Case study: SMB customer Chubb Bulleid
Switch to ATM for cost-effective remote monitoring
Have you ever wanted to change your support supplier but were afraid to do so? For Somerset-based solicitors Chubb Bulleid, a new software and hardware support contract with ATM Technology Management has proved a very positive experience. Thanks to ATM's Remote Support Desk, Chubb Bulleid now enjoys an innovative fix-before-fail solution that's given the firm peace of mind, saved staff time, and ensures continuity of service.
About Chubb Bullied
Chubb Bulleid is a firm of high street solicitors based in Somerset offering a wide range of legal services including conveyancing, family law, agricultural, and commercial. Operating from Wells, Street, and Somerton, the firm has 42 employees.
There are four HP/Compaq file servers located at three sites running Microsoft Windows SBS 2000 along with personal computers, firewalls, routers, tape drives, and uninterruptible power supplies. When its equipment leasing company unexpectedly ended hardware and software support, Chubb Bulleid needed an alternative.
The Customer comments ...
"It was an opportunity to improve certain aspects of the service," said Practice Manager Kim Lord. "For example, I wanted to be sure all the server updates were being done regularly."
Several suppliers were closely scrutinised, trying to find one that would make the transition as smooth as possible. In addition, Lord wanted to reduce the time spent in-house on routine server checking. ATM proposed its remote service desk - an innovative monitoring facility - which offered early detection and quick resolution of any problems.
"ATM were large enough to matter, yet small enough to care. They were more dynamic and had better ideas of service advancement. They also had enough people to make things count - I just liked the feel of ATM, " said Lord.
ATM's first task was to audit the software, hardware, licensing, and patch update status. The company also supplied Norton Ghost to take desktop snapshots for easier recovery and deployment of new PCs. The remote monitoring software [IBM Tivoli Express] was quickly implemented on the servers and linked via a VPN Internet connection to ATM's central monitoring system. Lord says that the transition from the old supplier in June 2005 was "very seamless and smooth."
Although changing suppliers might seem daunting, it's proved a very rewarding experience. A friendly team at ATM telephones Chubb Bulleid weekly while ATM's Remote Support Desk ensures peace of mind by constantly monitoring servers and Microsoft Exchange e-mail. Monthly visits for server checks and patching plus a software support telephone helpline round off the comprehensive service.
The new fix-before-fail monitoring system provides alerts to issues before they affect service, can correct problems automatically, and even provides useful diagnostics for any called-out engineers. It can also make management changes remotely and, at under 20p per server hour, is remarkably cost-effective compared to providing in-house resources.
"ATM's Remote Support Desk will pick up if the Arcserve backups haven't worked. They also noticed that Symantec anti-virus had stopped updating one day," said Lord. "ATM are very efficient and, if I have a problem, they're very swift in putting it right. ATM have given us a very good value-for-money service and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them."
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