Site MapBDO Spicers
Leading accounting firm benefits from new technology strategy and investment
BDO Spicers (Christchurch) Ltd is realising the benefits from the continued investment into their technology resources. Through their partnership with Datasouth, BDO Spicers (Christchurch) Ltd have implemented a three year strategy plan in regards to the deployment of technology within their environment. This strategy is paying dividends by increasing user productivity and reducing faults that would traditionally impact the performance of the network.
BDO Spicers is one of the top five Chartered Accounting and Business Advisory firms in New Zealand with 10 offices, 38 partners and over 300 employees nationwide. BDO is a multinational accounting organisation that has grown to be the fifth largest in the world. From its European roots, BDO has developed a worldwide network in excess of 600 offices in over 100 countries.
BDO Spicers specialise in providing advice to businesses with ambition to grow, with clients ranging from start ups to large national and international businesses.
The Requirements
BDO Spicers relies on the ability to access and analyse electronic client files and associated information on demand. This access includes local and client created information as well as external electronic files via FTP and HTTPS web portals. This requirement dictates that users have maximum availability to the company's information technology resources. In conjunction with this it was identified that the security of the IT resources and the integrity of data was paramount.
Datasouth, through its long working relationship with BDO Spicers identified these business requirements and developed a strategy plan over a three year period that would target these requirements and provide appropriate business continuity solutions. The strategy plan was divided into phases to reduce the impact of the implementation to BDO Spicers. The staged implementation also allowed for the individual solutions to be implemented independently of each other and within differing time frames to meet the requirements of BDO Spicers. These phases were divided as follows:
- Remove desktop devices which were non-performing and required excessive maintenance. This included desktops considered non-standard. In addition BDO Spicers standardised on a desktop model with a long image lifecycle to reduce costs integrating additional devices at a later stage.
- Upgrade the network core and replace life expired hardware and operating systems. This included migrating the existing Microsoft Windows 2000 domain to Windows 2003 and implementing a Windows 2003 terminal server.
- Review network security and group policy. In addition review and recommend appropriate multi-tier antivirus solution, proactive patching regime, internet filtering and SPAM prevention.
- Deployment of appropriate data protection facilities to ensure data integrity in the event of a disaster.
- Review remote access requirements for staff, partners and contractors and recommend secure connectivity methods appropriate for the differing user requirements.
In addition to the strategic plan, Datasouth provides proactive monitoring and maintenance of the network on a continued basis to ensure the target of maximum availability of IT resources is achieved.
The Deliverables
Following the implementation of the strategic plan, BDO Spicers has provided its users with tools that allow for increased productivity and no longer experience outages or network disruptions that previously had impacted their business continuity. More importantly BDO Spicers have the confidence that their information assets and media are secure from both external and internal threats and that the integrity of their data is not at risk.
The implementation of the strategic plan has provided BDO Spicers with a benchmark for their IT resources, and allows these to be continually monitored within the evolving environment that they exist.
The Client's View
“The close working relationship with Datasouth has allowed us to ensure our network is reliable and stable. Datasouth explains the strategic plans and associated processes in a manner that is easy for us to understand so to recognise the benefits that these offer. The solutions that Datasouth provide allow us to remain at the forefront of the industry and pays for itself within a reasonably short period of time.” Michael Kendrew - Office Manager
