RockShop Wholesale
RockShop Wholesale have been importing high quality mineral, gemstone and fossil products from well established ethical sources around the globe since 1969. Based in Meltham near Holmfirth in West Yorkshire, they are Europe's largest wholesale importer of Crystals Gemstones, Tumblestones, Minerals, Fossils, Sterling Silver Jewellery, Himalayan Salt and Holistic Healing products.
Probado were asked to quote for a new server for the RockShop to run SAP software (Systems, Applications and Products) provided by FrontLine Consultancy.
RockShop Wholesale’s Operations Manager, Debbie Bradley recalls ‘We were looking for IT support having just moved premises and looked online for local IT businesses. We asked a few companies to quote but liked Probado’s consultative approach’.
Probado were required to manage information between the multiple parties involved in the installation which included BT, Probado, FrontLine and RockShop Wholesale.
‘We could have saved money on a leased line, but since RockShop had engaged early with BT on the line, it meant that we could not take the risk in missing committed deadlines’ says Gordon Maclean of Probado.
Once BT had then installed the leased line and IP Telephony, FrontLine then delivered hosted SAP, using the BT Leased Line circuit.
Probado was then asked to implement a wireless mesh in the Rockshop Warehouse and created the various VLANS (Virtual Local Area Networks) to separate and protect VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), Scanner IP traffic and general Data.
The installations went well but unfortunatly BT did not take any responsibility for network beyond the connection to the clients premises and so RockShop used Probado for network management again liaising with all parties.
Debbie recollects ‘Our backend system had become so huge and was a real issue for us, Probado alerted us to the problem and helped us resolve the issue through the installation’.
Midway through the project unfortunately FrontLine could not deliver the IT performance required and so RockShop requested help from Probado. The client had lost confidence in a hosted system, so Probado worked with all parties to deliver a permanent on-site solution.
The new system is installed and delivering the required performance, we have sized the system to accommodate future growth and we confident the solution will scale. The solution is based upon Dell hardware, Terminal Services, Microsoft SPLA licensing (so users can be added / removed without penalty or further capital investment) and Office 365 for email services.
Debbie Bradley recalls ‘In the early days after the installation we used the Helpdesk a lot. It really helps speaking to the same people who know your set-up and take the time to explain in plain English. They were really open with good communication, telling me everything I needed to know.’
Probado continues to work with RockShop Warehouse and its software partners to ensure that the system continues to meet performance expectations. In order to ensure this done pro-actively Probado monitors all aspects of the service using it’s PRTG monitoring tools, automatic off-site backups are performed nightly using secure encrypted methods which are stored across replicated data centres. Probado has implemented a local NAS (Network-attached Storage) for local copies and test data.
Debbie Bradley summarises ‘I would highly recommend them and wouldn’t go anywhere else. They would be my first choice every time.’
