BES Reduces Risk with Managed Hosting
The Challenge
BES Consulting Limited (www.besconsulting.co.uk) is the largest asbestos risk management company in the UK delivering legislation compliant solutions to both corporate property portfolio owners and clients with individual premises.
As part of BES's risk management services, asbestos evaluations from site surveys (including reports, plans, images and scanned documents) are uploaded to an online data storage system which is accessible by clients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The system was originally developed by Zen's specialist Web design division, Zen Web Solutions, and was hosted on a BES owned server that was co-located at one of Zen's secure suites within TeleCity's Manchester-based data centre. However, over time, BES found that the amount of administrative work required to operate and manage the server effectively was causing a strain on resources. This was especially apparent with the company's growth and the need to deploy resources more efficiently.
The Solution
In order to address this issue and allow the company to concentrate on their core business, Zen's Technical Consultants conducted a detailed business and technical requirements analysis. The outcome of this investigation then formed the basis of Zen's proposed solution, which focused on their specific needs.
The solution consisted of a dedicated server with full management of both hardware and software, 24/7 support and ongoing service monitoring. Setup with the Windows Server 2003 operating system, DeepMetrix Web statistics and Helm control panel, the solution allows BES to access performance and usage reports as required and make basic day-to-day changes whilst leaving the monitoring, updating and overall management of the service to Zen's specialist Hosting team. The solution also benefits from Zen's highly resilient network infrastructure, managed firewall security and UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply), therefore minimising any threat of downtime.
As part of the service, Zen provided a comprehensive SLA (Service Level Agreement) that included a single point of contact for support requests, a guaranteed 1 hour response with definitive fault resolution times, offsite data backup and detailed service monitoring to identify potential faults quickly and efficiently.
The Benefits
Implementation of the managed hosting solution proved to be the ideal choice for BES, providing them with a 'one stop shop' for their Internet and hosting requirements.
The initial consultation phase allowed Zen to develop a solution that would best meet their needs, providing guaranteed access to information and records for their clients around the clock. By outsourcing their managed hosting requirements, BES has been able to allocate more time to achieving their core business objectives whilst improving the service levels delivered to their clients. Also, as BES no longer manages and operates their server in-house, significant cost savings and efficiency gains have been achieved.
On an operational level, Zen's specialist Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers maintain the server with the latest operating system and application software updates and patches to ensure maximum performance and complete peace of mind. In addition, the solution is scalable and will allow for future development of both the hosting platform and data storage system seamlessly.
Neil Whitehead, IT Manager at BES Consulting Ltd commented:
Our customers demand access to information and records around the clock so we cannot afford even the smallest amount of downtime. Zen's managed hosting solution met our business needs perfectly. The service we have received has been exceptional, from provisioning the service right through to the ongoing management and support. It’s good to know that Zen’s specialist hosting team are always on hand should we need them.
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