The Health Store
IT Systems Revamp Transforms Operations at The Health Store
A major refresh of its communications and technology platforms enables leading natural and organic products wholesaler to drive organisational efficiency and serve customers better. As a key decision-making partner, Mason Infotech enabled The Health Store to reinvigorate its infrastructure, providing the insights and guidance the company needed to specify and deploy the technologies that enable it to operate more efficiently and innovate with confidence.
About The Health Store
The Health Store supplies thousands of products to independent retailers across the UK, Ireland, Europe and Asia. With a firm focus on ethical, organic, natural and eco-friendly products, The Health Store’s extensive portfolio includes bulk wholefoods, natural toiletries, supplements and remedies, and green household products. Founded in 1932, one thing has remained constant during the company’s 85-year history – a determination to offer high quality products at competitive prices and a pride in service excellence.
The Challenge
Five years ago, The Health Store embarked on a major revamp of its core communications and technology platforms in a bid to work smarter and initiate new digital services that would enable fast and efficient out-of-hours ordering for trade customers.
With a pressing need to replace their ageing telephony system, which was increasingly difficult to update and manage, The Health Store also wanted to refresh their entire infrastructure – from the server to the desktop - transitioning to cloud-based applications like Office 365 that would deliver enhanced security, scalability and organisational control.
With a technology footprint that was almost a decade old, the company turned to Mason Infotech to navigate its technology transformation and usher in new ways of working.
Project solutions
- Hosted Voice – Broadsoft
- Internet Access – Fibre/leased line
- IT Infrastructure – Cisco and Microsoft
- Security – Cisco Meraki
- Support – 9-5 services from Mason Infotech
The Solution
Focusing first on the company’s infrastructure and bandwidth, Mason Infotech worked diligently to implement a new fibre internet connection and Cisco Meraki firewall, upgrading the firm’s ethernet switch infrastructure with high-speed Cisco Gigabit and PoE switches to provide secure connections and get high-traffic data where it needs to go, quickly and securely. Enabling The Health Store to confidently support voice and high-bandwidth data on one network and add new capabilities as needed, without expensive upgrades.
Mason Infotech helped the clients internal team to define a future-proofed Cisco networking solution complete with switches and routers to securely handle voice and data and technologies like firewalls and VPNs to protect them from external intruders and rogue Internet-based attacks. They then delivered a simplified and highly secure platform that’s ideal for advanced applications and is easy to manage.
As part of the tech makeover, Mason Infotech replaced the company’s virtual server infrastructure and migrated 60 users to Microsoft Office 365. Making the move to Office 365 has enabled a truly modern workplace that has increased productivity and collaboration for employees with tools like presence and audio conferencing and centralised file sharing. Because Microsoft automatically delivers all feature and security updates, the IT team no longer worries about patches or version changes and has full administrative control over the entire environment.
Chris Edgington, IT Administrator - The Health Store
Focusing first on the company’s infrastructure and bandwidth, Mason Infotech worked diligently to implement a new fibre internet connection and Cisco Meraki firewall, upgrading the firm’s ethernet switch infrastructure with high-speed Cisco Gigabit and PoE switches to provide secure connections and get high-traffic data where it needs to go, quickly and securely. Enabling The Health Store to confidently support voice and high-bandwidth data on one network and add new capabilities as needed, without expensive upgrades.
Mason Infotech helped the clients internal team to define a future-proofed Cisco networking solution complete with switches and routers to securely handle voice and data and technologies like firewalls and VPNs to protect them from external intruders and rogue Internet-based attacks. They then delivered a simplified and highly secure platform that’s ideal for advanced applications and is easy to manage.
As part of the tech makeover, Mason Infotech replaced the company’s virtual server infrastructure and migrated 60 users to Microsoft Office 365. Making the move to Office 365 has enabled a truly modern workplace that has increased productivity and collaboration for employees with tools like presence and audio conferencing and centralised file sharing. Because Microsoft automatically delivers all feature and security updates, the IT team no longer worries about patches or version changes and has full administrative control over the entire environment.
Jack Danes, Finance Director - The Health Store
The Results
The Health Store has been able to reinvigorate its operating model to serve customers more effectively, while keeping costs under control.
The new platforms enable a lot more forms of communication and makes it easier for customers to contact The Health Store and place orders. Because the systems are robust and reliable the firm is able to offer an online portal where customers can check inventory in real-time and place orders 24x7.
It has also reduced the administrative burden of keeping the operational lights on, saving the small IT team considerable time and effort.
Paul Mellors, IT Manager - The Health Store
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