business matters
December/January june/july 2020-21 2019 business edge
Ensure your business doesn’t get locked-in to a hybrid cloud environment, says Extech Cloud Andrew Hookway Managing Director, Extech Cloud
Sussex based Microsoft Partner Extech Cloud has stated that it can move any server-based business-critical application into the public cloud. This is a significant step in the IT world, and one that will help many of the South’s professional services gain competitive advantage through reduced costs and improved remote working. “When we talk about the cloud, we mean all IT in the Microsoft Cloud environment and all business-critical applications too,” explains Andrew Hookway, Managing Director of Burgess Hill firm Extech Cloud. Extech Cloud has been pioneering the use of the latest Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) and is working with Microsoft as part of its development programme. The digital transformation that Extech Cloud delivers is cutting-edge for 2020 and the company reports that there are now no compelling reasons why companies need on-premise servers. Even workloads traditionally not suitable for cloud, like CAD and video editing, are possible in WVD. “We can publish any business-critical application in Windows Virtual Desktop, as opposed to hosted remote desktop
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sessions, which means each user experiences improved performance and seamless integration with other software applications” he confirms. “Where it may have taken about 40 seconds to open a business application in the office, users can now load a business application in less than 5 seconds from home.” For example, Extech Cloud recently carried out a cloud transformation for Hunters Law LLP - a multi-disciplinary law firm with practice areas for property, business, charity, family, and private clients. At the start of 2020, the team were brought in to assist with a new strategic IT direction. Previously told by their IT company and software owners that it wasn’t possible to put their old apps on the cloud, Hunters Law was being pushed in to a “hybrid environment” where they were to be lockedin to a Data Centre. Although the company didn’t want to be tied down to one supplier, they thought they had no way out. “We embarked on a complete review of our IT infrastructure with the focus on a modern workplace where our staff could work from anywhere. We chose Extech Cloud as they were able to demonstrate they could pull all of our technologies together properly to make us more efficient, while saving us significant capital expenditure and licensing costs,” says Arif Kamal, Chief Finance & Operations Officer, Hunters Law LLP. Hunters Law wanted an IT system and infrastructure that worked exactly how they wanted it to. With lots of applications, their whole system was
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increasingly slow, and they didn’t want to spend significant money on upgrades and licences for marginal improvements. Many of their PCs and laptops were also on Windows 7 which reached the end of its life in early 2020. Extech Cloud began by auditing the whole IT infrastructure and assets, set an IT strategy, and started modernising everything, including more than 100 user PCs and laptops. It deployed Windows Autopilot, making it easy for everyone to receive their new machines and get working straight away. The full transition to the cloud was staged in tandem with their Citrix virtualisation software. At first, some of their older applications were not fully integrated into the cloud, but were accessed as before. Now, Hunters Law takes full advantage of the benefits offered by Microsoft 365 and Azure, with the very latest security and exceptional performance levels. Four pieces of legacy software, including Tikit Partner 4 Windows, CCH Central, CCH Trust Accounts and BigHand now run on the cloud thanks to Extech Cloud’s pioneering implementation of Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD). Plus, WVD allowed Hunters to replace their Citrix platform, saving significant licensing and server costs. If you need one-off IT support to get your team working remotely more effectively, or to take your whole business operation into the Cloud, Extech Cloud can help. For more information, call a friendly member of the Extech Cloud team.
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