There are some exciting things going on in the Bath & Bristol area in the world of cloud computing lately and none more so than one of the most recent project-tenders in which we have been involved and which we believe, demonstrates our capability to create innovative, sustainable and most importantly, ethically-sound cloud solutions.
Presented with the opportunity to tender for a multi-site cloud-based solution for a major organisation, our Solutions Architects rubbed their hands with joy and got stuck-in to the design phase. It was then left to the brilliant Cloud Heroes engineer team, to conclude the financials.
The engineer team have two primary functions: we help save our customers money and, sometimes, to quite literally save businesses who are ‘in a pickle’. In either situation we believe the most important thing is to understand the needs of the customer and to put these ahead of anything else.
Now this may sound obvious when looking at things from the outside, but many suppliers would start from trying to ascertain the budget and to either build up, or down, to it. This nearly always results in disappointment, either because the system doesn’t deliver what is actually required (when you build down to a budget), or the customer feels that by being open with their supplier, they have ended up paying more than perhaps they needed to – a form of ‘buyer’s remorse’.
Part way into the tender process, the budget for this very large and complex project was disclosed to us. As it consists of multiple Ethernet fibre links, Microsoft SharePoint hosting, wireless access points, managed switches and routers, departmental printing and so on it is clearly a big project. By the time we presented our proposal, we already knew that we were less than 50% of the budgeted / previously quoted solution. When one considers that this project value is measured in hundreds of thousands of Pounds, one can see that the sums involved, and therefore the savings we presented are simply staggering.
Ethics play a huge part in Cloud Heroes’ business ethos and activities. We believe that by ‘doing the right thing’, the profits will follow – and if recent trading results are anything to go buy (and after 19 years of this type of business practice), we’d say ‘so far so good!’
Will we win this particular business? Who knows? We have an excellent chance but there are still many hoops to jump through. One thing we do know, win or lose our integrity is intact, and that is paramount to who we are and what we do and without wishing to come across all ‘holier than thou’, we believe that ethics still has a significant role to play in (good) business.
If you are an IT Manager or if you know an IT Manager seeking to design, implement and support a public, private or hybrid cloud computing solution, then please ask them to talk to Cloud Heroes – we provide a simplified and ethical migration to modern technology. Or see our solutions and client testimonials here.