CASE STUDY
When Sight and Sound realised that they could no longer do it all themselves, they turned to Advania for reliable, efficient support. From the panic of servers going down to uncertainty around IT governance and data security, Sight and Sound have worked hand in hand with Advania to resolve issues and optimise their environment.
Sight and Sound Technology is the UK’s leading supplier and distributor of hardware and software to the blind, visually impaired and those with learning and reading difficulties. With a headquarters in Northampton and offices in Glasgow and Dublin, the company has 64 employees with a further 26 in their assessment centres.
Industry:
Hardware & Software for the blind
Organisation Size:
90 Employees
Solutions:
Hardware procurement, vendor management, technical consultation delivering modern mobile computing
When the Sight and Sound servers were reaching the end of their lives, the team realised that it was beyond their in-house capabilities. Coincidentally, the Advania team had reached out to them. When the two teams started talking, they clicked and were keen to work together. That was the first challenge that Advania resolved for Sight and Sound.
Advania was able to fix the problem within 24 hours. It would have been quicker had it not been for the lengthy process of restoring data on the server. After that panic situation, Sight and Sound was determined not to end up in a similar predicament. With Mirus’ help, they replaced Tape with Guardian backup and later moved to Datto. These solutions allow for quicker data transfer and restores, and for virtual servers to be turned on at a moment’s notice.
Working together for 15 years is testament to the positive working relationship.
James Everson, General Manager and Head of Operations, Sight and Sound says: “The team that look after Sight and Sound do so in a manner that you believe they’re dedicated just to us, but in truth they’re looking at many different customers. Our tickets are answered quickly and sometimes resolved as quickly as they were raised!
“When a problem becomes more complex, you know that you’re supported by a much wider team. I would strongly recommend Advania to other local companies and have done many times over.”
As Sight and Sound’s business needs have evolved, so have the services provided by Advania. That’s ranged from data security, cyber security certification and upgrading servers to a cloud-based solution, to security enhancements and providing ongoing advice and guidance.
James believes that Advania has been strengthening Sight and Sound’s infrastructure and just making it better and better. He says, “Operationally, you can’t do this job and that job. You have to relinquish some of that to somebody else. Yes, that does come with a cost, but that cost outweighs your downtime. If Advania can fix it within 10 minutes, the cost saving is huge.”
What more could a business want? Peace of mind? Well James has that too now, thanks to Advania. “They’ve improved our security and ways of working. Our security is tightened massively. Everything is locked down, and you’ve got that ease and peace of mind now that no matter where we are, we can connect back to the office.”
James Everson
General Manager & Head of Operations
Sight and Sound
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