Feature
Excitech on lockdown To continue our Covid-19 coverage, we talked with UK technology solutions and services provider, Excitech about its experiences with customers, technology providers and getting firms up and running, away from their offices
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n our cover story this month [see tion, collaborating on data stored on a The right protocols page 12] we spoke with several AEC server on the local area network. When Remoting in using TeamViewer and firms to find out how the industry firms learnt that they would need to Splashtop worked to a degree, but it’s not responded to the Covid-19 lockdown. send staff home, most started looking at 100%, says Stone. “Applications like For a different perspective, we got in touch VPN, or remote desktop technologies Enscape require different protocols with Excitech to find out how the UK VAR like Splashtop. OpenGL, for example - so we’ve had to and AEC industry consultant responded “I would say 90% of our customers are then look at different methods of conto the pandemic, how its customers adapt- doing that today,” says Stone. “Now, that necting. Where they might have had VPN ed to home working and how they are now had some challenges because some users and RDP to begin with, they now maybe planning for the future. didn’t even have a laptop or workstation using VPN and HP RGS (Remote “For practices that are in the region at home. We then had a mad rush on Graphics Software) because it will supbetween 20 and 40 users, where they typ- orders for laptop devices. port OpenGL.” ically don’t have an IT manager, we are we “Typically, firms were buying the loware their IT manager,” explains Alan end workstations, just something to act New ways of working Stone, who heads up Excitech’s IT solu- as a dumb terminal to connect to their The sudden and very dramatic changes tions business. “When it started to look machine in the office, but everyone was that firms had to make meant customers like something was going to happen, we buying laptops at that period, so you questioned most aspects of their IT setup. realised we had to change our response. imagine in distribution the stock levels Do they move to workstation class lapSo our first test was tops? Do they only use actually to initiate our hosted data services? own business continuity [Clients] are re-evaluating how they work moving Do they still need such plan to remotely supoffices? How can forward, with a focus on allowing their staff to split big port our customers. they be more dynamic their time between office and working from home both now and in the “We did this two weeks prior to the lockfuture? Martyn Stoneham, Excitech down. Our support staff “We are starting to are based in Enfield see that whilst custom[London] and suddenly we had to take were hard to gauge. One minute laptops ers had hobbled together various soluthat team and enable them to work were in stock, gone the next! It was a real tions to help them keep working in the remotely. Shortly after, we then started to challenge for procurement in general.” short term e.g. using Dropbox, Teams get calls from customers asking for help. But it wasn’t just hardware that was etc., they are now realising they need “I’ve never known a couple of weeks the problem. Getting VPN licences gen- long-term solutions,” says Paul James, like it, we had more than triple the num- erated was also a challenge, as Stone Excitech’s head of document manageber of calls. I’ve got a team of ten engi- explains. “While all clients had a fire- ment solutions. “Digital workflows are no neers, everyone had to work full time on wall device, they only probably ever had longer a nice to have. You can’t print off the help desk and all leave was can- two or three users connected simultane- documents and walk them round desks celled. Our customers were relying on ously. Now suddenly we’ve got 20, so anymore, they need more permanent us. It went from mid-March into April VPN licences became critical. But the solutions in place.” and we went from typical IT issues to vendors were struggling with demand, According to Stone, dozens of custommoving them into a completely different so even just a generation of a licence ers have utilised the free extended access way of working.” within 24 hours became problematic programme for cloud-based collaboradue to the sheer volume, sometime tak- tion tool Autodesk BIM 360. However, Physical attraction ing 48 or 72 hours. It wasn’t just archi- some firms still don’t want their data Many of Excitech’s customers work in tects looking for this, it was the whole IT hosted on a public service and the experian office in front of a physical worksta- industry.” ence has been heavily dependent on how
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May / June 2020
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01/06/2020 14:05
