Artec, a specialist IT consultancy and networking service provider, was recently called in to save In-House Management, an international freight and shipping company based in Cape Town, from a potentially crippling server crash.
In-House Management manages the entire freight process from beginning to end, on behalf of its clients. Being an intrinsically international business, freight management and shipping is highly dependent on systems that can operate efficiently and are available 24x7x365.
Additionally, the focus and commitment of staff at In-House Management has been rewarded with increased success and subsequent growth. Operating on just two small business servers, In-House Management`s hardware was struggling to handle increased capacity coupled with the stringent demands of the international freight sector. When the domain controller collapsed under the pressure, In-House Management needed a highly dependable service provider to get them up and running in the shortest possible time.
According to Radiyya Ellemdeen, IT administrator at In-House Management, the business practically ground to a halt. "When the server failed we basically couldn`t do business. We had simply outgrown our servers and we needed a solution provider who could not only get us back up and running quickly, but who could also recommend and implement a more reliable solution," she explains.
In-House Management depends on Maximizer Software`s CRM solution for the running of its freight management business, and it was Camsoft Solutions, local Maximizer Software authorised business partner, which recommended Artec Computing Systems to In-House.
Nishan Pillay, general manager: Western Cape at Artec, states that initially the project was a disaster recovery operation, but quickly it turned into an infrastructure upgrade.
"In-House Management is a heavy database and e-mail user. The hardware just couldn`t cope; added to this was the fact that the number of workstations had increased dramatically from 12 to 30 within six months," he says.
"We needed to get In-House back in business, but we also needed to get them into a position where this sort of thing didn`t happen again. As a Microsoft Gold Partner, we confidently recommended the implementation of Microsoft ISA Server 2004, Exchange Server 2003, Win 2003 Terminal Server, a domain controller/application server - the company already had the SQL Server 2000 database, which was retained. So, based on their growth-driven requirements, they went from only two to five servers," describes Pillay.
"This not only significantly increased their capacity for productivity and efficiency, but by splitting dependencies we were also able to include much needed redundancy, scalability and optimised functionality. I`d say the system is now 30% to 40% faster than it was," he says.
The entire implementation took only five days, ensuring that In-House suffered the minimum amount of downtime. "Artec came in on the Friday, worked throughout the weekend, and by the start of business on Monday the systems were already up. Since we host our own Web site, where over 300 of our customers are registered to track and trace their freight in real-time, and we do the largest amount of our business through e-mail, any downtime is potentially devastating. The whole implementation went off without a hitch and we are very satisfied with the result. Everything is now working as it should, and the bigger implementation means that we can handle anything that could be unexpectedly thrown at us and are only looking at possible upgrades three to five years down the line," says Ellemdeen.
Pillay states: "It was completed without any problems, within record time and within budget. Additionally, In-House Management is satisfied that the solution is geared to handle not only its technology problems, but also their specific business challenges," he says.
"With five servers, two of which are domain controllers, a new business ADSL line and gigabit Ethernet - so e-mail and intranet are on different lines - built-in backup and recovery, and new Trend Micro anti-virus software, we are now safe in the knowledge that we will be able to avoid downtime, while benefiting from optimised efficiency, functionality and productivity," says Ellemdeen. "More importantly, however, our customers will be receiving enhanced levels of service owing to the faster and more advanced infrastructure," she concludes.
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Artec Computer Systems is a primary IT consultancy and networking service provider with the expertise and skills that empower it to re-organise, re-engineer and restructure IT networks and computer systems for corporate clients. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Artec offers flexible outsourcing options and a full managed services facility, and is also an associate consultant company for Microsoft Africa.
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