The first case study will be PC-TECH.BIZ itself. In 2010 it was decided that cloud based services would be the future of IT, and as such PC-TECH.BIZ had to move to show the way.
The main systems that had to be changed were (in order):
- Accounting
- CRM
- Job Management
- Remote Management
Email moved from standard POP accounts to Hosted Exchange. The benefits that came with the move included anywhere access (computers/mobile devices), synchronisation between all devices, sharing of email inboxes and calendars. For the primary computer email could be sent/received as long as there was an internet connection.
Accounting
A cashbook application was changed to Xero (www.xero.co.nz). Web based, no application to load, and available from any device. No per user fees, and Accountants could access the data without having to send files to them. The bank feed component when linked to the main bank account meant that reconciliation could take place every day, online, in seconds.
Xero also integrates with other applications. Xero data is held in NZ, so current law requirements were met.
CRM
A large installed CRM package was replaced with Solve360 (www.norada.com). The CRM search was the hardest of all the applications to find. Having had 10 years with the previous CRM package meant that certain features had to be retained. Operation had to be simple, and so a lot of other cloud based CRM solutions were discounted because they were overly complicated.
Job Management
A multi user cloud based job management system was required to enable the capture of all work. WorkflowMax was chosen (www.workflowmax.com) as it was able to integrate with Xero, and provided a key performance indicator - that of hours worked per month. The job management system also insulates the operation of the business from the accounting side.
Remote Management
Managed services with remote monitoring and management was also required. A remote management tool that was cloud based was sourced from NZ - Naverisk (www.naverisk.com).
Remote Access
At the time of transitioning to all these cloud based applications, having these features available when mobile became important. At the time only the iPhone was able to fit the bill. Since then Android based phones have also the capability to work with all of the above applications.
Conclusion
Moving from programs dedicated to one computer, with very little remote access, to cloud based services has increased efficiency, reduced impact of computer loss or physical disasters, and evened out expense peaks and troughes. PC-TECH.BIZ is also set up for expansion without having to invest in any more user licences.
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