The solutions provided were shown in a transparent manner, with thought towards the financial impact of such an upgrade. A case in mind was the UPS being assessed for suitability/longevity.”
Duncan Macleod, General Manager
The Client
Safety, Welding and Lifting was founded in 1994 to support the myriad of companies operating in and around the Cromarty Firth and offering goods and services to the Offshore Industry.
Located in Invergordon, the company has gradually expanded and now offers services throughout mainland Scotland and its islands, supplying goods both nationally and internationally.
The company consists of three divisions: Safety Welding & Lifting, SWL Electrical and SWL Fire Protection.
The Challenge
Being a long-standing existing client, The Apprentice Store were already providing managed IT support services to Safety, Welding and Lifting on an on-going basis.
Through routine monitoring, The Apprentice Store had noticed their ageing servers had started showing hardware failures. Concerns were raised with the client about the increased risk of unexpected service outages.
Action was urgently required to reduce the risk of any unplanned business disruption. Because there was no planned expenditure in this area to replace equipment, a clear strategy approved by the client was also needed.
The question was whether to move all IT services to the Cloud or to continue utilising server hardware. The answer to which would drive the solutions being considered. .
The Solution
Being a long-standing existing client, The Apprentice Store were already providing managed IT support services to Safety, Welding and Lifting on an on-going basis.
Through routine monitoring, The Apprentice Store had noticed their ageing servers had started showing hardware failures. Concerns were raised with the client about the increased risk of unexpected service outages.
Action was urgently required to reduce the risk of any unplanned business disruption. Because there was no planned expenditure in this area to replace equipment, a clear strategy approved by the client was also needed.
The question was whether to move all IT services to the Cloud or to continue utilising server hardware. The answer to which would drive the solutions being considered.
The Benefit
Being a long-standing existing client, The Apprentice Store were already providing managed IT support services to Safety, Welding and Lifting on an on-going basis.
Careful monitoring and proactive management of existing servers by The Apprentice Store prevented a potentially catastrophic situation for the client which could have resulted in data being lost and major disruption to the business.
Because of The Apprentice Store’s monitoring activities, the business avoided any potential downtime, allowing them to stay fully operational without disruption while The Apprentice Store managed, planned and implemented the change.
The business is now confident that their data is protected and in their ability to recover services and data quickly should there ever be an issue with their server.
SWL now makes use of The Apprentice Store’s managed services, Office 365 and Acronis services.
SWL said they benefited from working with The Apprentice Store so much so that they think of The Apprentice Store as their own IT division rather than a vendor for their IT needs.
Duncan MacLeod, SWL’s general manager, has been quoted saying:
“The solutions provided were shown in a transparent manner, with thought toward the financial impact of such an upgrade. A case in mind was the UPS being assessed for suitability/longevity.” .
