quote to set up SME IT infrastructure

[Buffalo]

I need to finally sort the IT infrastructure for my small business. It's the main priority for the start of this year and I'd like to get it done ASAP.

I would like to engage an IT business to help me decide on a strategy for the next few years. If anyone has any recommendations for a company or sole trader who is good to work with and who can help me decide what I think I want, ensure the room for growth is there, etc., Please PM me and I can contact you from the business.

I'm sure none of this is particularly out of the ordinary, but I would like to get it right first time. I am looking for help in setting out the infrastructure (a management plan, if you like) and probably the initial set up of the system. Not sure yet about ongoing maintenance.

Some background details:

-small business (less than 10 people)
-UK and Canada offices
-prefer the main storage to remain in the UK
-macs mostly, some PCs
-we do have an office 365 account and would be looking to incorporate that into the final solution, but still prefer principally on-site file storage

Thanks very much.

[rsbmw]

On site infrastructure makes next to no sense for a business of that size, especially with multiple sites - why not just go full O365 and then everyone can work from anywhere with an internet connection?

[Wombat3]

Buffalo said:

I need to finally sort the IT infrastructure for my small business. It's the main priority for the start of this year and I'd like to get it done ASAP.

I would like to engage an IT business to help me decide on a strategy for the next few years. If anyone has any recommendations for a company or sole trader who is good to work with and who can help me decide what I think I want, ensure the room for growth is there, etc., Please PM me and I can contact you from the business.

I'm sure none of this is particularly out of the ordinary, but I would like to get it right first time. I am looking for help in setting out the infrastructure (a management plan, if you like) and probably the initial set up of the system. Not sure yet about ongoing maintenance.

Some background details:

-small business (less than 10 people)
-UK and Canada offices
-prefer the main storage to remain in the UK
-macs mostly, some PCs
-we do have an office 365 account and would be looking to incorporate that into the final solution, but still prefer principally on-site file storage

Thanks very much.

These days it seems to be a matter of choosing between Office 365 & Google Docs. You don't need mail servers, web servers or even file servers unless you have to deal with some bespoke stuff & very large files. If all you are using are basic office applications then everything can be done in the cloud. If you really want on site file storage then you may be able to do it with something as simple and cheap as a NAS box (and then replicate or back that up into the cloud). It all depends on what kind of stuff, applications & files you are dealing with

The less hardware you have to buy (and therefore manage on site) the better off you will be

What part of the country are you in?

[anonymous-user]

yep as the others have said, cloud based is much more sensible and easy to manage. whether thats all microsoft or other suppliers depend on preference, although personally I would use 365 and then look at AWS for anything that doesnt comfortably fit into the MS view of the world.

I'd also look at a cloud solution for your telephony

My previous client also ran a NAS solution, synched to the cloud but that was more due to badly hought out historical choices, and if left to me we'd have shut that down too.

IMHO The only infrastructure you need in the office these days is a network and your PCs - and a decent coffee machine

Just spent the last couple of years bringing the said client into the 21st century from their previous life where they were still running windows XP and server 2003

[Buffalo]

I'd like to think if it was just as easy as just using O365 we'd have done it by now. The company has expanded over 5 years and has already had numerous IT twists and turns and it seems like there are bits shoved everywhere (emails, web, our own FTP - because clients block google drive, etc, main client files - they are all separate). I want to re-design the whole lot from scratch, for the future. Hence looking for a company who can help us map it all out and work out a plan for the next few years.

[anonymous-user]

Where are you based?

[akirk]

There are two potential strategies for a SME:

- single provider solution (Google / O365 are the realistic choices) where you use one provider for as much as you can
- best of breed - where you use the optimal solution for each part of your IT needs

the first can be seen as a simpler option and is often heavily sold by IT suppliers as it is easy for them - however it almost always leads to compromise and fitting the business model into the supplier model, rather than solutions that support and enable your business...

we tend to find at the moment that a mixture of:
- Office 365 for email and office software
- Adobe CC if any creative software is needed
- Dropbox for storage (if local storage is needed then a NAS solution like Synology which can sync across remote sites & to a cloud system such as Dropbox can work well)
- 3rd party (take your pick) for web hosting

There are advantages to using the strength of each system and in today's world most systems should integrate nicely - e.g. you might code integration with e.g. dropbox to allow web hosting and file storage to integrate

any company that offers you single supplier solutions should be asked to compare them against best of breed and justify the choice - it is not necessarily wrong, but it might suggest a lack of awareness / lack of focus on your needs / too strong a tie into the supplier

[Buffalo]

desolate said:

Where are you based?

Office is in London. However, we're looking into moving later this year - most probably southwest england but exact location TBC.

For designing the system and discussing requirements I'm quite willing to travel, as required. The most important thing for me is to be able to work with the other party and get a good solution.

[Australiam]

PM Sent.

[moonigan]

Buffalo said:

Office is in London. However, we're looking into moving later this year - most probably southwest england but exact location TBC.

For designing the system and discussing requirements I'm quite willing to travel, as required. The most important thing for me is to be able to work with the other party and get a good solution.

What are your core business applications ?
Do you use wifi in the office to connect to internet or are the clients hardwired?

[Flat-6]

SME infrastructure is what I am currently involved in, with about 15 years experience (Mostly contracting)
Currently in Aerospace (5-10 locations, circa 1500 users)

I'd be happy to have a chat if you are interested - I am moving into a more remote-consultative than daily in-house role, which is really what you need, and am actively looking for new clients.

[drmotorsport]

PM Sent

[Buffalo]

Thanks. I'll follow up with the PMs sent - much appreciated.