Restaurants
SR Group runs several restaurants in one of San Diego’s bustling tourist and nightlife districts.
Challenges
Design Network Audit and Upgrade Plan
SR Group’s network was dated, based on obsolete server platforms, and they wanted SpotLink® to develop an upgrade and migration plan. They also needed SpotLink® to work with the existing Aloha Restaurant Management software configuration, which used an antiquated connection system.
Solution
SpotLink® did a comprehensive audit of the existing network to evaluate what needed to be upgraded, what could be saved, and what needed to be migrated. They compiled a Network Audit and Upgrade Plan – a report fully detailing SR Group’s current network, the planned network, and the method SpotLink® would use to make the transitions between the two. This document detailed computer names, software products, security groups, security policies, email addresses, file system organization, IP address design, Internet connectivity, and remote access.
Devise Economically Priced Upgrades
After proposing the upgrade plan, SR Group asked SpotLink® to switch to a plan to maintain instead of completely upgrading the network until business improved.
Solution
To save SR Group money, SpotLink® shifted to a maintenance strategy. Doing this economically was not simple because the hardware was over 10 years old. SpotLink® ordered spare parts from secondary markets and performed periodic inspections of their Storage and other system components to keep them in excellent working condition, replacing suspect equipment before it caused operational problems.
Five years later, with an upswing in business, SR Group decided to move forward with the Network Migration. SpotLink® revised the Network Audit and Upgrade Plan to adjust to recent changes in technology and the network, putting together a cost-effective plan appropriate for SR Group’s business.
One of the major challenges was updating the high-end account program software, which was nearly 10 years out of date. To upgrade the program to a current version would have cost over $20,000, so instead SpotLink® worked with a local CPA who specialized in accounting system migrations, and they converted the business to QuickBooks for much less money, all while retaining a full transaction history.
SR Group is now using a hybrid on-premise/cloud solution for their IT needs; a model that SpotLink® designed and should work for SR Group for another decade.
results
“We were impressed with the detail that SpotLink® put in to documenting of our systems and migration planning,” recalls Mike, CEO of SR Group. “They obviously had done this many times before and knew how to make the upgrade process extremely smooth and organized.”