FluidOne - Chorley

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the group chairman of Blenheims. We are a company that undertakes property management on behalf of various clients. We manage blocks of flats and principal estates of houses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HW Technology?

We had our own servers, but we found that the person who was maintaining them wasn't particularly great. We were introduced to HW Technology through our external accountant who used them as well. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Since 2006, they've been providing cloud IT services to our group. HW Technology provides all of the cloud-based servers we use; we just log on to their servers. They maintain all of the software that we own and offer security measures for those servers. The servers are in a data center, which means that they are protected and backed up. HW Technology maintains the servers in a  much more effective and efficient manner than we would be able to do without spending a considerable amount of money. 

They source Microsoft licenses for everything that we do. If we were doing this ourselves, we’d have to buy multiple licenses. Microsoft bundles their licenses, so if we hit our limit, we’d have to buy 20 more licenses, even if we just need one. On the other hand, HW Technology can charge us for one additional license whenever we have a new staff member, which saves us time and money. Also, they look after all of our PCs. If we have a problem, we can phone their support desk, which is exceptionally good. 

HW Technology sources our computers, laptops, and printers. For instance, if our printer isn’t connecting, they sort that out. We use Microsoft Remote Desktop and Microsoft Authenticator for specific authentications. We're also testing a software to log on and authenticate through our mobile phone. We have around 5–6 people using this software. We were testing it just before COVID-19, and we've been happy with it. We wanted to bring that across for everyone, but we thought it was a step too far during that period. It's something we will look to introduce across all the users at some point once we're back in the office properly.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with Mark (Sales & Marketing Director), but I have no idea of how many people he has working behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with HW Technology?

Our accountant recommended them. He introduced us when we were struggling with our one-person IT support.

How much have you invested with them?

I don’t have the exact numbers; however, I can say that since 2012, we have spent around £1.3 million (approximately $1,840,000 USD). The fees have grown as we have.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2006. We’ve been working with them for just under 15 years, and we continue to use their services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The only feedback I can give about the quality of their work is the downtime. If their servers go down, then we can't work or get access. Over 15 years, there have only been 1–2 instances where the broadband line failed, but their side has never failed. We've never had a situation where we haven't been able to continue working one way or another. To me, that is a massive success in dealing with a company over 15 years.

How did HW Technology perform from a project management standpoint?

Whenever we’ve had individual projects, such as when we moved to a SQL server about 3–4 years ago, they've always met their deadlines. We’ve never had a problem. Whenever we call the support desk about an issue; they are fast and extremely responsive. I've never heard anyone complain about a lack of response from them.

We usually communicate via email or we can phone up the support desk. I tend to call or email Mark if I have an issue that needs resolving since I have a relationship with him.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their response time is impressive. Internally, they have their own set response times, depending on how urgently they view something. However, I find that if you send them an email or phone support, they generally fix the problem within minutes. If they can’t, they work on it, and they will get it sorted as quickly as possible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not particularly — their communication is excellent, and they get back to us promptly. Based on my experience working with them, there’s very little that has gone wrong, and therefore that I would look for them to improve.

Any advice for potential customers?

To get the most out of the engagement, spec out what you want them to achieve and have that conversation with them. If you are uncertain about what you need, then they're going to struggle to provide the service that you want. Understand what they are capable of doing, and allow them to do that.