ASG Services are world leaders in the manufacture, supply and installation of warehouse ID solutions. They supply the complete range: durable warehouse rack labels, signs, floor lines and coatings, which have developed an excellent reputation within the industry.
The Business Challenge
With high profile clients, like Renault and Nissan, ASG services need to be focused on delivering to its customers.
Like many fast developing organisations, all their resources are focused on growing the business.
Therefore they can ill afford to spend time on solving IT issues or time researching what is best for their business.
Originally starting with a number of PCs, their business grew and their data handling needed changed, as more and more information started to flow around the company.
They quickly needed to make a move to enable more inter working between staff on their PC’s and laptops. So, ASG moved to a dedicated server to aid their business.
However they soon realised they needed someone to manage this new set up, as they needed to back up their data, manage the software and monitor the equipment. So, ASG sponsored one of their employees to take an NVQ Level 2 at college. This provided short-term relief, because as ASG continued to grow, they started to employ sales people and therefore needed to move to new premises.
A number of minor issues caused the ASG management to realise they could no longer afford the time or the budget to grow their IT requirements in line with their business plans.
The Solution
ASG decided to find an IT provider who could match their current and future requirements, but provide a tailored solution to meet the needs of the industry ASG are growing in.
Cara Technology was appointed to provide IT support, which they realigned into the office applications support, network management and hardware monitoring. This gave ASG a more structured IT environment and made fault reporting more focused on time response, and made maintenance more cost effective.
In order to enhance ASG’s business growth, Cara was able to suggest more efficient ways of working. A virtual private network was introduced which enabled all ASG people, when away from the premises, to gain access to the network. New applications, like Microsoft remote, were introduced that improved the work flow and support. All of these new solutions improved the efficiency, the security and the resilience of ASG’s business.
An added bonus was that the majority of activities could be done online and remotely, therefore freeing up space for more productive use.
The Results
ASG Services has now bought in an IT department with a complete set of IT knowledge, which is increasing all the time, for very little outlay.
The Cara service to ASG offers remote access and analysis in real time. A quick decision on repair or replace, and with internet access, ASG’s sales force gets complete support and diagnostics.
All of which keeps the day-to-day operation running with the minimum of disruption, allowing staff to focus on the business.
A recent IT issue caused by a third party meant that Cara staff were onsite until 1:00am in the morning to resolve the email issue that had almost brought ASG to a standstill. Not only did ASG get the issue resolved quickly, but they did not have to spend time trying to find the right company or pay emergency call out rates.
Quite often Cara has solved the issue before it is even noticed, which gives ASG very little disruption, and delivers the peace of mind many business owner seek.
Cara’s knowledge and experience enables them to develop a structured IT plan that fits around a business, from failures of back ups, consumables running out, to security breaches. All are handled in an unobtrusive way, enabling business operations to take priority. The way they work at ASG is a prime example of how Cara do business.
The Benefits
When a small business is striving to achieve sales growth, every distraction adds to the pain of running the business.
With Cara running the IT, the pain is removed. ASG still get IT issues, but they are handled professionally by very skilled people.
The introduction of Cara has saved the IT wage bill, the indirect costs like training updates and the IT overheads.
Plus, sales force productivity has increased, H/Q handling costs have reduced, and management time on IT issues has almost disappeared. Additionally, ASG management can get business relevant IT advice by just picking up the phone.
The Future
ASG are now in discussion about the next generation of potential IT solutions, knowing they will get well informed advice and recommendations based on the way their business works.
“Cara provide us with a highly skilled IT department, which would be way outside the budget of a company our size if we had to do it in-house” as Tony Giesty M.D of ASG Services says, “and it all costs us less than running a company car”.
“Working with ASG Services has enabled Cara to demonstrate our strengths” says Andrew Rosamond, Sales Director of Cara Technology, “plus the type of questions they ask, brings a business focus to our IT focus”.