How a chicken farm saved 1542 hours in lost productivity
When Proten moved to SharePoint, they saw massive productivity gains with remote file sharing
Sharing files from sites with poor internet connectivity has always been a problem for one of Australia’s leading chicken farms.
The Situation
Proten owns and operates 36 broiler chicken farms across Australia, representing approximately 17% of our annual broiler chicken production.
All of these farms need to communicate securely with the Head Office in order to provide operational information and ensure all business data is backed up. This was achieved with a secure VPN solution.
In early 2020, Proten called on it’s long-time IT support partner Greenlight ITC to investigate issues with the speed of access from many of the remote farm sites. An internal audit showed that day-to-day operations over the secure VPN could take significant time to complete, resulting in inefficient and dissatisfied farm staff.
An investigation showed that the higher latency satellite NBN connections were introducing a delay in VPN negotiation, causing the user to notice significant delays in opening and saving files. Due to the latency being a result of the satellite technology in use, there was no way to directly resolve the issue under the current design.
Snapshot
Industry: Agribusiness
Cities: Sydney, Regional NSW
Challenge: To dramatically improve the speed of remote file sharing.
Services: Managed IT Services and Backup
Benefits:
- Faster file sharing
- Improved productivity and security
- Easy remote access for employees
- Improved workflow
“Proten wishes to thank Joel, Sorwar and all the other techs who assisted in their Sharepoint change – It was extremely smooth and well planned with zero issues (other than staff impatience as they waited their turn.) It was a great Greenlight experience..”
The Solution
Greenlight recognized that the resolution to this issue would need to come from changing the approach to the problem. The issue needed to be addressed without affecting the security of the business data.
Greenlight recommended Microsoft SharePoint with the aim to shift the impact of the higher latency connection. Previously, when opening a file or saving it, the action was taking place directly over the high latency internet connection, resulting in high load times. SharePoint allowed the Farm’s relevant data to be synchronised to the computer on-site, meaning opening and saving times were not impacted by internet speed. Instead, after the file was saved, the synchronisation of the file occurred in the background causing no impact to the user’s efficiency.
The benefits
By switching to SharePoint, Proten remote users have experienced a night-and-day change in their experience working with shared files. They can also benefit from collaboration features working with Microsoft Office documents simultaneously. Best of all, there was no added recurring cost to implement this solution as Proten was already eligible for SharePoint and already had a complete backup solution in place to cover the change.
Reliable and consistent IT systems with a single point of responsibility.
When Parkhill Freeman upgraded and standardised their business with Greenlight, they unlocked their IT investment’s true value.
Parkhill Freeman is a highly successful Melbourne based structural and civil engineering firm. They have been working in the industry for over 45 years and has contributed to numerous well know developments such as, McDonald’s restaurants, Primary and High Schools across the state and KFC restaurants to name a few.
The Situation
Parkhill Freeman their biggest concern was their aging IT infrastructure in both hardware and software. Parkhill Freeman were using a combination of operating systems from Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows vista.
Running both Office 2003 and 2007 which was causing inconstancies in document types and difficulties maintaining standards.
They were running Microsoft Exchange 2003 and were reaching its limitations due to mail- box size restrictions. When Greenlight ITC first started working with Parkhill Freeman their biggest concern was their aging hardware and software IT infra- structure.
Parkhill Freeman were using a combination of operating systems from Windows XP, Windows
2000 and Windows vista.
Snapshot
Industry: Engineering
Cities: Melbourne
Challenge: To standardise IT systems and improve remote access.
Services: Managed IT Services and Backup
Benefits:
- Software and Hardware standardised
- Backup & Disaster Recovery Plan
- Easy remote access for employees
- Improved workflow
“This outcome was important to our business, to keep us competitive, enable staff to work remotely, ensure security of our data while using a system that is easy to operate as we moved to storing all our data electronically. We have achieved our objectives and recommend
Greenlight ITC to small businesses.”
David Freeman, [Director] Parkhill Freeman
The Solution
Greenlight implemented a Standard Operating Environment (SOE) for all computers in the business running Windows 7 Professional and Office 2010.
Consistency was introduced to third party software in relevant departments, such as all Engineers and Draftsmen running standardised software. This resulted in faster workflow and flexibility for staff accessing different machines.
Darren Free, Director at Parkhill Freeman, says that “this increased production, [offering] greater consistency to the delivery of our documentation and better management of our data.”
All Critical business machines were replaced by up to date PC’s with 3 year onsite warranties. This means that if there are any hardware failures the disruption and cost to the business will be minimal.
Greenlight implemented a Windows Small business server 2008 and performed a migration from the aging Small business server 2003. This gave the company an up to date solution with advanced features such as larger email inboxes, and a 5 year onsite warranty for the server.
Greenlight ITC introduced a disk to disk “snapshot” style backup, protecting the business from a wide range of risks of data loss.
Parkhill also receive daily reports showing the status of their backups. Parkhill Freeman needed the ability to access their workstations remotely to work on the move or from home.
Greenlight implemented a cost effective solution allowing staff to access their machines remotely without needing technical knowledge or any complicated configuration.
The Benefits
Parkhill Freeman now has a standard operating environment and is no longer having issues with inconsistencies in their software and documents.
All critical business machines are covered under onsite warranties, and they have a more complete disaster recovery implementation.
Parkhill Freeman is also enjoying the ability to easily work remotely. Overall this has seen an increase in workflow and standardisation across the business.
New IT Systems for a specialist IT recruitment company
Command Recruitment Group is an Australian owned and managed company with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Singapore and London.
Established in 1991 as a boutique human resources consultancy, the business has grown and flourished to become an industry leader in comprehensive staffing solutions.
The Situation
Command experienced frequent outages and slow turnarounds from their existing outsourced IT support company. Computers were slow and the phone system was clunky and outdated. Due to large downtime, the business as a whole was put at risk.
Command also had multiple providers for the IT support, Phone System, and Internet, leading to time wasted chasing suppliers and no single party taking responsibility.
“Transitioning to the Greenlight services and solutions has been very smooth and has increased our business performance and uptime dramatically. It’s nice to have a trusted team we can rely on that truly care about our business.”
Louise Lockie – Operations Manager – Command Recruitment Pty. Ltd.
Snapshot
Industry: Recruitment
Cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart + around Australia, London, Singapore
Challenge: A reliable environment and phone system that integrates with their CRM
Services:
- Managed IT Services
- Network & Server Infrastructure
- Hosted Phone System
Benefits:
- Fast, reliable performance
- Highly-available virtualisation platform
- Reduction in call costs and downtime
The Solution
Initial Audit
Greenlight audited the internal IT systems as a first step and discovered that their core servers were all backing up to the same physical server, where everything was running from. Such a situation entails great risk, as if there were a critical failure, Command could lose everything. There were also numerous configuration issues that were not in line with IT best practice, contributing to the slowness and downtime.
Servers
Most of the Windows servers were running Windows Server 2003, which was approaching end of life. Greenlight implemented a project to upgrade all their servers to server 2012r2 and mitigated the risk of outdated software while having additionally employed IT best practices.
Phones
Greenlight recommended and implemented a modern hosted phone system that integrates with Command Recruitment’s core CRM systems. Thus, they can now make calls straight from the CRM and computers. This was a must as the staff are constantly on the phone.
Applications
Greenlight worked with Command to investigate the most appropriate technologies from their business with the mindset of helping the business succeed both now and in future. Greenlight also assisted in implementing the best suited applications for Command’s use.
Backups
Greenlight worked with the existing intrastate to reorganise all the servers so the backup and production targets were set apart.
The Benefits
Performance
Greenlight has streamlined the server environment and implemented IT best practice to greatly improve user efficiency and application load times.
Reliable
Command now have a very reliable IT setup, with most of the critical applications hosted off premises.
Cost Savings
Phone bills have been reduced while adding increased functionality.
Added Value
Command now has the comfort of frequent strategic IT meetings to give a clear roadmap for costs and business outcomes.
Sports Club Kicks Security Goals with WatchGuard
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is a professional Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League (AFL).
The Situation
Richmond Football Club, known as the Tigers in the Australian Football League (AFL), has a proud history stretching back to 1885, winning 13 premierships since its inception.
In mid-2017, Richmond Football Club called on its long-time IT support partner, Greenlight ITC, to audit its security environment and recommend upgrades. The audit confirmed what Simon Reinsch,
IT manager at Richmond Football Club, suspected after he took on the job: the company’s 15-year-old Check Point firewalls were outdated, unreliable and placed the business, as well as valuable intellectual
property, at risk.
Professional football clubs are increasingly technology-driven with player data, sports analytics and videos to help their roster improve on-field performance and maintain competitive advantage. But an inability to establish a secure VPN connection to the corporate network from a remote location, such as a training ground, stadium, house or a hotel, required Richmond Football Club’s staff to run off portable
hard drives and their own individual machines.
“They didn’t have the ability to access the data away from the club – you had to be working off hard drives or transferring the files over to a local desktop to view them,” explained Simon. “We wanted to lock that down and not just have everyone taking things off-site and using it accordingly.”
The club also needed a better way to define, set and manage security policies for its Wi-Fi network to reduce the risk of someone using it to gain administrative access to other corporate systems.
Snapshot
Industry: Sports
Cities: Melbourne
Challenge: Improving security with no downtime
Services:
- Managed IT Services
- Network & Server Infrastructure
Benefits:
- Fast, reliable performance
- Increased security
“WatchGuard just works. It gives us the confidence that our security posture will
continue to support our operations for many years to come.”
Simon Reinsch, IT Manager, Richmond Football Club
The Solution
With the help of Greenlight ITC, a priority list of what to upgrade was determined and quickly approved by the club, according to Simon.
“WatchGuard had a good reputation at the price point we were looking at,” said Simon. “WatchGuard was the stand-out contender and provided exceptional value for the money while meeting high levels of security expectations, product performance and simple installation and configuration. It also offered us functionality that the club can grow into over time.”
Greenlight ITC recommended WatchGuard based on the criteria that the club was looking for in a security solution. As such, the club deployed WatchGuard Total Security Suite running on two M370 Firebox appliances in a high availability configuration at its head office in Richmond.The M370s were configured off-site and then installed over a weekend in late 2017. As the previous firewalls had been in place a long time, the policies implemented through them were not well documented. The club and Greenlight ITC manually vetted each existing policy to decide which to cut across to the new firewall and which it could simply leave behind. The exercise itself was useful and Simon explained, “It was a good thing to be able to refresh a lot of those old policies.”
The Benefits
By switching to WatchGuard, Richmond Football Club has had its confidence restored in its security defense. They are also able to offer the administrative staff a secure way of logging into its corporate servers and systems, which supports the club’s flexible working commitments while keeping internal data secure. “An important part of WatchGuard is its flexibility. Being able to work securely in hotels or on the road is a big thing,” Simon explained.
I cannot recommend Igor and the team at Greenlight ITC highly enough. We are a mid size healthcare practice and rely heavily on the smooth running of our IT. We found Greenlight online earlier this year when looking for a new IT partner and we could not be happier. They are so responsive and have professional systems in place. They keep you in the loop at all times which is very reassuring to know that your issue is being worked on. Nothing is too much trouble or too difficult and all the staff that we have worked with either over the phone or in the office have been so polite and thorough. They were able to come in, evaluate and have a full understanding of our current set up almost immediately. We feel that we finally have an IT partner that is able to look at the cause of issues and advise us on future proofing to prevent any further issues and to streamline our performance. Their fees are reasonable and transparent, no hidden costs. We have used other IT support companies in the past and I now see just how lacking that support was. You really do get SUPPORT when you are a client of Greenlight and for our business that is invaluable.
Dealing with Greenlight has been the most pleasurable regular service experience I have ever had – 100% every time.
We are both proud and thankful for the 10yr+ relationship aceia has with Greenlight. As a growing small business Greenlight has been there for us every step away. From ensuring we buy the right equipment & software to ongoing help desk support we simply could not have survived without their professional and courteous support. Thanks to David and all his team over the years. Here’s to the next 10yrs of partnering.
Helpful, responsive, professional and dedicated team, with an excellent ticket tracking system, so you always feel looked after and know that somebody is on hand to assist no matter what hour of the day or night it is.
We have been a long-time customer of Shexie’s and was recommended to Greenlight’s hosting services when our previous CSP was no longer able to maintain a stable platform nor provide the server resources we required. As we work exclusively from a remote server environment, downtime was having an unsustainable impact on our business several times a week with no apparent solution in sight. A change had to be made and Greenlight engaged with us to correctly plan an amicable migration to a well-resourced and resilient VPS platform that has delivered the performance and reliability as promised since day one. Based on our exceptional experience we have referred many of our clients to seek similar cloud solutions with Greenlight.
As an ISV forced to deal with a wide range of IT providers one our biggest problems was constantly dealing with incompetent hardware technicians that did not know how to setup a network or restricted it to the extent our software could not operate. All of our clients that use Greenlight’s services encounter none of these issues and if a problem does arise it is always resolved quickly and effectively. As a result, we partnered with Greenlight as our preferred cloud hosting provider in mid-2016 and continue to strengthen our mutually beneficial relationship.
As a growing small business it is important to us to have the support of a progressive IT company that can advise on the usefulness of emerging technologies and provide the most cost effective solutions that enable us to capitalise on what’s new. We appreciate the quality of service provided by Greenlight and have no hesitation in recommending them to others looking for sound IT support.
Transitioning to the Greenlight services and solutions has been very smooth and has increased our business performance and uptime dramatically. It’s nice to have a trusted team we can rely on that truly care about our business.
Finding a reliable and trustworthy IT partner is always a challenge, and I am pleased to say we have found one in Greenlight.
We have been a client of Greenlight ITC for the past three years, and have relied on Greenlight for the day-to-day care of our systems and users, advice on improvements, and implementation of those improvements. In the time Greenlight has worked with us, our systems performance has improved, downtime has become virtually non-existent, and our running costs have actually decreased. As a CFO, this sort of result ticks all the boxes.
Our hospital has been using Greenlight ITC since 2011. During that time I have been impressed with quick response times and the knowledge of their technicians. When a difficult issue arises it is escalated and resolved efficiently and effectively. I have also been very happy that they have been able to reduce our maintenance costs without compromising service.
