Background

Established in the late 90's, IWR Consultancy was founded on the strength of experience gained in a number of Northeast techsupport operations. A key observation when working for these organisations, which were mainly geared towards corporate client support, was that support for the smaller business was often severely lacking, or inappropriate in nature to the needs of the client. Despite the fact that small businesses have their own specific needs, the equipment, software and services offered to the small business would be substantially the same as that offered to the large corporate client. This often meant substantial overspend, and perhaps more significantly, an overcomplex and over-specified setup which no-one onsite could understand or manage.

The key issue here is that corporate networking-platforms are normally deployed onto sites with resident IT staff, and are designed for such an environment, inasmuch as there is no need for ordinary users to be able to change settings. Put such a system into a small business, and it will generate a huge number of support-requests, often for very trivial changes, the computers being 'locked-down' to such an extent that users cannot make even trivial changes.

By contrast, it has been observed that other installers go to the opposite extreme, of providing what is in principle nothing more than a home-computer setup for use in a small business. Again this is far from ideal, the needs of the business in terms of centralised storage, email etc being poorly met, and security being mostly nonexistent.

The aims of IWR Consultancy are to provide a network tailored to the needs of the small-business client, which provides the needed services and facilities, but without being overcomplex, excessively costly, or difficult to manage.

Having researched in-depth the options available for 5-50 user offices, and the types of software most suited to this class of network, we are in a good position to offer advice on the best setup for your office. Please feel free to call and discuss your ideas -an initial consultation is completely free.

The smaller business wants to keep things in proportion, but nevertheless doesn't want to be left-out of the technology advances which have been made in recent years. Deployment of the right technology can greatly facilitate the efficient, smooth running of the office. For one example, these days almost every site has its quota of travelling users, and it is in the area of providing mobile links to central data in which great strides have been recently made. Given the right software and services, there is no need at all for the small business to be left-out of these exciting developments.

To briefly list some of the areas in which IWR Consultancy can help:

Advice and Consultancy:

: Even if your IT support is provided elsewhere, you are still free to ask for advice. There is no charge for initial telephone or email support, and consultancy is available on most aspects of PC network operation and maintenance. A Helping Hand, right at your desk: Remote-control technologies are obviating the need for the bulk of site-visits; if you have a minor problem with a computer, it may be possible to solve it 'over the Internet' in this very quick and economic way. Again, you don't need to be a regular client to request this service. You will be charged only for the time you use, and of course there are no mileage costs! Systems tailored to meet small-business requirements.

A key issue for the smaller business is the need for a network of suitable size and design, to match that of the firm's infrastructure. The requirements differ significantly from those of the large corporate site - and also from the typical home or SOHO installation. Choice of a network package which will perform well in your business environment is crucial to smooth running of the firm itself. Here at IWR Consultancy the expertise is in the small-business sector, and in providing systems which provide the necessary facilities without being either under-specified or overcomplex.

Security and reliability:

Every business wants their computers to run reliably and without trouble. All too often the attempt to provide reliability hinges on remedial products such as antivirus and anti-malware packages. While these do have their place, the consensus here is that prevention is better than remedy, and that steering away from products or situations which risk instability or a security-breach is the cornerstone of a secure computing environment.

With this in mind, it may come as less of a surprise that we often advise the choice of products other than the ubiquitous brand-leaders that 'everyone else' uses, on the grounds of these alternatives offering far better security and stability. This policy of keeping an open mind to better alternatives has proved itself time and time again, in terms of both the low rate of malware incidents on our sites, and the low maintenance-overhead of achieving this.

Dependable support:

In my days as an employee, again and again I would hear sales-staff quoting impossible performance-levels for support responses. The reality was that the infrastructure to provide the lightning-responses they claimed to offer simply did not exist. To use a software term, they were selling vapourware. They could get away with this deception because the client had no way of knowing exactly how many engineers were available at any given time, and any delay in responding could always be put-down to "exceptional demand" - thus the seller of the contract was in a win-win situation.

IWR consultancy makes no claims and no guarantees as to support response-times. This is not because we like to put our feet up, but rather because we don't believe in selling vapour. We're a small outfit, and yes, sometimes you may have to wait to speak to, or see, an engineer. But then the same can be true of those very expensive "firefighting response" contracts, too, regardless of what they may claim to the contrary.. What we do guarantee - and which many others cannot - is efficiency, courteousness, and a thoroughly professional attitude to the job.

Flexible Options:

Choosing IWR Consultancy for techsupport does not in any way tie you down as to where you source your hardware from. You may decide to have us source the hardware, or you are welcome to order the equipment yourself -preferably after seeking our advice, of course. Ordering yourself direct from a wholesaler is a very economic option, saving the large markups imposed by almost all middlemen. For customers who do prefer to self-order, we can provide parts-lists for use with an online catalogue, making the ordering process very quick and simple. Self-ordering by clients avoids us having large amounts of capital tied-up in stock, therefore it reduces our running-costs, a benefit which can be passed-on to clients.

Internet Presence: Every company needs a Web presence, and we can assist in that area by providing a quality website, hosted on an efficient, reliable USA-based server. Options include anything from a basic static site up to a full Content Management System.

Making full use of Technology:

While wanting to keep the complexity of their network within reasonable bounds, smaller businesses also see the advantages of the kinds of facilities that the latest advances make possible; perhaps the most popular of these being the ability to access company mail and documents from home, or possibly from any remote location. While this kind of 'work anywhere' setup is often a great benefit, security must be given even more careful thought than for a pure internal network. Here we can advise based on considerable experience of maintaining remote-access systems for small businesses. Remote-access facilities set up by IWR Consultancy have enjoyed a very good security record, and this is partly because we tend to lean towards safe, proven technologies in preference to those known to have security shortcomings.