One constant over the last few decades is that we at CNC have prioritised customer service and high-quality work, so it has always been a source of immense pride and satisfaction when a customer has been complimentary towards us. Some projects have even turned into testimonials or case studies, in which the words of the client are published for others to see.
Receiving such thanks, whether in public or private, is always appreciated, and we wanted to take a moment in this period of reflection to say thank you in return. No two projects are the same, and the challenges that we encountered have caused us to develop as professionals, build bonds internally among teammates, and forge relationships with our customers.
As a symbol of our gratitude, we wanted to set aside a segment where we say thank you to clients that represent our journey as a company and the reasons why we went to work each day.
Shoreham Port
“By providing remote working, secure email, and internet access as well as excellent end user support, CNC have been a valuable partner helping Shoreham Port achieve our objectives in line with our Masterplan.” – Toby Elliott, Head of IT & Innovation at Shoreham Port.
Very kind words indeed, but it is us at CNC who are thankful to Shoreham Port for providing us with one of the most memorable projects in our entire history. The full case study is available, but in short, Shoreham Port is one of the largest ports in Sussex and has been in operation since 1760, held in trust to this day. It is the third-largest fishing port in England but is also used to serve other commercial cargoes, a dock for leisure boats, and as a hub for over 150 local businesses.
Shoreham Port wanted to upgrade their IT strategy, which particularly struggled with internet connectivity due to their location being spread around a large body of water. They were also dealing with two separate operating areas, phone systems, and emails systems. CNC provided them with a comprehensive solution that included, a reduction of servers from six to two, migration of voice services to Microsoft Teams Voice, and a remote desktop environment for remote working, among others.
The biggest challenge, however, was providing a full wireless infrastructure, which involved installing a fibre optic cable throughout the port, including under the canals. This meant a full drainage of the canal system – not something us landlubbers had much experience with. The result for Shoreham Port was a more reliable Wi-Fi service, a centralised IT system, decreased IT costs, full site failover capability, and 24/7 monitoring and IT support provided by us. On our end, we came away with a feeling that we could accomplish anything. Thank you, Shoreham Port, for providing such a large intellectual and physical challenge that fully tested our capabilities.
The Poppy Factory
“CNC has provided us with outstanding service, ensuring that the IT experience for all our staff is high quality and that our systems are secure.” – Mark Louw, Finance Director at The Poppy Factory.
We are very thankful to The Poppy Factory for allowing us to help their wonderful organisation through utilising our expertise. This non-profit has existed for over a century to support the employment of veterans with health conditions. Their flagship project is their namesake factory that employs veterans to make remembrance wreaths. However, they also provide a full range of other support services from employment consulting to the creation of support networks to reduce isolation.
To improve their operational efficiency The Poppy Factory called upon us to overhaul large swathes of their IT infrastructure and related systems. There were issues with –
- IT: Infrastructure and software were end-of-life; An older version of Remote Desktop Server was in use with limited functionality; Different versions of Microsoft Office being used.
- Security: No Cyber Security Accreditation; No Multi-factor authentication for remote access or emails.
- Connectivity: Physical telephone system with ISDN lines in use and soon to be retired by BT; Standard broadband internet connection; No video conferencing solution at the head office.
With around half of the team working remotely, upgrading smoothly was certainly a challenge. Despite that, we were able refresh and install new infrastructure, form a new IT plan that included laptops for staff as a standard, migrate to standardised versions of software, gain Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation, and so much more.
Seeing The Poppy Factory experience half as many IT service issues and improve their speed, security, and accessibility left us with a great feeling of satisfaction. Knowing that this would enable them to carry on their important work supporting veterans and their families, left us humbled. The Poppy Factory, we salute you.
All CNC Customers
Our third, final, and the biggest thank you goes to you, dear reader. In truth this segment could easily be hundreds of pages long, profiling all of the incredible companies we have worked with over the past 28 years. We would not exist without the work you have given us, and our gratitude is immeasurable. When this business was started almost three decades ago, we could never have imagined the journey that we would be taken on. While this moment of reflection has caused us to get a tiny bit teary-eyed on our end, we cannot help but smile at the memories.
There is also not too much cause for sadness as we will all still be here. The people of CNC will remain at the same location and still work to support your IT needs – there will just be a different name and logo.
So if you are an online retailer or a zoo, and whether you need IT network integration or a strategic IT roadmap, we are still here for you.
Please contact the team at: sales@cnc-ltd.co.uk or call us on 01273 384 100.
