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Sage
Enterprise supports start-up success through ASP enablement
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Client
profile
Millennium start-up, EquIP Technology was formed in March 2000
when joint managing directors Neil Ledger and Ian Morris saw
a gap in the market for the provision of quality internet networking
technology through channel solution providers.
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“One of the main
benefits is that we have a stable platform that
we don’t need to worry about and won’t need to change
in the
years ahead.”
Ian Morris
Joint Managing Director
EquIP Technology |
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By partnering with quality technology suppliers, EquIP Technology
has established a portfolio of leading-edge products that allow
them to design resilient internet infrastructures for their
customers.
The challenge
Despite operating in the new networked economy, EquIP Technology
encounters many of the challenges traditionally facing SMEs
in all sectors. Its administration department has staff wages
to pay, invoices to issue and accounts to settle. Many bills
are paid in foreign currency, and so an advanced system of accounting
was required.
Before operating as a going concern, Neil Ledger and Ian Morris
identified the company’s immediate IT requirements, and recognised
that user numbers and data capacity needs would increase through
a period of rapid expansion.
EquIP was also keen to protect sensitive data about finances,
and other company information about client and partner orders.
A resilient data storage facility was required that could be
protected against external interference and physical damage.
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| ASP
solution summary |
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| Sage software: |
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Sage Enterprise – Finance/Distribution modules |
| Service agreement: |
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Managed Service Provision – full 24 x 7 service helpdesk,
monitoring and support |
| No. of users: |
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8 |
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The solution
“There are a thousand and one considerations to take into
account when starting up a new company, and IT was a prime concern
for us,” says Ian Morris. “We decided to take a fresh
approach to solving those needs, primarily for the sake of cost,
but also for reasons of security, scalability and time.”
Faced with the considerable overheads of starting a business,
EquIP Technology looked for an alternative to the large capital
outlay and all the incumbent costs associated with the purchase
of an IT system. After careful consideration, Neil Ledger and
Ian Morris chose an Application Service Provider solution.
EquIP Technology wanted to facilitate a number of applications
to promote the efficiency of many business processes. As a core
administration tool, Sage Enterprise software was required to
run all aspects of its finances such as accounts payable, invoicing,
forex (foreign exchange), payroll, tax and purchase order reconciliation.
EquIP Technology was in fact the first customer to purchase
Sage Enterprise as part of an Application Service Provider hosted
solution. This strategy was possible because, uniquely, Sage
Enterprise Solutions has introduced managed services to make
its solutions for finance, distribution and manufacturing available
through Application Service Providers.
EquIP Technology chose a solution that incorporated Sage Enterprise,
with Business Objects business intelligence software to maximise
internally and externally gained client and prospect knowledge.
Lotus Notes and Domino were selected as their integrated eMail
system. The solution was designed for eight users initially,
and was hosted on IBM Netfinity servers.
Through the existing partnership between Sage Enterprise Solutions,
one of their channel partners and Pasporte as the Application
Service Provider, the applications were installed over a weekend.
By the Monday morning, EquIP Technology staff were using their
applications, happy in the knowledge that all back ups and security
were being taken care of by their Application Service Provider,
leaving them free to concentrate on the business.
The benefits
EquIP Technology experienced benefits from day one. Ian Morris
confirms, “The main benefit we saw immediately was having
a system with all the functionality we needed from day one,
like foreign exchange purchases and accounting – functionality
we wouldn't otherwise have been able to afford at such an early
stage in our company’s development.”
He adds, “The greatest benefit was saving money and being
able to invest capital in growing the business rather than expensive
IT kit and personnel.”
The future
EquIP Technology now has a system that’s available on demand
and managers have confidence in the future, knowing that they
can add users and applications whenever needed.
For more details on the solution provided for EquIP Technology,
please contact Sage Enterprise Solutions on 0845 600 5999 (UK
only) or +44 (0) 118 927 0100.
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