Global Remote Services (GRS) needed an IT service provider to take responsibility for the maintenance of the servers and computers and to offer consultancy and various solutions customized to the needs of the company. PRAS Consulting accepted the challenge and, after fourteen years, the collaboration still brings satisfaction for both parties.
The Client
Global Remote Services is one of the leading full service providers on the independent call center market in Romania. The company, established in 2004, offers a wide range of Customer Service solutions and is one of the oldest companies of its kind in Romania.
In the business that I developed, the information that you receive and transmit is very important. If you don't have a stable system, you risk losing a lot. PRAS Consulting understood that perfectly and provided us the needed solution. We sure have every reason to consider PRAS a reliable partner and to recommend it further!
Cosmin RăducuGeneral Manager, Global Remote ServicesGlobal Remote Services chose PRAS Consulting for an IT support contract that covers:
Further, GRS needed a hardware and software call center solution and PRAS recommended Mediatel Data for the implementation of that solution. Together they implemented and the customized the call centre system that is still used today.
From the beginning of the cooperation up to now, the IT support provided by PRAS Consulting has taken different forms: from the infrastructure development (based initially on 15 computers and now reaching over 300), to interventions for unexpected problems and even to the full-time allocation of IT specialists to solve any problem and to maintain the relation with the GRS' clients on IT issues and with the IT related services providers (telephone, Internet, VOIP).
Among the challenges of this project were: the need for fast service that does not interfere with the employees' activity, the support provided under the agreed SLA 24 x 7 x 365, but also the management of the IT budget.
Further, there was a need to interconnect the GRS network with the heterogeneous networks of the call center's clients and also with different telephony and Internet providers. Also, using various technologies (Software, Networking, VOIP), the PRAS team found solutions for different complex technical requirements.
Colliers International Romania has begun working with PRAS Consulting in 2006, in the context of the company's need to modernize their IT infrastructure and requiring assistance in addressing ongoing IT support issues.
Colliers International Romania is part of the Colliers international network and is active on the Romanian market for 14 years.
The company is recognized for the quality solutions offered in the field of commercial real estate consultancy, successfully assisting multinational corporations and foreign investors active in Romania or interested in investing in Romania.
Learn more about Colliers International Romania
If initially, the contract only involved intervention on demand, the expertise and professionalism manifested by the team convinced us to request, at times, two full-time on-site PRAS specialists. It is certainly a successful partnership that will expand in the long run.
Bogdan GeorgescuManaging Partner, Colliers RomâniaThe rapid increase in workload and, implicitly, the need to develop a modern infrastructure has encouraged Colliers to choose PRAS services. Initially, the collaboration involved interventions on demand, but PRAS's expertise and professionalism convinced Colliers to ask, at times, for two full-time on-site PRAS specialists.
Colliers International Romania collaborates with PRAS Consulting under an IT support contract involving:
IT Projects
Challenges
The services provided by PRAS were fast, not to disrupt Colliers employees, and the assistance provided was efficient and personalized.
The challenges posed by the project entailed finding solutions for different complex technical requirements using various technologies, interconnecting the local network with the global customer network, 24/7 prompt support, and IT budget management.
Technologies Used
Deliverables and Methods
Băcănia Veche is a small business, designed on the structure of a family business, a project designed by Marius Tudosiei and officially started on September 24th, 2010. Practically, the professional reconversion of Marius Tudosiei, who has 15 years of experience in media and marketing, began with the creation of a Facebook account through which he presented his business project, set up a focus group and began to gather feedback about how Băcănia Veche should look and sell.
The materialization of the project was facilitated by the fact that Băcănia Veche was among the four finalists of Start & Grow, a program for encouraging local entrepreneurs, whose main partner was Microsoft Romania. Through the Start & Grow program, Marius Tudosiei's project benefited, free of charge, from 8 months of support and advice on important aspects of business development.
Basically, I could not afford to invest in a solution that would be mine, because it would require an IT guy, servers, networks ... therefore I have found the Microsoft services very suitable, and for a small business is very important to have 100% controllable costs.
Marius TudosieiOwner, Băcănia VecheAt the official opening of the store, "Băcănia Veche" operated with a relatively large number of products, but did not have an IT infrastructure and / or a computer system that allowed an efficient management of the relationship with the suppliers (half a year after the official opening, "Băcănia Veche" had 80 suppliers and 1,500 types of products). As a result of feedback provided by first customers and from online platform, together with the products diversification and expansion of partners channel, the situation seemed to become quickly complicated in a risky manner.
Gaps in communication (mostly by phone) with suppliers, problems encountered in managing multiple email accounts, difficulties in synchronizing the activity of store personnel there were identified as obvious efficiency flaws shortly after the official opening of grocery.
"For example, I had an e-mail at an email provider, and people felt the need to give me their address at the same provider. (...) I received faxes at the friends’ offices. Actually we were splitted and we used all services that we could. Obviously, you lose energy when you have five phones and seven different email addresses (...). A lot! Because if one day you forget to open one email address, that day is dead, is lost. You can have such days and we did. We were losing opportunities, and we lost a lot of time.", said Marius Tudosiei.
In this context, the support and know-how provided by Microsoft Romania allowed quick identification of the optimal solution for the business model represented by "Băcănia Veche", adapted to the needs and computer skills of the store personnel.
The answer to the problems faced by Marius Tudosiei and his team was the adoption of Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft SharePoint Online solutions, provided by Microsoft as services, within the Business Productivity Online Suite (Microsoft Office 365). Both solutions have been adapted and customized for "Băcănia Veche" by PRAS Consulting (Microsoft Gold Partner) and they could be used quickly by the end of January 2011.
The adaptation and personalization process for the two Microsoft solutions, achieved in just two days, has created through Microsoft Exchange Online, the e-mail accounts for "Băcănia Veche" team, a shared calendar and task management system. Through Microsoft SharePoint Online we created an online system for storing documents with shared folders and different access levels for users.
"The support provided by Microsoft functioned practically as a funnel - I took all of the 7 distinct "pipes" (different e-mail accounts used before the adoption of Microsoft solutions) and now we have all correspondence in one place. Even more, in SharePoint, because there are different levels of access, we can have host the document where we keep track of incomes and daily receipts", said Marius Tudosiei.
Based on the two solutions from Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite, Băcănia Veche team could see very quickly, the following advantages:
Eptisa Romania chose PRAS to efficiently manage workstations and servers, as well as to providce consultancy in implementing various IT projects. Eptisa Romania is a PRAS customer for over a decade, and the high degree in customer satisfaction is the best argument for continuing this successful collaboration.
Eptisa Romania este astăzi una dintre cele mai cunoscute companii de inginerie și consultanță de pe piața românească de profil, oferind servicii îndeosebi în domeniile infrastructurii de mediu și construcțiilor civile. EPTISA activează în România de peste 15 ani, are o cifră de afaceri de aproape 10 milioane de EURO anual și peste 100 de angajați. Sediul central se află în București și, pe lângă acesta, EPTISA deține trei centre regionale la Cluj-Napoca, Craiova și Iași. Activitatea companiei se desfășoară în peste jumătate din județele țării.
"Initially, at Eptisa Romania, we are talking about a simple Workgroup-based infrastructure. PRAS has helped to build a modern IT infrastructure based on Active Directory and the latest generation of Windows Server" said Paul Roman, owner of PRAS Consulting.
The main challenges for this project were:
Among the services provided by PRAS for EPTISA Romania, there was to implement the network and telephony infrastructure at the new EPTISA headquarters of the Bucharest branch. Within the project, the network has been tested to the highest standards in industry. Additionally, PRAS has installed and configured all active and passive network infrastructure and servers in the new headquarters.
"Considering the EPTISA expansion at national level, the project presented a high level of complexity. PRAS has provided support services for both the headquarters in Bucharest and the subsidiaries in the country" said Paul Roman.
The IT outsourcing contract with EPTISA Romania includes two categories of services. The first level is dedicated to helpdesk services, services by which EPTISA employees are assisted in solving problems related to the exploitation of software applications or hardware.
PRAS Consulting also provides Level 2 IT support services, including network and server management. At this time, PRAS offers both proactive and reactive IT services based on customer requests.
"By integrating an infrastructure based on Active Directory and Windows Server, EPTISA Romania currently has a modern network infrastructure. Most importantly, this infrastructure is aligned with the IT security and needs of a global company." said Paul Roman.
Other projects made for EPTISA include the integration of a Windows Server-based network share solution and enterprise backup solution. The backup solution is based on HP technologies.
"We are glad that both for EPTISA and most of our customers we have succeeded in becoming a one-stop shop company. Because of the knowhow gained over time, PRAS has managed to become a single point of contact for all IT and telecommunication infrastructure issues." concluded Paul Roman, PRAS Consulting owner.
Quality IT services are essential in the information era.
