Case Study - Butser Rubber

CASE STUDY – Estate Agent

Giving Homewise Peace of Mind That Their Systems Are Secure and Clients Data is Safe

Homewise are a national property company based in Worthing and have offices and representatives across the UK. The founders of Homewise have had the same vision for the last 40 years: to change the shape of retirement in the UK.

www.homewise.co.uk

The Client

Homewise have been specialising in home purchase options for over 60s for over 40 years. Back in 1971, Reg Neal started the company with the aim of providing affordable homes for a group of friends who were struggling to find housing on account of their age. Nowadays, the company is run by Reg’s sons: Mark, Justin and Sean, with a little help from mum, Karen.

Key Results

– A robust and securely encrypted backup system

– An up-to-date server to run the bespoke SQL database application – Upgraded mobile comms from Blackberry to HTC and the Android Platform – Installed a turn-key NAS solution to allow data acces should the server ever fail in the short term

The Challenge

On a daily basis, Homewise deals with the retirement dreams of countless over 60s and an IT breakdown could have disastrous effects on the business. There were serious signs that the old IT systems were struggling due to old hardware, poor design and poor management. Homewise realised that there must be a better and safer way for them to operate. They asked LMS to audit their existing systems and recommend resolutions to their issues.

Justin Neal, FCCA, Finance and Operations Director

“After taking over our IT services in November 2011 LMS have continued to provide a top-quality service for our entire IT system.”

Our Strategy

Our main focus was on the performance and the security of a bespoke SQL database that is the heart of their operations and effectively drives the business forwards. After a complete audit, LMS would assess the threat to the business and remedial steps needed to mitigate the threat. We would then recommend and create an IT system that kept Homewise competitive in their marketplace and protect the interests and transactions of their clients.

Findings

The audit revealed a serious list of issues that needed to be resolved so the clients and the company were not at risk from any threats. The entire system was plagued with: old, slow PCs. Their existing backup was not tested and would often fail, it also took 18 hours to complete a cycle. The antivirus systems they had in place were out of date. The server would often crash and take at least 40 minutes to reboot. Their server would breakdown an average of 3 times a week.

Recommendations & Installations

Our first recommendation was that Homewise should consider appointing LMS as their outsourced IT department because there was so much that needed to be done immediately and the company would benefit from continuous support.

We also recommended and installed a new NAS system to allow data access if the server was to experience any downtime. LMS Group migrated their emails to the LMS CloudMail Platform. We also installed a robust and encrypted backup system. The best addition to their system was a modern, more powerful and reliable server to run their bespoke SQL database application. The installation of all their new system was delivered on time, on budget with no hassle or disruption to the business.