Introduction

Fruition support a number of organisations in the property sector, this case study describes the experience of a building company that we have supported for the last 15 years.

Glossbrook are a bespoke building company based in Bournemouth, they have been in the trade for over 35 years. Their ethos is to deliver the project on time and on budget in accordance with the contract. Their staff take personal interest in delivering the project to exceed the client’s expectations. They get involved in projects from the earliest stages. Using their experience and technical expertise they help clients develop their concept and help them in their choice of other professionals using their local contacts. On each project they field a first-class team of people, from management to the onsite work force, and each stage of a project is handled with reliability and professionalism.

The Challenge

Glossbrook originally approached Fruition Systems in 2007. Having outgrown their incumbent IT service provider, they were looking for a higher standard of service and support for their client /server infrastructure. Since then their business has flourished, technology has developed and we have kept their systems relevant, agile and reliable.

For example, in 2014 the company identified potential vulnerabilities relating to file storage and back-up’s and so undertook a tactical review of their systems. This led to a migration to The Microsoft Cloud and the retirement of their data server. This strategy provides greater simplicity and futureproofing of their IT systems, with unlimited storage to support growth and development.

Approach

Key Applications

• Finance and job costing
• Project Planning
• Purchasing
• Email and online collaboration

A SharePoint implementation was developed to provide a secure online file storage system with various user permissions and levels of data access to support Glossbrook’s management tiers.

The integration with the cloud means that staff are able to access data quickly and securely when they are working away from the office. An added benefit is the ability to buy capacity on demand as and when the business flexes.

Solutions Provided

• Retired on-premises server
• Migration of majority of IT infrastructure to the Microsoft cloud
• Cloud-based apps accessible away from the office
• Secure file management and storage set-up in SharePoint
• Mobile connected using tablets and smartphones
• Current Windows versions
• Latest Microsoft 365
• Security protocols appropriate to their Cloud based IT infrastructure
• New, modern hardware, both in the office and at remote locations
• IT Helpdesk support
• Migration of old static website to modern CMS framework

Microsoft Azure was selected as the Cloud storage solution since it is durable and highly available, secure, scalable, managed and accessible. It also means that Glossbrook adopt a Microsoft-only strategy, resulting in a singular point of vendor responsibility.

For technical reasons, one legacy application had to remain hosted on-site. Fruition were able to reconfigure and upgrade the on-site server to extend its life by several years. This gave Glossbrook the time to investigate and roll out a new cloud-based solution, which also allowed for migration and testing to be fully carried out.

There also exists an additional 3^rd party security product which is managed by Fruition to augment the Microsoft suite of anti-virus and security provided.

Results

Glossbrook are able to access their data from anywhere in the world that provides an internet connection or cellular coverage. All data is highly secure and a robust back-up solution is in place. With Glossbrook outsourcing their IT department to Fruition, they are able to benefit from more efficient IT expenditure.

Glossbrook have consolidated their printing requirements thus reducing the need for hard-copy printing (A0 and A1 plans) ensuring the latest version of documents are always available to site staff in digital format.

Since Glossbrook were already running in the cloud in 2020 (when the Covid lockdown occurred) the company was in a position to work remotely, and with the addition of laptops for some staff, the move was seamless. With Microsoft Teams being part of M365 suite included in their Office licensing package, the management team were able to effectively communicate and project-manage workloads remotely from the outset of lockdown.

Testimonial

“The contract with Fruition was already in place when I took up my position at Glossbrook, originally as Finance Manager in 2013. I reviewed the contractual details and performance and saw no need to make any changes. Since that time, I have worked with Fruition at both at strategic and tactical level, and the company has benefitted from their technical expertise.

Fruition remains forward-thinking and focused on how to make our IT support our business. This allows us to operate more efficiently and profitably. The team at Fruition are superb – they are friendly, efficient, supportive and offer excellent customer service. They consistently go above and beyond to solve any issues encountered and always work with us to simplify our IT operation. They have clearly set the IT service level bar very high.

The conclusion I reached in 2013 is that Fruition remained the right IT partner for Glossbrook, and that view remains unchanged in 2022.”

– Mark McGowan, Finance Director at Glossbrook Builders.