Communication is at the heart of most businesses and having the right solution in place is critical. However, for small to medium-sized enterprises (SME), there's rarely the budget for a dedicated technical manager or IT team to advise them on the most appropriate communication solution and IT set-up.
Through its Demon brand, THUS provides many different types of access, ranging from email, domain services and hosting through to broadband, Ethernet or a full MPLS installation. As a company, THUS can help solve the communication requirement and also guide companies when they need help with other IT-related issues.
Telecoms minefield
The main ISPs and telecommunications providers offer a multitude of different access options; in the case of broadband, you are expected to choose based on varying experience levels, static or dynamic IP addresses, AUPs, FUPs, router configurations, anti-spam, anti-virus and anti-phishing offerings. There are so many different options to choose from that it can often be a minefield understanding what is going to give your business the best value for money, and which of them you actually need.
At THUS, we pride ourselves on understanding what the customer needs and suggesting the most relevant solution, without blinding them with technical jargon. However, the company recognises that its expertise and key competencies lie within the different types of communications it can provide and that others are better equipped to solve the rest of the IT equation.
As an example, you may wish to have Internet access for your staff to work from home, with access to Sage® or SAP® over the Internet. THUS could certainly advise on which Internet connection to have and what communications hardware would work best, however, THUS doesn't support desktop hardware so it wouldn't be able to recommend which PC would be suitable to cope with the remote access demands of SAP or Sage.
Can you fix it?
Without internal IT support, generally the person with the most knowledge about IT in the company ends up with the job of 'fixing the problem'. They usually contact a local IT support company, or maybe a technical person who often turns up on an ad hoc basis and runs a few system checks before making some recommendations. However, if the computer network hasn't been serviced in a while, these relationships may well have disappeared. That leaves the organisation searching for a company to provide them with support on a more regular basis, especially if things start to go wrong.
So where should businesses go to find the right person to set up their office network, provide technical support, overhaul that broken server or simply give advice relating to the merits of various software packages?
Expert advice
One potential solution is to speak to a single organisation that could recommend the correct access product and offer the advice you need regarding your specific requirements; in effect, a one-stop consultant that has the technical know-how and which deals closely with suppliers of telecoms, hardware and software.
These consultants come in a variety of different shapes and sizes: some are small localised organisations that offer general local area network support; others have retail outlets and specialise in the supply and support of hardware; then there are large systems integrators that have many departments specialising in various commercial applications such as well known payroll or accounting packages. Others specialise in the design, support and integration of MPLS multi-site wide area networks. In this instance, project management skills are vital in ensuring business continuity is seamless during this migration and that close collaboration between the consultant and telecoms provider is maintained.
THUS works closely with third-party consultants to help them recommend the appropriate access, hosting or data service to deal with the demands of a customer's core applications. THUS delivers prompt responses to consultants' queries and provides the support they need to service their customers. This involves a single point of contact within THUS who handles all presales enquiries and supplies a UK-based support function for them. Consultants can then bypass THUS' standard support desk and access its second line support directly. In THUS' experience, these consultants perform the standard checks to troubleshoot telecoms faults and generally only contact THUS if the issue is outside their remit.
In summary
THUS is expert at providing the advice and support which customers need in order to choose the right communications solution. The IT consultant's knowledge can provide the missing elements, and can help identify and deliver the complete IT and communications package. If you would like to find out more information about these consultants, or are interested in becoming one, please email consultant@demon.net or call 0800 027 0540.