KwaZulu-Natal-based Sanyati Holdings, a broad-based civil engineering and construction company, now has a comprehensive inventory of installed hardware and software and is fully compliant, thanks to an audit completed by IT systems, software, hardware and consulting services provider, Datacentrix.
"The audit that Sanyati Holdings engaged in with Datacentrix formed the groundwork of understanding the company's environment," explains Marlene Brady, account manager at Datacentrix. "From here, we were able to propose a solution that would ensure that Sanyati was compliant and had both manageability and standardisation in place across the business."
According to Brady, the audit was also instrumental in Sanyati gaining access to up-to-date knowledge of its environment - the type of users as well as the hardware and software running.
With the audit completed, Datacentrix proposed Microsoft's Open Value Licence - a volume licensing programme for companies with fewer than 250 desktop computers - to Sanyati to take care of its Microsoft compliance requirements. "The programme provides a simple, flexible and cost-effective way to purchase the latest Microsoft technology and has ensured that both Sanyati's desktop and server environments are completely legal," she adds.
Although is it still early days since the completion of the project, Clive Whittington, Sanyati Holdings IT manager, maintains that the immediate benefits that Sanyati is experiencing include the ability to train and skill-up staff with the provided training vouchers and the e-learning capability, which enables employees to train and become certified online.
"We've standardised on our software, managing to avoid any illegal software being loaded as well as being completely up-to-date with the latest versions and patches from Microsoft. Sanyati has also scored from a cost saving perspective, now spending up to 35% less on our licence purchases. Furthermore, the procurement of additional licences is now a much easier process."
Whittington maintains that Sanyati's choice of Datacentrix as partner for this project stemmed from its strong existing relationship. “Datacentrix has been involved with Sanyati for some time now, acquiring our hardware and holding responsibility for our network management, so this was a logical partnership. Datacentrix had all the necessary skills to assist us both with the auditing process - something that Sanyati could not undertake itself - and the related recommendations," he concludes.
Share