The Requirement

Rise Technical Recruitment had a need for IT support on tap, backed by a large and reputable company.

The Solution

Equanet's Managed Service constantly monitors the company's IT systems, spotting and fixing potential problems straight away. In addition, all of Rise's data is stored remotely by Equanet and is downloaded every night. Finally Equanet's solutions experts work with Rise to identify and resolve future issues associated with a growing business.

The Feedback

"We need to back up our data. If we lost it, we'd go from a multi-million pound turnover company to nothing overnight. Equanet stores all of our data remotely and downloads our information every night so we know that it's there if something drastic were to happen"

Jeff Leng, Founder, Rise Technical Recruitment

Focusing on running the core business

Rise Technical is a specialist recruiter of engineers across the UK, delivering a service to the industry based on honesty, efficiency and professionalism.

The company was founded in 2005 by Jeff Leng and his two partners, operating with a small PC network from their office in Bristol. The firm has grown significantly since this period and in 2010 operates from a larger office in Bristol with a large network that supports not only Rise Technical but its three affiliated companies too. From the outset Leng found that running his own small PC network was a time consuming procedure, taking up 20 percent of his time. “I'm fairly IT literate but I'm no expert, and I want to spend my time providing the best quality service to my customers, not fussing about with computers” says Leng, appreciating that “IT systems are vital for providing that service”. This opened the door for Equanet to come in and provide the solution.

The company's IT infrastructure is fairly complex with its own recruitment software and database, email and terminal server for its sister companies, and a search station which allows access to all CV websites from one system. In addition, employees at Rise Technical use shared drives and Sage software for accounting purposes. “IT is absolutely crucial to our business”. Leng concedes, “Everything we do is online; it's the biggest success factor after decent staff. The days when you advertised in the local paper and people phoned you up are gone. Now you have to have a website and potential candidates respond by email. We can lose up to £5k if our email is down for half a day”.

Despite its importance, employing a qualified IT Manager would have been too expensive, and Leng was reluctant to rely on local IT firms. “If we had a problem we'd have to pay their travelling expenses and wait three or four hours for them to come out, and it's always difficult to judge people's competence”. What he wanted was a service that was always on tap, backed by a large and reputable company, but without a big-company price tag. The solution was Equanet's Managed Service. Instead of waiting for engineers to come on-site Leng and his staff can contact Equanet's IT experts instantly over the phone. “I know we can ask them any question and it doesn't cost any more. For the first month I was on the phone to them almost every day, asking how to set up email accounts, printers and so on. It saved me having to waste time working things out for myself”.

Removing the risks and providing reassurance

Leng's staff can call Equanet direct with any queries, and because Equanet constantly monitors the company's systems, potential problems are spotted and fixed automatically. “I know that Equanet knows our systems better than I do myself. I'm confident that if there's a problem someone will take responsibility for sorting it out&Rdquo;. The service can also cover hardware and software specific to the individual company.

“At any point I can call Equanet and ask specifics about our recruitment software; and this is a product that Equanet does not even sell. We've been working together for so long Equanet is familiar with our business”.

Leng needed a service that not only took away the day-to-day hassle of IT but also the risk. “We need to back up our data. If we lost it, we'd go from a multi-million pound turnover company to nothing overnight. Equanet stores all of our data remotely and downloads our information every night so we know that it's there if something drastic were to happen”.

Managing company growth

When the growing company moved to larger premises in Bristol one of Equanet's solutions specialists came onsite to set up the new network. For Leng the key benefit was trust in the supplier, “They had the expertise, and they know us and our systems”.

As a growing company it is important for Leng to ensure that he has the foundations in place and the systems right for future growth. Leng is upbeat about the future: “In the next eighteen months the plan is to double our headcount. During a recession businesses have to match recruitment to costs and manage their cost base, but we're coming out of that now and the current market is good for us”.

One of the benefits of Equanet's Managed Service is that not only are the systems monitored remotely but Equanet works with Rise to ensure its IT infrastructure is as simple as possible and performs as well as it can. The solutions experts also identify future issues associated with a growing business and work to solve those problems. For a growing business such as Rise, Equanet is on hand to add value and strategic input in planning systems infrastructure and IT solutions. “If we have a strategic IT issue Equanet will help us. And because it has wide experience of working with SMEs they will work with us to create the right solution. Equanet's Managed Service is ideal for us. It takes away the risks of IT and it's very cost-effective“.

How Equanet supports Rise Technical Recruitment

Management of Servers, Desktops and Laptops

Equanet, as network administrator, uses remote tools to monitor the network in real-time, to identify and resolve problems before they occur, often before they impact Rise's users. A managed, standardised anti-virus platform is deployed across the entire estate.

Service Desk

Rise Technical Recruitment does not have any dedicated IT Support staff. Consequently, all user issues are raised directly into the Equanet Service Desk where they can be quickly resolved remotely. Issues can be raised by telephone or via email. Monthly reports are issued to Rise Technical Recruitment detailing all problems & resolutions which allows them to understand the positive impact of the service.

Disaster Recovery

Equanet manages the daily back-ups to ensure that the Disaster Recovery Plan is maintained robustly. As well as a local archive, this also includes a secure and encrypted off-site backup.

Network Service

To enable fast and reliable remote access to Line of Business applications, Equanet specified, supplied and maintains a reliable & secure Microsoft Terminal Services environment.

Maintenance & Support

In conjunction with the service desk support, hardware support is provided by Equanet engineers operating to guaranteed service levels.

Remote access services

Equanet manages all aspects of the network; creating new users, configuring access rights and other network administration tasks. Installation of all patches and fixes are carried out either remotely or onsite as required. Other remote tools are used to monitor server status and performance. Equanet also provides secure access services for staff working remotely.