technology 19 Is the cloud right for your business?
There is much talk about what the cloud can do for business, but it is equally important to understand what it can’t. A customer services’ company first, Taylor Made Computer Solutions is one of the Solent region’s largest and growing IT organisations, and is on an evangelical march to ensure businesses understand that not all clouds have a silver lining. Sue Hughes reports
Ask Nigel Taylor if the cloud has the clichéd silver lining and an interesting response develops, in which he demystifies the cloud and its limitations, and clearly explains how hosting can overcome them. Taylor, managing director of Fareham- based Taylor Made Computer Solutions which he founded 18 years ago, always stresses that his company is foremost a customer services company with a strategic focus, to ensure its customers are getting the most from their investment in IT.
Until recently full hosting was only really viable for the smallest and largest of businesses. With the increase in available bandwidth at even the most remote locations and the need for businesses to reduce upfront expenditure for IT equipment, hosted solutions are rapidly becoming the preferred option for a business’ IT strategy.
“The ’cloud can host everything’ view is confusing because different commentators, ranging from the Government to technical gurus, are voicing opinions, and the more controversial these are, the more headlines they generate,“ says Taylor. “But that is not helpful for a company beginning to look at moving to a hosted environment. The cloud is a bit like the Emperor’s new clothes; even experts in the field are not getting right into customers’ heads to consider workflow processes and how a business uses IT to ensure that they are offering the best solution to suit that business. Every one is different; therefore you cannot merely sell an off-the-shelf cloud package to hit a sales target and expect it to meet all an organisation’s needs.“
Taylor Made’s engineers and consultants are the best in their field and work closely with customers to produce strategic solutions that align with the company’s long-term objectives. However, the cloud offering is not an integrated solution and in the majority of cases can actually hinder the effectiveness of a company’s IT. For example, an SME might require departmental integration ranging from HR and accounts to communications and its email system: “Each
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – APRIL 2012 The service desk at Taylor Made
component could be provided by a cloud solution, but there is no way of integrating them as the data is completely separate. A hosted solution can overcome this as data is stored in a secure datacentre and is physically accessible by our engineers. We are able to completely tailor the solution, exactly like a company’s existing on- premise IT provision but with all of the attractive benefits of the cloud.
“Within seven years, everything will be cloud based. Our hosted solution is already delivering effective IT for both national and local businesses, backed by a portfolio of support and strategic services. With no in-house servers, more office space is freed for core business functions and economies of scale enable even the smallest business to benefit.“
The expansion of hosting has led to rapid growth at Taylor Made, which has hired five staff in a week recently, taking the headcount to 106. Taylor recruits technically focused yet business orientated people who understand both cloud and hosting, and are therefore able to become a trusted adviser to customers. The company has just one salesman and an enviable level of repeat business, while most new business is gained through its formidable reputation, and referrals, something which many regional businesses view as making it first among IT equals. Taylor personally interviews and hires and those who have come from more sales-frenzied organisations find the company has a very different culture.
“Reputation is everything. We were the first company to gain IIP Gold in the south of England, and we take on not only IT experts, but also communicators who can be developed. The staff are of equal importance to us as our customers,“ continues Taylor. “The regional focus is reinforced by our vehicle
branding, currently we achieve a 70% conversion rate of enquiries into new business, and we have an exceptionally low staff turnover. We have approached the evolution of hosting and cloud based IT in a way that makes it easy to understand and implement for our clients while at the same time maintaining the culture of the business. We’re a strategy-based company seeking long- term relationships; therefore we have to take time to understand customers’ objectives as we take people into hosted environments.“
Taylor Made’s data centre that houses their hosting solutions is of the highest quality and is known as a Tier 3+ data centre. It is a custom- built secure commercial data centre in the south of Hampshire and backed by one of the UK’s most successful utility companies. Taylor Made is currently expecting to be migrating about 70% of its customers to a hosted environment within the next 18 months, a phenomenal workload in a recession.
There is obvious concern over cloud cover as the company’s ’hosted solutions’ page is the second most viewed topic on its website as businesses weather a storm of conflicting information.
Taylor concludes: “With a typical business model the temptation is to sell, sell, sell, but you can sell the wrong thing – then engineers have to make it work. That is why we approach cloud differently. We tell customers the cloud is not a solution, it’s a journey.“
Details: 01329-239900
www.tmcs.co.uk
www.businessmag.co.uk
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