UK News
Managed IT services specialist Quiss Technology has added Debenhams Ottaway Solicitors (DO) to its growing legal sector client base, following a successful competitive pitch.
The award winning Hertfordshire-based 120-strong, multi-service law firm with offices in St Albans and Radlett, is recognised for delivering an outstanding service to its clients.
Working closely with IT consultants Baskerville Drummond (BD) who defined the IT strategy and ran a robust selection process , Quiss first undertook a detailed review of the existing IT systems and infrastructure, to better understand the motivations for change.
Quiss Operations Director Clive Taylor takes up the story: “One reason behind the decision to outsource their IT support with Quiss Technology, was the need to improve the performance of their systems, given the firm’s focus on delivering excellent client service.
“The firm had previously transitioned their case management system to Peppermint, the legal cloud platform offering, which is based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The CRM Outlook client running under a thin-client environment was slowing all of DO’s office operations, leading to frustration amongst the firm’s users.
“Recognising where the problem lay, Paul Khan, CEO at DO and David Baskerville of BD, sought a better, more practical solution that removed the thin-client layer of complexity, but also kept the physical server footprint on the site as low as possible.
“It was clear from our discussions that the firm would also benefit from adding a modern desktop working environment with Windows 10 Enterprise, Office 365 services, and additional security and management with Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS).
“Having settled on an Azure cloud-based solution, we established an Azure ExpressRoute to reduce latency. This allows Azure to become an extension of the DO internal network, removing the need to run in a thin-client setup. By moving the processing back to the desktop dramatically improved the user experience.”
Paul Khan, CEO at DO said: “Given our growth in recent years, we needed to ensure our IT systems and infrastructure were not only robust, but delivered the performance we needed to maintain our high standards of client service.
“We recognised all the benefits offered by a move away from the thin-client environment and switching to Azure. The next step was to work out the best way to make it happen and the solution from Quiss, using the Azure ExpressRoute, offered the outcomes we wanted.
“Quiss consistently impressed, right from their response to the selection process, through to the go-live. And the knowledge and availability of Quiss’ leadership team throughout has been a real differentiator for us - we look forward to a rewarding partnership with them.”
Taylor concludes: “With Azure ExpressRoute enhancing the new connectivity and our previous experience of delivering similar innovative solutions, we were able to make a smooth transition from the problematical, multi-tenanted traditional hosted desktop environment DO were leaving behind.
“Once again, we have proved that a little lateral thinking, Microsoft Azure, Office 365 and our Qworks solution, incorporates everything a law firm will need from both an operational and strategic perspective.
“It also ensures our clients can budget accurately with a fixed cost per user, fixed term contract shaped by our strong expertise in legal and our ability to deliver.”
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