The Protea Group has reappointed IT services and solutions provider, Datacentrix, as its IT managed services partner for the next three years.
According to Ricardo Pollard, Protea IT Operations Manager, Datacentrix's Business Alignment and Intelligence team investigated, fulfilled and implemented all requirements, based on the ITIL framework.
"It is a landmark event, in that we see the service industry being complemented by an IT support company driven primarily from a service perspective, making Datacentrix a true partner that understands our business and bases solutions on actual business requirements, shortfalls and strategies. The contract awarded to Datacentrix sees our industry share our ICT risks with a company that understands our business and values our perception of service.
"Protea Hotels & Inns is primarily a management company dealing with resources required within the hotel infrastructure on behalf of the hotel owners," he explains.
"With this in mind, the IT requirement at hotel level can become complicated as the hotel back office is entirely dependent on integrated systems supplied by various vendors. Operationally this can become a nightmare for a hotel general manager. In order for the GM to maintain focus, a managed IT service for support, maintenance and procurement was required by Protea. This managed service would have to be focused, customised and aligned to our business requirements and strategies."
Protea Hotels & Inns required managed services for its IT service desk, desktop, server and network support. "This effectively meant that we needed time critical and effective IT support for approximately 470 desktop users at the specified locations, the management of IT resources in order to meet service levels to business and adherence to approved standards, policies and procedures," says Pollard.
The group also required cost reductions through economies of scale provided by external IT professionals, continuous performance measurement and improvement through monthly reviews of performance metrics, the integration of service with existing third party service providers nationally and management of all services, including third party vendors, through a single point of contact service desk.
According to Datacentrix managed services executive, Celma Marcus, the original contract expired end of 2007. A new request for proposal was then distributed to the IT sector and Datacentrix submitted its new proposal for consideration. "Following a rigorous selection process, Datacentrix was awarded the contract due to its customer-centric approach and service focused delivery," she says.
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