing Office 365 across the business. In doing so, Ellesmere was able to migrate its users away from a hosted email provider, which had been causing issues with storage and accessibility. This change was simple to implement but had far-reaching, positive results. It enabled employees to work remotely, provided improved levels of security and eliminated frustrating capacity issues.
Delivery & Outcome
The solution included:
• Full roll out of Microsoft Office 365
• Hosted email with increased storage
• A review of R&D spend and subsequent tax credits
• Review of processes across all business departments
• ERP Vendor Selection Process
The implementation of Office 365 and hosted email addressed issues with mailbox size and document storage, as well as giving employees the option to work remotely and on the go, for the first time.
An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Vendor Selection Process was completed by inTec, identifying simPRO – a business that specialises in designing software to make running a trade business easier – as the company best suited to meeting Ellesmere’s Job Management requirements.
Finally, a review into Ellesmere’s technology-related research and development (R&D) spend, gave inTec the opportunity to advise the business on possible tax savings and introduce them to Catax – a inTec partner – who ultimately recouped over £15,000 in tax owed to the business.
Steve Hargreaves, Technology Consultant for inTec, said: “Ellesmere has seen the benefit of our Discovery Process, which highlighted a number of areas on which to concentrate. We worked closely with Matt and the team to draw up an action plan which we subsequently delivered, leading to tangible business improvements.”
Matt Amstrong, Managing Director for Ellesmere, said: “inTec offered us a free Discovery Session that enabled us to talk about the business and its current challenges. This session proved really useful, validating the issues we already knew we had and helping to explore suitable solutions. From this initial session, inTec has delivered change into our business, not only addressing specific issues but also providing a solid sounding board for the Ellesmere team. inTec has also provided the expertise we needed in helping us to select the vendor for our ERP, which will develop our working practices by improving efficiencies, increasing accountability and giving better visibility throughout our business. Ultimately, this is improving our bottom line!”
At inTec Business Solutions, we help businesses to get the most out of technology, with access to industry experts offering end-to-end tech consultancy and support.