SV Partners

An IT services provider that covers a cross-section of functions helps SV Partners stay ahead of emerging technology trends

 This case study was originally conducted by Huon IT, which is now integrated with Kyocera to deliver end-to-end technology services for organisations.

Being able to respond to SV Partners’ needs very quickly helped foster confidence in the business.

“They put a full team on board, we worked well together, they were great at explaining technical IT issues to non-IT people who need to make decisions. I have found I need to fully understand a problem before I make a decision and they have been very helpful in that area,” says Mel.
SV Partners’ Mel Purcell, “The client manager as well as an account manager have been fantastic. I liaise with the account manager on a day-to-day basis and then the SV Partners team can reach out to the IT support desk as necessary.”

Using a Managed Service Provider gives SV Partners protection from concerns about key knowledge holders resigning in the future. Mel explains that the service is also cost-effective for the business, “We are no longer paying for a full-time manager plus additional headcount, then needing to cover costs and gaps when people are on holiday.”

SV Partners now has more capacity to help its clients because there are fewer technical roadblocks for the team to deal with. The business has a far more robust and well-protected IT infrastructure and is on track for smoother, more efficient systems in the future.

The client manager as well as an account manager have been fantastic. I liaise with the account manager on a day-to-day basis and then the SV Partners team can reach out to the IT support desk as necessary.

- Mel Purcell, Consultant, SV Partners

Their story

With headquarters in Brisbane, SV Partners provides professional insolvency and advisory services for businesses, supporting their journey as they recover from different financial situations. The company employs 150 staff who are located all over Australia.

SV Partners had been managing their IT internally, but they were left in urgent need of a new provider when their solution disintegrated quickly and unexpectedly. Following the successful delivery of a previous software development project, the organisation sought a tailored managed services package to meet its evolving requirements.

The challenges

With no IT provider to rely on, the first thing SV Partners needed was day-to-day tech support in the form of a help desk that all staff could reach out to.

Beyond this, the business faces the difficulty of working in a highly regulated environment. Supporting clients through insolvency issues means SV Partners must handle sensitive data and information. They needed a complete audit of network infrastructure and cybersecurity to protect themselves and their clients, and remain compliant with current regulations.

The solution

After visiting the Brisbane office, the team were able to start providing IT support within three weeks.

To address the urgent need for day-to-day IT support, the first step was to establish a central IT help desk, with a senior technician and 24/7 points of contact. SV Partners staff from all over the country can now call, email or lodge a ticket when they have a question or need something urgently fixed.

A full audit was then conducted to identify and triage issues. An independent audit was conducted to identify key findings and provide recommendations for improvement.

Some of the key issues included:

• Security risks such as unencrypted hard drives on workstations.

• Legacy servers that are no longer supported.

• Old hardware with expired warranties.

• Not following best practices for security and hardware (e.g. non-standard authentication mechanisms).

• Sign-in difficulties for users.

• The potential for a single point of failure.

• No disaster recovery plan.

Once a support desk had been established and the audit completed, focus shifted to prioritising and resolving key issues, while delivering strategic projects designed to improve operational efficiency and support business growth.

As Blake explains, “We now play a strategic advisory role in addition to providing regular IT fixes and updates. We’re continually looking at where SV Partners has come from and where it needs to be.”

The results

• No additional headcount.

   

• A robust and well-protected IT infrastructure.

   

• Increase capacity to help clients.

   

• Fewer technical roadblocks.

   

• Fast, flexible IT system.

   

• User experience consistency.