Keep it simple.
They were just the words that Jon Strange wanted to hear from Superfast Business Wales adviser Paul Gadd when he was looking for independent guidance.
Celtic Vacuum’s financial director sought support to help the company migrate from its outdated in-house servers to cloud-based Microsoft 365 in order to improve efficiency across the board.
The Tenby-based business offers a specialist service as a market leader in the recovery and disposal of inert, solid, and liquid waste materials from confined spaces as well as difficult and restricted areas.
While staff out in the field often work on highly complex jobs in difficult locations at 30 to 35 metres below ground level, those in the office craved simplicity.
Jon said: “The migration of our file structure to SharePoint has streamlined our processes and given us the ability to access everything we need more effectively.
“We’ve dumped the desktop computers we were using and now the 15 office-based staff use laptops with an additional screen, which makes doing their job more straightforward.
“The move has also facilitated our use of Microsoft Teams for meetings, and after enhancing our kit we have decided to replace our broadband with fibre.
“From the switch we’ve also been able to stop using the IT support we had. The money saved can help upgrade our equipment, and I’m talking seven or eight brand new laptops a year, when we need to.”
They are improvements that Jon and Celtic Vacuum have been waiting a long time for with the financial director often finding hurdles to overcome as he looked to upgrade the company’s technology.
He explained: “Our servers were getting old – they’d been in place since around 2013 – and there were growing concerns over reliability.
“I looked into what the best course of action was, and Microsoft 365 was the option we wanted to take as we were already doing a lot of our work in Microsoft Office.
“No-one I talked to, however, could give me a straight answer when it came to migrating over and whether the business package or the enterprise plan was the best choice for what we wanted.
“The enterprise platform was an uptick in terms of price and competency, but we weren’t in the market for anything overly convoluted.
“I’d spoken with plenty of people who would give us a cost for moving our email to Microsoft 365, but not structuring and migrating our data.”
This is where Paul and Superfast Business Wales stepped in to offer Jon and Celtic Vacuum exactly what they were looking for – uncomplicated guidance from an expert.
Jon continued: “He offered the best advice in terms of keeping it simple and gradually bolting things on to the package as and when we required them.
“There was a concern around security and that created doubts in my mind, but with additional help from Purecyber, which is based in Cardiff, we got clarity regarding that side of things.”
As ever, Paul didn’t just support the switch to Microsoft 365, with the adviser also creating a report on Celtic Vacuum’s website, which offered further help and assistance.
“It was useful to know what changes can be made and the report highlighted a few areas of improvement for the future,” said Jon.
“For example, the website doesn’t have a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate to add a level of security.
“The search engine optimisation (SEO) could also be improved, but a lot of our work is with tier one construction companies which regularly use our services, and we have frameworks with the likes of Welsh Water, Wessex Water, and Thames Water.
“So, whilst the website was not a priority at the time of the report, the recommendations mean that it is definitely an area we are going to look closer at.”
Jon will add the website to a list of things he is aiming to do as a result of the successful migration to Microsoft 365.
“There are three things I am looking to get organised sooner rather than later,” he continued. “I want to sort out the general security, set up some back-up for files and data, and continue to utilise the tools on offer.
“The move has opened up a whole new avenue of programmes and procedures, and it is about picking which ones will help streamline the business and improve efficiencies.
“At the moment, we are using SurveyMonkey for feedback, but I now know about Microsoft Forms and that will be something we explore.”
Jon and Celtic Vacuum are looking forward with renewed optimism after Paul and Superfast Business Wales helped facilitate the operating system switch.
“From the first conversation I had with Paul it was like a breath of fresh air,” added Jon. “It was refreshing to have a discussion with someone who wasn’t trying to gain something.
“He offered a clear view and interpretation of our wants and needs without the hard sell.
“Up to that point, getting straight answers had been a real battle, but Paul helped provide a lightbulb moment.”
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