Reforming the company and making a fresh start was made easy with their help. They have handled our IT requirements for the past 2 years very efficiently – they took on the management of our systems and technology contractors and ensured everyone knew what to do and when, the move from one system to another was made simple. They have a seamless helpdesk who remotely connect and deal with any problems or attend site quickly to resolve more complicated issues. We are delighted with the service they offer and would not hesitate to recommend them as a company.
Customer Testimonials
They have been handling the IT needs of our organisation since 2014. In that time they have provided us with a professional service, meeting the needs of our changing organisation quickly and efficiently. They took over the management of our office IT systems and with the help of their project management team, we successfully migrated our emails from an unreliable server to ‘the cloud’ at the beginning of this year. The whole process was smooth and their team were on hand to help with any problems/queries we had along the way. It is good to know that a local company like them are only a phone call or email away, should we have any IT issues during our working week.
Barrow Cadbury Trust
Hackney Co-operative Developments CIC (HCD) is a local community economic development organisation with a membership open for all those who subscribe to its co-operative goals and values. Established in 1982 as a not-for-profit, community benefit company HCD has specialised in business support, customised training, premises provision and creating suitable environments for small businesses, community groups and voluntary organisations in Hackney. Its priority target groups are black and ethnic minority individuals and organisations, female entrepreneurs, youth, co-operatives, and green and ethical businesses. We chose a hosted service initially purely based on our finances and after using a remote server for 4 years previously we felt a cloud solution was better for the organisation. From start (survey) to finish (full IT up and running) I have found their service to be extremely good. On the actual day of the installation, everything went very smoothly and I received calls on that day and subsequent days just to check that all was okay. Slight modifications were made over the coming days just to ensure that we worked in the most efficient manner and I can honestly say we had no major problems at all. On an ongoing basis, I had found the helpdesk to be very good – obviously you get your favourite operatives over a period of time – but again, everyone has always managed to fix the problems that I have encountered remotely thereby not necessitating any unnecessary callout fees for on-site attendance. Issues are almost always resolved whilst you are on the phone and if not, an email is sent to you indicating that you have an outstanding incident and it is generally rectified within either a morning or an afternoon depending on when the problem is raised. I have no hesitation in recommending them– they provide a very good service at a reasonable price and are a pleasure to deal with.
Anthonia Onigbode, Deputy CEO & Finance Director
Hackney Co-operative Development
Future Directions CIC is a social care provider supporting individuals with learning disabilities, mental health needs, physical disabilities and acquired brain injuries in the North-West of England. The organisation operates from over 60 separate locations which includes administration offices but also many ordinary residential addresses at which the Company provides care and support. Systems therefore needed to have a small footprint, be mobile and easy to use. During the Spring of 2015 the Company underwent a considerable change in its structure which led to it becoming a standalone venture but meaning that it needed to re-provide all of its IT systems including mail servers, file servers, all desktops and laptops. As the Company did not have in-house IT expertise and did not want to have servers on-site, 1st IT were chosen in order to provide a cloud-based environment, along with all of the hardware for users, and to oversee the transfer of large amounts of data from the previous IT provider. In spite of the technical challenges involved, the installation went smoothly, and on the first day all of the users were able to access their systems, files and emails. Since that time Future Directions has built upon the systems, adding a financial ledger package and other databases which are hosted in the cloud. Reliability is very good as is the service which we receive from the helpdesk. Adding users, system administration and other issues are all dealt with in a very professional and efficient manner. Having a cloud-based environment means that the organisation’s staff and managers are able to focus on the work that they do in supporting people to maximise their life opportunities rather than having to worry about IT and whether systems are working. As Future Directions grows it is easy to add new sites and new users while the systems are easy to work with.
Alastair Richards, Finance Director
Future Directions CIC
