Youth at Risk delivers intensive personal development training and coaching programmes in areas of deprivation all around the UK which involve local people in helping transform their most disruptive and excluded young people. The work helps them take responsibility for themselves, take control of their lives and gets them on the road towards becoming thriving, contributing members of society.  Youth at Risk’s tough love approach is about the long haul, demanding an enormous amount of the young people in an intense and emotionally demanding set of psychological and physical challenges, followed by months of support and supervision by local volunteers.

The charity took the decision to move its entire ICT infrastructure to a cloud environment a number of years ago to make best use of limited ICT funding and found a local supplier accordingly. However following a corporate restructure and business re-focus, this supplier was no longer able to provide the required IT services and so put the charity in contact with alternative suppliers.

Carat was chosen because of its extensive experience in ICT, its friendly approach to customer service, and its ability to provide the different hosted services needed to develop a bespoke solution at a highly affordable price.

The project involved backing up and moving all applications and services, including internal databases, Sage accountancy software, Microsoft Exchange, Blackberry Exchange, documents and files sharing facilities from third-party servers to Carat’s Cloud computing facilities, with minimum disruption or system downtime.

The migration process was completed in accordance with the charity’s strict data management requirements and Carat’s technical engineers configured a brand new network for office staff and home-based teams over a single weekend. Secure log in details were created for onsite and remote users, enabling them to access their files and email accounts (via PC or Smartphone), as normal at the start of the working week.

Carat is responsible for every aspect of the charity’s ICT requirements including; data management and back up processes, the provision email and file sharing facilities for all staff and the management and implementation of appropriate antivirus and firewall technologies to prevent a security breach. Carat also provides comprehensive support assistance and helps with any hardware purchases, such as laptops or printers, to ensure the charity benefits from the best possible deals.

Says Robert Gregory, CEO of Carat Computer systems: “We are really pleased to have been selected as the preferred supplier. Charities are under immense pressure to maximise their ICT resources without compromising on security. Our cloud-based system enables them to do just that; they can easily add new users and or applications without incurring any additional costs, making it a highly attractive proposition.”

Says Keri Kaynes of Youth at Risk; “We are pleased to be working with Carat. We now have a high technology solution that is simple, flexible and affordable with the security that Carats dedicated support team are there to help when we need them”.

Carat operates an IFPS Fair price policy and is a certified academic and third sector supplier.

“Partnering with Netplan has enabled Carat to confidently deploy cloud solutions to our customers with ease. When looking to partner with a service provider like Netplan, resilience and trust in the architecture was key to our decision and NetPlan deliver on both of these. Netplan supplies us with the resources to do what we do best, provide enterprise services to our customers.”

James Hankins Business Development Manager, Carat Computer Systems

• New IceWarp Desktop Client 4.0 offers: Facebook Chat and Gmail Contact Synchronisation ¡V Complete Skype Support ¡V Seamless Account Migration from Outlook, Thunderbird and others
• New Web Client - runs significantly faster, separate basic interface optimised for tablet devices
• All installations include support for Google Maps v3 - integrated with Address fields of contacts and includes; street view, mouse wheel zoom and multiline address suggestion support
• New anti-spam filter with gateway mode option - eliminates the need for additional solutions
• Better resource management offers - enhanced permissions for organisers and improved view
• New SIP Server Enhancements include - reworked, feature rich Interactive Voice Response and improvements aimed at better compatibility with SIP-based clients and closed VoIP systems

• IceWarp Mail Server - includes main features, such as the core email, WebClient Basic, Kaspersky anti-virus, and dual-layered anti-spam featuring Anti-Spam LIVE. This basic product is built on the same powerful IceWarp platform as its enterprise solution and can be easily upgraded to its full-fledged functionality.

• IceWarp Messaging Server Enterprise - includes all product features in a customisable package.

Z-Tech is a Cambridge-based technology innovation company that develops process control and information monitoring systems for water, energy and transport companies operating in the utility and power industries. Safety and quality of service are key to its success and in order to achieve this, the company is dependent on its highly resilient and robust IT infrastructure for project management and job allocation purposes.

Z-Tech has been trading since 2000 and Carat Computer Systems Ltd has been its preferred supplier of all IT hardware for more than 5 years.

The opportunity for new services

Carat’s long-standing relationship with technical personnel Z-Tech has enabled it to offer comprehensive support for Z-Tech’s entire network as well as supply them with all their IT hardware requirements.
As Z-Tech has continued to grow, it found that meeting the requirements of its expanding customer was taking priority over providing IT support to its internal staff. In addition, its IT growth became reactive as it took on more resource to meet customer needs, which resulted in its overall IT infrastructure not being fully optimised.

In order to maximise internal resource and operate more efficiently, Carat was invited to submit a proposal for the provision of the company’s entire support requirements. This involved providing routine support, such as resolving printer and login issues, for example, as well as providing comprehensive network and server support with remote login and callout facilities.

Carat is now responsible for approximately 100 regular system users.
If IT-related issues cannot be resolved remotely Carat, is required send a qualified engineer to site in order to diagnose and resolve the problem.

Z-Tech has found that by outsourcing its IT support requirements, it has relieved its internal technical resource. Technical personnel are now able to spend their time working on customer projects and expanding the business further.

The challenges

All IT issues have to be resolved as quickly as possible which involves working out of hours if necessary. The majority of Z-Tech’s customers are involved in safety-critical activities and its technical team must be able to respond to their requirements urgently. Having a highly resilient IT infrastructure enables them to do this.

Other services

As a result of its continued success and expanding workforce, Z-Tech was required to move premises in January 2011.
Again, as a result of the long standing relationship between the two companies, Carat was invited to design, plan and install the IT network for the new offices. The project involved sourcing, testing and installing all system hardware. It also involved overseeing the move to ensure minimum disruption to staff or customers.

The future

In order to meet their future business requirements, Z-Tech has recently commissioned Carat to replace their single-server network with a high-availability network. This new installation will allow them to become more efficient in the way they operate and to to easily scale-up their requirements as their business continues to expand. It will also provide them with better resilience and storage facilities.

Customer testimonial

” We have worked with Carat for over 5 years. The IT space is a very busy one but during that time they have always provided us with a good service and they offer value for money. The provide us with all our hardware requirements as well as or IT support needs. Jeremy Bull – Technical Director, Z-Tech.