Case Sutdy: Simia Farra & Company
Complete IT system overhaul for faster and effective working at Essex Accountancy & Taxation firm
For over 50 years, Simia Farra & Company have provided accountancy and general taxation services for a variety of businesses world-wide. Based in Romford, Essex with 6 partners and a strong team of 30 managers, seniors and support staff, Simia Farra & Company have built up a solid reputation in providing an excellent service for all their clients. When Jamie Bell, Partner at Simia Farra & Company approached Ratcliff IT, they needed to replace an eight year old IT system slowing down their day-to-day operations.
‘Nothing worked properly and IT problems were taking up far too much of our time. We wanted all our systems just to work with no interruptions.’ comments Jamie Bell, Partner at Simia, Farra & Company.
Ratcliff IT identified the problem areas and worked with the Partners to implement a new IT strategy to move the business forward. They recommended a hybrid IT solution moving to the cloud for some functions and implementing a bespoke on premise system for the remaining elements. This involved a complete network upgrade, creating a new server from scratch and replacing the rm’s thirty-five aging desktop computers.
‘Nothing was too much trouble for the team at Ratcliff IT. They delivered exactly what they set out to, with no hidden or extra charges. They knew exactly what to do to really make a difference to our business.’Jamie Bell, Partner comments
Prior to working with Ratcliff IT, the company were using basic broadband which became unreliable very quickly. Accessing their systems remotely was barely worthwhile as the system was so slow. With over 2,000 tax returns to complete every year, reliable and fast access to the Internet is critical for Simia, Farra & Company with late submissions resulting in significant fines. Ratcliff IT implemented a new superfast broadband service and migrated the organisation across to Office 365 allowing the team to work, collaborate and communicate from anywhere using any device.
‘The process of upgrading our systems was very ordered and well planned so it didn’t affect our business. I can’t remember the last time our systems were down unintentionally. If we do have a problem, the team on the IT support help desk team are easy to talk to and empowered to deal with any issues very quickly.’ concludes Jamie Bell, Partner at Simia, Farra & Company.
