Jalapeno Business Services enable Ballards to double productivity levels
Ballards Removals is one of the longest established household removal companies in the East Midlands. Based in Tuxford, they have been around for more than 30 years.
A family owned business, Ballards provides a wide range of removal services including house removals, office removals, storage facilities and also vehicle rental’s for those Do It Yourself requirements.
They are quality assured and have recently become members of the British Association of Removers making them a well trusted option for removal activities.
Jalapeno Business Services have an ongoing, ad hoc relationship with Ballards Removals. This case study examines the Microsoft Windows based office system that Ballards were running and how Jalapeno ensured consistency throughout their IT architecture. The server was Windows Small Business Server 2003, the PCs were Windows XP Professional with Microsoft
Office Professional 2003. They also used a Microsoft Access based system for managing local removals customers. When Microsoft anounced that they were planning on taking Small Business Server, Windows XP and Office 2003 to end of life (as of April 2014), Ballards took the opportunity to look at the setup of their office’s wholesale and design and implement a brand new setup. Jalapeno were asked to advise and manage this process.
The solution
Ballards realised that they required a new administration system and identified that MoveMan would be the best tool to manage their daily removal administration activities. In order to implement the software, Jalapeno Business service liaised with MoveMan developers to determine the requirements for the server side of the system. Our existing background knowledge of Ballards enabled Jalapeno to determine that 1 server could be used to run both the MoveMan system and also the office functions too, saving the organisation implementation costs.
By managing the replacement programme for Ballards, Jalapeno were also in a position to enable key staff members to work from home by configuring company laptops. This enabled Ballards to create a more flexible working environment for their employees. To set this process up efficiently Jalapeno
supplied and configured 5 laptops and 1 desktop PC and ensured the laptops were supplied with docking stations to create an easy transition from mobile to office work.
Jalapeno also advised and implemented roaming profiles to ensure productivity remains consistent regardless of malfunctioning equipment issues.
Part of the replacement programme also saw Jalapeno Business Services update the organisation’s Sage accounting system to 2014 and replace a number of mixed anti-virus applications with Sophos Anti- Virus throughout. All of this, along with the creation of a daily back up routine means that Ballard’s now have a reliable IT system to take them forward as they grow
The benefits
* The newer server and computer combination ensures staff are working efficiently and not waiting for the PCs to complete tasks. This has reduced wasted man hours and has doubled the rate of productivity.
* All equipment is now covered by manufacturer’s next business day hardware warranties. This gives Ballard’s peace of mind knowing that they are now covered should anything drastic happen in the future.
* Increased confidence that the critical business data is being backed up and these backups are being monitored. This ensures operational continuity and increased professionalism.
* Operations were continuos with no periods of downtime as systems were altered & replaced. This is extremely important for a busy organisation.
“I am very impressed with Laurence and Jalapeno Business Services. Our organisation is very customer centric and we feel this same ethos is reflected in Jalapeno Business Services. They are reliable, flexible and explain IT management without smoke and mirrors which to me proves how trustworthy they are.”
Matthew Ballard – Operations Director, Ballards Removals Ltd
