innovation showcase : business innovation case studies : Regional Innovation Strategy - Always On The Road

When the South East Centre of Excellence (SECE) needed flexibility and mobility that traditional IT systems couldn’t provide, it called on Newbury-based Perceptive Online for a solution.

Established in 2004, SECE supports the 74 local authorities in the region in their delivery of efficiency savings. A virtual organisation, SECE works remotely ‘on the road’, using local authorities’ facilities and office space when necessary. Originally the organisation used a dial-up system to link to offices in Maidstone. When this proved impractical, SECE realised the need for hosted services covering email, document management, remote devices and the agency’s website.

When seeking a provider to deliver the required services, Mike Crisp, Assistant Director for Programme Management, was clear about what was wanted. “We were looking for a local provider in the SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) bracket – we weren’t interested in working with a huge behemoth,” he noted. “Flexibility, willingness to help, customer service and value for money were all key requirements.”

A tender process showed Newbury-based Perceptive Online to be a clear winner.
Perceptive provided managed servers running Hosted Exchange, SECE’s website, and Microsoft SharePoint – a powerful web-based collaborative environment with full user access control, which SECE uses to manage the information associated with its work with local authorities.

“Perceptive’s solution has given us the flexibility we need.” Says Mike, “We can work anywhere, at any time, and we’ve seen a marked improvement in productivity. Perceptive are always pleasant and highly responsive, they keep us informed, giving advance notice of upgrades, for example, and they provide great value for money.”

For more information on Perceptive Online’s services, please visit www.perceptive-online.com, contact press.office@perceptive-online.com or call 01635 234100.

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