Clyk Empowers Industrial Engineering Company's Growth

The Challenge:

The company’s IT infrastructure had been managed by one of the directors, but they knew that this was only going to take them so far and the cracks were beginning to show.

Clyk conducted a comprehensive assessment encompassing

• Network infrastructure & security
• Management, asset logging & allocation of endpoint devices.
• Overall company security, both physical & software-based.
• Evaluation of server hardware that was running on site.
• Investigation of all software packages being used & their suitability.
• Implementation of a new IP-based phone system.
• Staff training, security awareness & overall assessment of IT staff levels.
• Plotter & printer installation & management to suit the design & CAD teams.

The Solution:

We began by looking at the security posture, stack, and backup procedures. For Clyk these are fundamentals that any well-managed service should be based on, without these the risks are too high and your company, charity, council, etc is left exposed. A full audit of the IT kit was done and we swiftly protected all the endpoints, servers, and other critical infrastrycture. We investigated what data the company had, ensured this was centralised & then put in place both encrypted cloud backups, off-site backups as well as encrypted local back ups. The current servers were evaluated and as a separate project, these were earmarked for replacement in a virtualised environment with an on-site redundant server for ultimate business continuity.

Once we had a solid security & backup foundation we moved on to looking at the staff, their concerns, issues & the actual end user devices. A managed services contract was put into place with a support desk which included unlimited telephone, remote & when needed on-site support. As the staff we all at different levels we put in place as a training plan to ensure that everyone knew how they should be working, where to save data & the correct software packages to use. We knew that as a company they were using too many software packages that did similar functions, this was reported to the leadership team & flagged for future projects further down the line. In the meantime, we managed all of the systems & assisted with any end-user queries. More immediate business problems were the lack of an IP-based phone system, a requirement study was carried out & MS Phone System was found to be a good fit, that would integrate well within their tech stack. This was rolled out to all the appropriate staff that needed it, physical phones were set up for the staff that required them, the whole system was managed by Clyk & full training was provided to all of the end users within the business.

Many of our clients have unique needs & every solution that is provided is fully tailored to that client, this particular client had an exact need for a specialist CAD plotter & printing system. Similar to the phone system a full feasibility study was carried out to ascertain what the exact needs were, the correct hardware was then sourced, and installed and its ongoing management is handled by Clyk.

Although we are based in Newcastle-under-Lyme, we work all over the UK & have installed & managed multiple sites for this client all over the UK. Each site managed by us is a fully wrapped solution where we manage internet connections, network infrastructure, security & data at each site. As new sites are identified Clyk gets these up & running & manages them on an ongoing basis.

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The Impact:

The impact of Clyk taking over both the day-to-day management of the IT & many projects over the years has had a profound effect. The company has now flourished to a 24+ Million turnover, in part because; 1. The leadership team is no longer tied up with IT issues and infrastructure and 2. Clyk works hard to keep them secure, staff well trained & supported to give them a platform to grow from.

The company's data is secure and protected from both internal and external threats as well as they can be. All of their systems run well, they have great connectivity both in terms of incoming internet connection & internal network infrastructure.

All day-to-day queries are dealt with promptly, our average response time on our support desk is 2 minutes. When issues do arise they are dealt with promptly, minimising downtime with a focus on keeping the staff productive & the company working as it should be.

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Other projects completed:

Working closely with the IT manager we have consolidated their software systems, ensuring that no expense is being wasted on software packages that do a similar job such as running Microsoft 365, Dropbox, and Google Workspace. The company, impressed by the potential cost savings and operational efficiencies adopted Clyk's recommendation and migrated to Microsoft 365. Clyk managed the entire process, including

• Data migration: Secure and efficient transfer of data from the previous platforms to Microsoft 365.
• User training: Equipping staff with the necessary knowledge and skills to navigate the new platform effectively. The successful migration resulted in
• Annual savings of £13,000: Eliminating the costs of redundant subscriptions.
• Improved data management: Centralised storage and access, fostering better collaboration and eliminating data silos.
• Enhanced security: Streamlined security management and reduced potential vulnerabilities

Future Plans:

Our relationship has gone from strength to strength. Our role has pivoted to working with the IT manager to facilitate its growth, security, and other areas of the business. We have and are working on many projects looking at things such as IT policies, security awareness training, password management, website blocking, and secure DNS.