Software switch gives drinks firm flexibility from afar
Natural drinks manufacturer Healthy Thirst Drinks has recently started using the Cloud computing technology which was developed by business advisers, Clive Owen & Co LLP.
The primary benefit of the Cloud system is full access to all the company’s business software and data from any location on a range of devices including PC, Mac or mobile device, Lee Huck, Clive Owen’s information technology director told BeverageDaily.com.
Multiple users can access the same data from many locations at once, which allows great flexibility, he said.
The company’s three directors said they needed an alternative to traditional IT after deciding to run the business from their homes.
“The Cloud system has been a brilliant solution for us. It’s transformed the way we work. We’re based from south of York to Sedgefield and this technology is excellent for keeping on top of the business, particularly the finance side," said Healthy Thirst Drinks director Sheila Woodall.
Healthy Thirst Drinks, which supplies to Tesco, Morrisons, Booths and National Trust cafes, said it installed the computer software following a company restructure earlier this year.
Multiple users
The systems are hosted in two separate data centres with real-time data replication to provide failover and redundancy which helps to ensure minor connection issues don’t impact on the user,said Huck.
The terms failover and redundancy mean that the system has a backup. The cloud software consists of two systems running side by side, therefore should one fail, the other system automatically takes over.
He said the technology allows the company to add or remove users or even change hardware requirements without downtime or costly IT intervention.
Because the server is hosted in the event of a fire all the company files are safe, he added.
Disaster recovery is fully covered with minor data loss issues resolved in as little as 10 minutes to full system-wide catastrophe planned at a 12 hour recovery, he said.
“You also don’t have heavy costs associated with licence compliance which comes with traditional IT. Traditional IT costs can be really prohibitive if you’re a small business.”
The system was piloted 10 years ago. Since then it has received refinements and upgrades to both software and hardware on a continuous basis. The last refinement was just over a week ago and a further upgrade is planned for next week, he said.
Upgrades are done seamlessly with no downtime for the users, he added.
