Case Study - Charity
A large well-established charity which helps people on low incomes with their tax affairs. Their head office is in central London and they run a national helpline, plus provide face-to-face services in London and elsewhere in the UK.
From this client’s humble beginnings, over 12 years ago, Andor has been with them all the way from a tiny office with two PCs on a simple network to their present large office location in central London consisting of servers, PCs, laptops, networked printers and several remote workers. At the heart of their system they have two servers providing 24 hour access for their users. These servers provide Windows Server operating systems via a fully Cat6-cabled office connecting to over 20 PC workstations. As well as the standard MS Office applications such as Word (and Outlook for email), they operate several specialised software systems which are also accessed by remote workers via Windows Terminal Services on one of the servers. Giving the office staff flexibility is an important aspect of this client’s day-to-day operation, so on the server we have implemented roaming profiles which, together with re-directed folders, allows a user to sit at any PC to work with their familiar own data and programs. Resilience and security is provided by an “uninterruptible Power Supply” for resilience against mains power fluctuations or failures.
Network-based anti-virus software is complemented with hardware firewalls and secure routers. Two broadband connections give them a speedy Internet which also supports the remote workers. Using a comprehensive online backup system, this safeguards their data from accidental deletion or worse. No backup data is stored on-site, giving complete peace of mind that all the information is safe and secure. However, file restores are easily carried out. Their email uses hosted Exchange, is accessible typically via Outlook but also via the Web from anywhere.
Their systems are monitored constantly by Andor with Andor providing full support, via phone email and remote access, plus on-site when necessary. Due to the sensitive nature of the personal data this client holds, we have implemented secure data encryption on the laptops which staff and remote workers use. The servers, routers, switches, UPS and other hardware are all contained within a large cabinet which also houses the mains power connections for these devices and cooling fans. As they continue to grow, Andor will be helping them to make the best use of technology.
Case Study - International Publishing Company, Central London Offices
With a staff of about 15, they are the UK branch of an long-standing publishing company founded in in 1923, with headquarters in New York, their London office is just off the famous Oxford Street, the Mecca for shopaholics! We supplied and installed a Windows server housed in a dedicated, air-conditioned room.
They have a power-supply battery in the evnt of the mains failing, a router which connects to broadband provided by one of the UK’s premier corporate Internet companies We installed and configured a VPN system so that staff can access the server files from home or elsewhere, this proved especially useful during the recent Olympics in London and during the cold weather when snow disrupted travel to the office. We migrated them to Google Apps for their entire email operation making it available from anywhere, but for those who want to use Outlook as their familiar front-end interface we have linked it up.
They use typical applications such as MS Office, plus some online database systems provided by their books distributors. Some staff who travel have laptops and connect to the netowkr when in the office, others have desktop PCs. There are several printers around the office
SQL Database
Online backup
Remote monitoring
Remote PC accss
