By the DynaSis Team
Although the majority of business owners (87% per one survey) have adopted cloud computing in some form, that doesn’t mean they understand it fully. Every day, we hear from business owners who want to explore the cloud further but are not familiar with the various aspects of cloud computing. What’s Software as a Service, and how does it differ from Infrastructure as a Service? What is the difference between a public cloud and a private one? What are the criteria for selecting a provider?
To help business owners familiarize themselves with these important issues—and to help them choose the right cloud provider—we developed a white paper, Big Cloud Little Cloud, that is available on our website. To pique your interest in learning more, this article will explain the various cloud services—one of the most confusing aspects of cloud computing for many business owners.
The Cloud as a Service
Unless an organization runs its own data center, all cloud “products” are actually services. The company licenses one or more cloud-based elements hosted in data centers run by IT solutions firms and made accessible (served) to the company. The three main categories of cloud service are Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS). There are other “services” that are often add-ons for companies deploying IaaS, PaaS or SaaS. These are Desktop as a Service (DaaS), Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) and Backup as a Service (BaaS).
Software as a Service: With SaaS, software vendors host their applications on cloud servers and provide access to organizations and their personnel on a subscription basis (usually billed per user or per “seat”). The hosting company handles all licensing, upgrades, IT support and other aspects of the solution. Office 365, Salesforce, and Gmail are all examples of SaaS.
Infrastructure as a Service: IaaS is a hosted solution where a IT services vendor licenses server space in its data center. Organizations use IaaS to store and access corporate files in the cloud as well as to run applications, host websites and more. Some IaaS offerings include email, office productivity and other software, eliminating the need for firms to deploy and manage these solutions.
Platform as a Service (PaaS): PaaS is similar to IaaS, but it is more commonly used by organizations that develop, deploy and manage their own applications. PaaS solutions include hosted servers, operating systems, and other elements of a computing platform. In some scenarios, companies can also run third-party applications and store files and other assets on their PaaS resources, as well.
Desktop as a Service (DaaS): DaaS is often a front-end solution for an IaaS deployment. Personnel access cloud resources through a desktop portal that can be opened on any desktop, laptop or mobile device, eliminating the need for organizations to own and maintain desktop computers.
Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) and Backup as a Service (BaaS): Both DRaaS and BaaS provide hosted backup of an organization’s files, sometimes with selective (file by file) access. However, DRaaS generally creates complete system images that organizations can restore to recover their operations after a major outage. DRaaS solutions also may create backup images more frequently than do BaaS services, but this capability varies widely from one solution to the next.
As you can see, these solutions vary widely in their scope, and the specifics can be dramatically different from one provider to the next. As a result, we recommend organizations work with a qualified managed IT services firm, such as a managed services provider, to devise a plan. We go into detail about selection criteria in our cloud white paper. We hope you will find it helpful.
DynaSis is an Atlanta IT services and cloud computing provider for small and midsized businesses. All of our solutions focus on helping companies achieve the three fundamental IT necessities of the modern business—availability, security and mobility. We specialize in on-demand and on-premises managed IT services, managed cloud infrastructure, desktops and backups, and professional hardware and equipment installation. For more information about DynaSis’ IT support and services, visit www.dynasis.com.
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By the DynaSis Team
On Tuesday, June 14, 2016 from 12:00-2:00 pm, the DynaSis Team will host an Open House at its new headquarters, located at 950 North Point Parkway, Suite 300, Alpharetta, Georgia. All of DynaSis customers, partners and associates, as well as local media, are invited to attend. At the event, one of our favorite local barbecue restaurants, ‘cue, will serve a luncheon to all attendees.
DynaSis’ move marks a milestone for our organization, as we have not only doubled our size but also expanded our systems to enhance the IT support and IT services we offer our customers. Recognizing the increasing challenge that small and midsized businesses (SMBs) face in today’s technology-centric, threat-laden landscape, DynaSis has taken significant steps to ensure it will remain the area’s most proactive managed services provider in coming years.
A recent study of IT security among SMBs, conducted by Wakefield Research, found that only 37 percent of IT decision makers felt their organizations were fully prepared to manage IT security and protect against threats. Equally concerning, fewer than 25 percent have a dedicated, in-house cybersecurity team or individual. Improvements we have incorporated into our new facility to directly address these shortfalls for SMBs include:
During the event, visitors will have the opportunity to meet some of the DynaSis Team as we lead guided tours that showcase our new offices and equipment and explain the inner workings of the Managed IT Services model. As a thank-you to the Atlanta community for its years of support, we will also donate $10 to the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) for every Open House attendee. For the convenience of attendees, we can accept donations of canned and boxed goods and forward them to the ACFB on donors’ behalf.
For more information, or to RSVP, please email events@DynaSis.com
For small to midsized business owners and executives who are concerned about managed IT support services and network threat protection, DynaSis is one company that has been at the forefront since 1992. In this ever evolving world of cybercrime, crypto virus and network access protection have become critical to every company’s security. DynaSis also provides 24 x 7 x 365 outsourced IT services, with its own trained staff for helpdesk, real-time monitoring and the DynaSis Business Cloud, for highly secure data storage and backup. You can find out more by calling us at 678.218.1769, or checking out our website at www.DynaSis.com.
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By the DynaSis Team
Several recent reports have highlighted the growing importance for small and midsized businesses (SMBs) of outsourcing their IT functions. There is also new evidence that SMB owners are actively embracing the use of managed services.
Per a 2015 report from the MSPAlliance, an international association of cloud computing and managed services providers (MSPs), North American firms spend approximately $154 billion annually for managed services. The MSPAlliance also reports that SMBs are at the top of the list, in terms of adoption. Benefits cited by the SMBs contracting for managed IT services include increased operational performance, decreased operational risk, reduced IT costs and accelerated innovation.
The IT solutions offered as managed services range from computing, storage and networking resources to mobility strategy and management, expert, 24/7 support for users, and even telephony services. Some IT support companies offer ongoing monitoring, management and maintenance of the underlying infrastructure (with service guarantees).
The most engaged MSPs also offer IT consulting and strategic planning services to help organizations create roadmaps of upgrades and improvements, maximizing budget while minimizing downtime. With all of these options potentially—but not necessarily—available, SMB decision makers considering managed services must both identify their own priorities and vet their candidates carefully. Following are a few issues to consider.
In the long run, many organizations find that contracting with an MSP for all IT services is the most cost-effective solution. This is especially true when the provider offers proactive monitoring and problem resolution, which is proven to reduce outages significantly. With virtually all SMB staff requiring computing resources, IT outages quickly become costly based on wasted staff resource alone. When the cost of lost sales and goodwill are factored in, the price tag is even higher. For even the smallest providers, the new reality is that uptime is no longer optional.
Selection of an IT outsourcing company is a very important business decision. For almost a quarter century, Atlanta’s small to mid-sized businesses have relied on DynaSis’ for managed IT services, internet security, and 24 x 7 x 365 helpdesk support. Today, with cybercrime becoming an ever-increasing threat, DynaSis has become an industry leader in network protection and ransomware prevention. Please take a tour through our website at www.DynaSis.com or speak with a technical expert at 678.218.1769.
By the DynaSis Team
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We recently saw an article on virtualization that also discussed “data protection.” That is not surprising, given that a Google search of the term “data protection” returns 269,000 results. What caught our attention was the use of those two words to describe protecting corporate data from loss or corruption. While that is the traditional technology definition of data protection, it is different than data security, which is protecting your data from unauthorized and/or inappropriate access, storage or use by insiders or outsiders.
This distinction has been muddied recently by issues surrounding data privacy. One example is the demise of “Safe Harbor”– a policy agreement that governed how U.S. entities would handle the data of European Union (EU) citizens. The agreement expired and is being replaced with a new approach, Privacy Shield, which you can read about here. Articles about it, and the negotiations between the U.S. and EU, often referred to “data protection” as a quick way of saying “ensuring data privacy through clearly defined safeguards.”
The Scoop on Data Protection
To set the record straight from a technology perspective, data protection is a collective term for a firm’s plan to evaluate, catalog and protect information assets from application/user/machine malfunctions and errors, malware or other detrimental software, and facility outages/disruptions. Data protection encompasses such efforts as backup, storage and recovery.
As mentioned above, data protection also includes preventing or limiting data loss due to malware attacks. However, for the purposes of this definition, it doesn’t include data privacy or intrusion detection/prevention. Those efforts are vital to organizational safety, but from the viewpoint of an IT support company, they fall under the category of data security.
When managed properly, either in-house or through a managed services provider, data protection should include data lifecycle management (DLM). With DLM, organizations proactively control data not only during its effective useful life but also afterward, when they no longer need ongoing access to it but may be required to maintain it for compliance or other requirements. DLM covers data archiving as well as data disposal in a manner that does not allow its retrieval.
Data protection can also include such efforts as continuous data protection (CDP), where automated technology updates enterprise backups as changes to the primary systems are made. Backup generally occurs on a schedule that corresponds to the business owner’s risk tolerance, which might mean truly continual backup or could involve taking a “snapshot” of the data every hour, day or even week.
Data protection is a big, complicated and important topic requiring an in-depth IT solution, so we will discuss it frequently, sharing news we come across. Next week, we’ll discuss desktop virtualization, a type of virtualization that be a boost to data protection, when configured properly.
Specializing in managed IT services and network security, Atlanta based DynaSis has been supporting small to midsized business for almost a quarter century. Among the services we provide are cloud computing through the DynaSis Business Cloud, 24 x 7 x 365 helpdesk support, and real-time monitoring enabling us to deal with “issues” before they become problems. For more information, please call DynaSis at 678.218.1769 or visit www.DynaSis.com.
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By the DynaSis Team
Almost as long as there have been heroes and villains, there have been stories about “super powers”—superhuman or supernatural abilities possessed by normal humans. So prevalent are these “powers” in history and fiction that Wikipedia lists more than 250 of them.
Organizations can have (or appear to have) super powers, too. While they may not be paranormal or supernatural, the most successful businesses all have attributes that make their customers and competitors say, “How do they do that so well?” “It doesn’t seem possible!”
Here’s an example. Some businesses not only anticipate when customers need to reorder products; they also project what other products and services the firms will want or need, next. They know exactly when to approach their customers, as if they were reading the decision makers’ minds.
In reality, these companies and their sales people are likely harnessing and analyzing available data to discern patterns and then making educated assumptions. Ten years ago, this wasn’t possible, but a new crop of business intelligence tools is revolutionizing the information and insight available to proactive firms.
Technology Has Super Powers, Too
Super powers can appear in any area of the business. Since DynaSis is an information technology (IT) and managed IT services firm, our President, David (Dave) Moorman, focused on technology when he began exploring super powers. At first glance, one might assume that technology super powers are all related to operation, such as the ability to keep systems and networks functional 99.999% of the time.
Although availability (along with mobility and security) is a cornerstone of business success, it’s not, by itself, a super power. Dave determined that the greatest technology super power is something most organizational leaders don’t consider. He calls it “technology capability,” which he defines as “an organization’s ability to create business value through its IT assets and competency.”
IT hardware and software can support business functions, but by themselves they don’t propel a company’s success. Similarly, having workers that can use technology at a basic level may get tasks done, but it won’t take a business to the top. Rather, companies that develop true IT capability are those that have adopted the most appropriate technologies and are using them in the most effective ways—and whose employees are working with them in a collaborative, connected fashion.
As Dave noted in his article, Technology Capability: Your Business “Super Power,” which you can download here, “IT assets alone do not equal capability. How a company makes use of those assets, and how well it integrates them—both with one another and across the enterprise—is what drives organizational prosperity, competitiveness, agility and innovation.”
Such an approach promotes outcomes where the total accomplishment is greater than the sum of its parts. In doing so, organizations can take a significant step towards becoming a business “super power,” themselves. In the article referenced above, Dave digs into the specifics of how organizational leaders can begin this journey by developing IT capability for their own firms. We hope you will enjoy reading it.
For small to midsized business owners and executives who are concerned about managed IT support services and network threat protection, DynaSis is one company that has been at the forefront since 1992. In this ever evolving world of cybercrime, crypto virus and network access protection have become critical to every company’s security. DynaSis also provides 24 x 7 x 365 outsourced managed IT services, with its own trained staff for helpdesk, real-time monitoring and the DynaSis Business Cloud, for highly secure data storage and backup. You can find out more by calling us at 678.218.1769, or checking out our website at www.DynaSis.com.
By the DynaSis Team
In looking at disaster recovery options, we recently came across an interesting article on “future proofing a colocated data center.” It offers suggestions for how companies can make the right choice when hiring another company to “colocate” their data (replicate it to a second location). It focuses on companies that are moving away from maintaining their own data centers, and it’s an interesting read.
It made us think about the specific questions business leaders should ask an IT service provider regarding off-site data storage, not only for backup but also for disaster recovery. Increasingly, business decision makers are realizing that creating and storing physical backups, whether onsite or offsite, is a tedious task and often not the most practical choice. Especially in the case of a true disaster, like the tornados that swept through the south last week, being able to access business data quickly, if not immediately, rather than going through an arduous restore process with new equipment, can truly be a business lifesaver.
Today, let’s consider three top issues that business leaders should never take for granted when purchasing hosted disaster recovery services—and yet, they often do.
Availability: Does the provider own or lease data center space at a location that is geologically, politically and economically stable? Many business owners know that weather is a consideration, but what about data centers hosted outside the U.S., or even data centers in economically challenged areas within the U.S.? Before you purchase data storage and retrieval services, make sure you are comfortable with the location where your data will be stored.
Resource Continuity: Does the facility have multiple independent power sources, on-site power generation that is reliable and can run for a long time (preferably, a week or more), and redundant Internet connectivity options, such as both Internet service and telecommunications providers? If the data center relies on a local water source for cooling, is the water source stable, year-round? A data center is only as reliable as the resources that service it.
Stability: How about the stability of the company running the data center? Does the firm have a long history of stable operation, or has it recently changed hands? Does the firm that will manage your data stores (whether they own their data center or lease it) have in-house personnel working for you, or do they rely on independent contractors or offshore assistance?
Furthermore, are you comfortable with the escalation process if a disaster occurs, or if you have a question or problem? It does little good to have your data stored in a safe, available facility if you cannot get anyone to help you in the middle of the night. Remember that during a true disaster, the provider’s staff may be the only team that's available to keep your business in operation.
All of these details, and more, should be spelled out in your SLA—Service Level Agreement. Don’t take anyone’s word or assurance that a feature or function is guaranteed. Get it in writing.
Specializing in managed IT services and network security, Atlanta based DynaSis has been supporting small to midsized business for almost a quarter century. Among the services we provide are cloud computing through the DynaSis Business Cloud, 24 x 7 x 365 helpdesk support, and real-time monitoring enabling us to deal with “issues” before they become problems. For more information, please call DynaSis at 678.218.1769 or visit www.DynaSis.com.
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By the DynaSis Team
Of the many sources of organizational risk that business leaders envision, printers likely aren’t one of them. Admittedly, one could run out of paper or toner/ink right before printing a major presentation for a customer. But other than that, how much risk can a printer pose? In today’s connected environment, the answer is “a lot.”
If your printers are networked, which means employees can send jobs to them from their desks or devices, then your printer is tied in with your network, and anyone who can access your printer can access your network. If you are thinking, “but my printer isn’t connected to the Internet, so how could someone gain access?” think again.
If your personnel connect to the Internet, and they connect to your printers, then the two are tied together. Furthermore, some printers automatically send and receive information, such as driver updates, across the Internet without anyone’s knowledge. That creates an additional layer of vulnerability.
Another way your printer can expose you to risk is through storage. Do your printers have the ability to store jobs for later printing? If so, they can (and likely do) retain information after the fact. Most printers have a “cache” for storing information, if not a designated hard drive, and unless someone clears it, the information is there for the taking.
Even assuming no one steals data from the printer while it is at your office, what happens when you sell or trade the printer? Even if the drives and caches are wiped, in some cases it is possible to lift data images off drums and other printer components.
Protecting your printing transmissions and data is beyond the scope of this article, but we can refer you to a few good tips. Rather, our objective here is bigger. Your office printer is a concern, but it is just one example of how “risks” are all around business owners today, often in the most unexpected places. Savvy cybercriminals know this, and they are learning how to penetrate companies in odd ways, such as through a printer-driver update link that may not be detected by the “average” firewall.
We are not suggesting that business owners be cognizant of all these risks, themselves. We’re not even suggesting that they should take action to avoid all of them. Rather, business owners must be keenly aware that business risks can be anywhere and everywhere, and they must take prudent, considered action as risk relates to technology. That means:
To do anything less is to admit defeat. In that case, we recommend the business owner start planning an exit strategy, because that’s what he or she will need, next.
DynaSis has been Atlanta’s premier IT support services provider for more than 23 years. As an IT company working with small to midsized businesses (10 to 150+ users), DynaSis has developed a unique 12-layer approach to network threat protection, ransomware prevention and crypto virus threat elimination. The DynaSis Business Cloud functions through a highly secure environment with full real-time data backup. Please contact us at 678.218.1769 or visit our website at www.DynaSis.com.
By the DynaSis Team
At DynaSis, we are continually working to make improvements, providing our customers with products and services that are faster, more powerful and more secure. This year, we have taken great strides in several areas, including introducing an affordable, secure cloud file system that just may revolutionize your business model.
If you haven’t been introduced to our new offerings yet, we invite you to call us for a complimentary consultation. You may be pleasantly surprised at how much our solutions can propel the success of your business
Automated Monitoring and Alerting: In February, DynaSis launched a cloud-based, high-availability monitoring and alerting service gives that gives engineers in DynaSis’ network operations center a dashboard view of customers’ infrastructure at all times. The service conducts analysis and inspection of DynaSis customers’ on-site infrastructure and networks, 24/7/365, scanning for issues such as low disk space, servers being overwhelmed by too many user requests, and other problems that affect availability and performance. Offered at no additional charge to DynaSis’ Managed Services customers, it added a further layer of scrutiny on top of DynaSis’ already robust network and infrastructure management and maintenance solutions.
Partnership with Veeam: In March 2013, DynaSis announced a partnership with Veeam, a leading provider of disaster recovery services for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Partnering with Veeam gave DynaSis yet another best-practices disaster recovery option for its clients. With the Veeam solution, DynaSis customers’ data and servers are replicated from their virtual servers to DynaSis offsite data centers, eliminating the need for onsite backup appliances or servers. Customers enjoy instant file-level recovery, application-item recovery and virtual server recovery plus deep support for VMware and Hyper-V virtualization environments.
DynaSis BLUE: In September, DynaSis announced the launch of DynaSis BLUE, a solution that turns customers’ on-site file servers into in-house cloud servers. To deploy BLUE, DynaSis installs a tiny software agent on a client's file server and then configures the in-house cloud environment to meet the customer's specifications. DynaSis BLUE enables firms to harness the power of cloud-based file sharing and storage without relinquishing control of corporate files to a third-party provider. With 448-bit Blowfish encryption, two-factor authentication, full auditability and granular user-access and security controls, DynaSis BLUE provisions companies with a comprehensive, 100% synchronized and backed-up solution that offers significantly better governance than leading competitors.
These products and services are some of our 2013 highlights, but they are far from our only accomplishments. We’re also planning some great new additions for 2014.
We hope you had a great holiday season and wish you a prosperous New Year. From all of us at DynaSis, here’s to a great 2014. We look forward to working with you in the future!
[featured_image]By DynaSis
Earlier this month, I talked about unplanned downtime in the context of disaster recovery and business continuity. That discussion got me thinking about the cost of the incidental downtime―the little inconveniences that impact some businesses on a regular basis. Things like employees not being able to log into the company’s network because the firm’s IT guy forgot to update everyone with new passwords on the first of the month. Or, even the tiny amounts of downtime that result when you work with a reliable (but not best practices) data hosting service.
This incidental―and incremental―downtime can really add up. Take, for example, the variations in “high availability” among Internet and data center providers. How much difference can there be between 99% uptime (industry average) and 99.99% uptime (what DynaSis delivers)? As it turns out, the difference can be substantial.
Let’s assume you have 50 employees that rely on their computers at the workplace each day. Let’s also assume your burdened hourly rate (pay plus benefits) is the national average ($29.11 per hour, per the U.S. Department of Labor; yours might be much higher). 50 times $29.11 equals $1455.50. That is your cost, per hour, of having your computing systems and/or network unavailable for an hour.
Now, let’s extrapolate that cost in terms of a network/systems provider’s availability over one year. If your provider promises 99% availability (uptime), over one year you could expect your systems to be down for 88 hours―365 x 24 x 1%. If your provider promises 99.99% availability, over the course of a year you could expect your systems to be down for .88 hours―365 x 24 x .01%. That’s a big difference.
Multiply that figure by the average burdened hourly rate we established earlier to get your downtime risk, in terms of wasted employee resource, and the comparison becomes even starker. With 99% uptime, your downtime risk is $128,084 per year. With the 99.99% availability provider, it’s $1,280.84.
Of course, these downtime figures include “down hours” in the calculations―periods when the office is closed and no one is using your systems. If you calculate the figure using eight hours per day rather than 24, the numbers drop substantially.
However, unless you work with a 24/7 managed IT systems provider, there will be no one in the office to note the downtime when it occurs. Depending on the nature of the event, it might interrupt backup operations, necessitate server reboots, and cause other disruptions that will result in unplanned downtime the next morning.
Furthermore, if your company relies heavily on technology―if you offer 24-hour e-commerce or service; for example, the cost of downtime escalates considerably. (When Amazon.com went dark for 30 minutes in August, it lost more than $66,000 per minute.) Furthermore, these calculations don’t account for lost business or reputation, which can occur frighteningly quickly in today’s “instant gratification” marketplace.
Finally, these figures are for availability of the data center and its network delivery mechanism, and do not include downtime from problems within your internal systems, like incorrectly configured network settings or server crashes. Take those into account, and unless you have a trusted rapid-response team, downtime can be a lot greater.
So, here’s a thought. If you currently work with a network provider or data host that isn’t delivering 99.99% uptime, or you have been disappointed by an IT consultant or in-house resource that cannot trace and resolve downtime problems quickly, give me a call. We’ll show you the “up” side to implementing round-the-clock systems monitoring and support.
When Classic Collision IT Managers Scott Britt and Johnny Ward, along with shop manager Shannon Blevins, looked for help reducing network outages and handling day-to-day IT duties, their search led them to DynaSis. Working together, DynaSis and Classic Collision formulated a more ambitious plan: to move Classic Collision’s entire day-to-day operations to the cloud. Now, Britt reports, the new technology framework is helping the collision center “do everything right the first time” for its customers.
A Step-by-Step Process
Prior to signing with DynaSis, Britt and Ward had been charged with managing the IT needs for Classic Collision’s nine collision centers. However, providing support and assistance for so many different locations was a struggle. “We did everything—from training people to use our management system to repairing PCs,” says Britt. “With nine locations all over metro Atlanta, it was hard to get to everybody.”
In particular, Britt reports, keeping tabs on licensing requirements for software was difficult, and unnecessary network outages hampered efforts to provide the excellent customer service for which Classic Collision is renowned. After Classic Collision hired DynaSis to provide IT support, DynaSis's VP of Managed IT Services, Chas Arnold presented Classic Collision with its ITility by DynaSis Cloud solution, which dovetailed perfectly with Britt’s own plans. “We like to have the latest and greatest technology, and I had already envisioned that the cloud was where we wanted to go,” says Britt. “Once we got DynaSis in for the day-to-day IT issues, we were able to set up a meeting with our boss, Brandon Bishop.”
With the project approved, Classic Collision and DynaSis immediately began working to implement the complete program, which would include moving all of Classic Collision’s operations to the cloud, hosted at DynaSis’s best-practices data center. DynaSis would also provide 24/7/365 monitoring and maintenance, including software updates. Each Classic Collision location would have a single server to generate IP addresses and help connect the desktop PCs in the office to the cloud environment.
Making the Move
To prepare for the move to the cloud, DynaSis informed Classic Collision that they would need to upgrade its outdated desktop PCs and then began transitioning the company’s software, as well. DynaSis provided Classic Collision with hosted Microsoft Office and the Microsoft Exchange email client, two products frequently used in cloud environments.
However, a bigger challenge was transitioning several specialized programs used by Classic Collision, including ProfitNet™, a collision shop management system, as well as estimating packages Audatex and CCCOne. “We had one nagging issue with one of the estimating packages, and DynaSis went above and beyond to figure it out,” says Britt. “As far as we know, none of the products had ever been run in a cloud environment before, and DynaSis was able to make them work.”
A Mobile Future
With Classic Collision’s cloud-based operations in full swing, the company began focusing on its new mobility benefits. “With ITility by DynaSis, we immediately saw the benefits on the mobility side,” says Britt. “Mobility gave our estimators freedom to work from home, instead of having to come in over the weekend to complete estimates.”
Now, Classic Collision looks forward to its next improvement—putting iPads in the hands of those estimators. “Once the estimators have iPads, they will be able to do estimates in the field,” Britt says. “We work with a lot of dealerships, and the estimators used to have to go out to a car, look at it, and then come back to the shop and do the estimate. Now, they’ll be able to go to the vehicle, do the estimate, and print or email it, right there.”
Bottom-Line Benefits
Overall, Britt says, working with DynaSis and their cloud solution has given him and Ward more confidence in their system’s stability and reliability. They also like the security of knowing the Classic Collision network is being monitored and updates are being done. “DynaSis is very efficient,” says Britt. “If the first tech cannot finish out an issue, they stay with it until they resolve the problem.” On a professional level, the new solution has proved a benefit for both Britt and Ward, as well. “We now have the ability to focus on things such as improving processes,” Britt says.
If there’s one takeaway from the project that Britt would offer to other customers, it’s to ensure they share with DynaSis every possible detail about their business. “During the initial implementation, DynaSis employee's went above and beyond to learn how we do business and make sure everything interacted well with the Citrix cloud environment,” Britt concludes.