Silverdell And ITMS Virtual Desktop Highlights
- Silverdell adopts Virtual Desktop Cloud Services from ITMS
- Solution runs to Macs, PCs and iPads
- Helps simplify the IT of three merged companies
- SMEs don’t understand Cloud Computing
- Small vendors 2X Software and ITMS demonstrate alternative innovation in the UK
ITMS’s John Abrahams Discusses Silverdell
We talked to John Abrahams of IT Managed Services (ITMS) – a small UK managed services company about the project they have just completed with Silverdell – a hazardous material management company based across the UK. We thought it would be interesting for our readers to hear about how virtualisation is helping with a company made up from a number of acquisitions. It has repercussions for other SMEs trapped into inaction when looking at the integration of two or more IT systems. It also gives evidence for the successful use of 2X Software’s approach which we featured on this site recently.
Who Is Silverdell?
Silverdell, a medium-sized UK company with annual revenues of £56 million acquired environmental rival specialists Kitsons and Redhills, which complicated the IT systems running to their 25 separate offices. Silverdell works in the environmental area helping to sort out nuclear and asbestos waste mainly for customers in the UK (quite a topical subject given the problems Japan is having at the moment). It has a very mobile workforce, whose work involves visiting power plants, maintaining facilities as a contractor, some construction and consultancy work.
SMEs Don’t Understand Cloud Computing
John doesn’t see much competition for small UK managed services coming from large US-based Cloud suppliers at the moment. The main problem he sees is that SMEs don’t understand Cloud Computing. Rather than worrying about the sharing problems’ of multi-tenancy, it’s just very difficult to get them thinking about putting their resources in a data center at all.
Our view is that consumers are already the keenest users of Cloud applications (free email, Google apps, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), without thinking about it as Cloud: although Microsoft’s decision to use ‘Cloud’ in its marketing may change things. While a start-up business may find it relatively easy to start paying monthly fees for professional versions of free-to-use software, those who’ve been around for some time may find it harder – they often face the same difficulties large companies are having in mixing pre-existing systems with Cloud services. We’re doing our best here to draw attention to companies like ITMS, Datascape Online, Storage Online and Fasthosts who offer Cloud Services to SMEs here in the UK.
Silverdell’s Virtual Desktop Solution
ITMS took a year to implement its solution at Silverdell taking one application at a time, starting with the company’s shared data invoicing system. ITMS now runs its IT system from its two data centres in Liverpool and Manchester, where it rents a cabinet from Telecity. ITMS currently rents about 50 racks there and John claims there is plenty of scope for growth.
The solution involves VDI and remotely managed desktop services, which run to iPads, Apple Macs and PCs. It is based on a managed VPN with bonded ADSL, rather than the MPLS-based solutions we saw at McGregor and The Sanctuary Group.
The Components Chosen By ITMS For Managed Services Include 2X Software And Dell
In addition to 2X software ITMS also partners with the ISP Talk Internet (a company who’s been around for many years and not to be confused with the mobile operator Talk Talk). Other components it uses, although not necessarily in the Silverdell contract, include Veaam, which John likens to Visioncore and Stonesoft firewalls. It tends to use thin clients in projects and is a Dell distributor. John says that ITMS encourages its customers to use Dell machines for their consistency, which makes up for the lack of hardware margins.
John believes there will be a growth in IT Outsourcing in the SME sector, not least to save costs through redundancies in the current poor economic environment. He also bears witness to the massive influx of IT hardware in 2011, which confirms our view that the market for physical devices has been booming alongside the urgency of virtualisation.
Some Conclusions – Virtual Desktop And Cloud Services Benefits For SMEs
Perhaps it would be best in future to talk to Silverdell to see how the contract is running and what benefits have accrued: however John points to reduced costs, improved management (including the reduction in the number of vendors it needs to deal with) and the simplification of IT in an organisation made up from acquired companies.
ITCandor is keen to help IT managers in all sizes of companies to understand the benefits and pitfalls of virtualisation and Cloud services. Our earlier user profiles demonstrate the difficulties of adopting full scale VDI themselves – many organisations don’t know what to do with Microsoft Active Directory or pst files and the costs are often the same or more than the existing physical solutions – most notably in networking and storage. At a global level companies such as VMware, Citrix and Microsoft have the limelight in terms of understanding, although their software can be expensive and sometimes under-utilised. It’s refreshing therefore to see smaller, alternative companies like ITMS and 2X Software building solutions for SMEs. It demonstrates strong technical skills and an entrepreneurial approach to providing users with services, which overcome the internal barriers to adoption. We will continue to follow these innovative approaches to Cloud Computing with interest.
We’re always interested in hearing from users – big or small – who have chosen to move from running their own IT to having it delievered as a service, whether defined as Cloud Computing, SaaS or not. Please let us know your experiences by commenting on this article.