Answers Research Enjoys More Flexibility, Speed, and "Peace of Mind" by Choosing Agile IT for Cloud Computing
One way businesses are lowering overhead costs effectively and expeditiously is by moving operations and information "into the cloud."
Cloud computing allows for an applications, data, and content "on demand" delivery platform that enables secure access anywhere: home offices, hotels, airports, taxi cabs, and even airplanes. It is changing the way the competitive business operates--for good, and for the better.
Reducing costs and speeding and improving the flow of information across the enterprise is of course the major motivator for most companies moving into cloud computing. In the cloud, there are next to no infrastructure costs when compared to the client/server environments that so many businesses currently, and exclusively, rely on.
But how does a company get started? For Answers Research, the first step was simple: partner with Agile IT and put its cloud computing needs into the hands of the experts.
Founded in 1989, Answers Research is a market research firm dedicated to the needs of hyper-competitive industries. It provides clients with a strategic edge by setting industry standards in client service and customized market research methodologies. The company's portfolio has grown to include a complete range of quantitative and qualitative solutions designed to deliver valid, actionable, and timely results to its valued clients.
The Challenge
"We were looking for a cloud computing solution to replace our current aging in house file sharing sever as well as a cloud backup solution to manage backups more efficiently," says Jeff Deganna, CFO for Answers Research. The company knew they would benefit from cloud computing, but it lacked the in-house expertise to make it happen. They chose Agile IT as Agile IT had the right experience and expertise to best understand their challenges and best deliver a custom solution.
Agile IT "did a very good job listening to our needs, analyzing them and offering a solution that was the right fit for us. They took the time to understand our specific business needs."
The Solution
Agile IT delivered a custom cloud-computing platform that met all of Answers Research's needs. Data is easily backed up and managed via the cloud, and Agile IT served as mentor to Answers Research teams on this new platform. Agile IT provided "...a great solution for solving any of our IT needs in a much timelier manner," says Deganna. Additionally, Agile IT did most all work remotely, ensuring there was little to no impact of existing business process and workflows.
The Result
Affordability was central to this project, both in what it ultimately delivered and in how it was executed, and Agile IT has hit the right numbers on all counts.
Agile IT delivered "...the right solution for us to achieve secure remote file sharing for easy collaboration...[and] was very knowledgeable with these solutions and they were able to explain things in a non technical manner that was easy to understand," says Deganna.
"We have peace of mind knowing that our files or secure and backed up compared to our previous aging in house server and tape backup...I would recommend the services today because they have met our needs and they are easy to work with."