09/02/2021

I.T. IN THE PLATINUM GROUP

Dear Team Members,

The Platinum Group is currently undertaking a review of the I.T. infrastructure across all sites with a view to upgrading core elements in order to keep up to date with modern technological practices and offer future proofed possibilities in this (very) fast changing industry.

As there's been a fair amount of I.T. related activity recently, both in the background and "out on the floor", we felt that a regular update (of which this is the first) would be useful in communicating with what changes are being worked on.

Here's a brief synopsis of the work that the I.T. Department are actively involved in, in conjunction with Tim Kidney who is working with us a consultant and project leader:

Network Infrastructure Upgrade

After a "discovery and analysis" project across all locations last October (where we monitored all data coming in and out of the network), it was agreed that the Platinum Group will engage with a Network Specialist company to advise and quote on upgrades to our core switch technology across every dealership.

This will facilitate an up to date network with central management and monitoring capabilities for the I.T. team. In taking this forwards, Whippet Networks (www.whippetnet.co.uk) have partnered with Platinum to deploy and configure a new Cisco network across all sites. All sites have either had. Or will shortly have a final survey with a view to new equipment and cabling coming in at each dealership by mid-March. Working with Whippet brings in a vast amount of expertise to fine tune our Network for optimum performance and real-time notification of any issues as and when they occur.

Sophos Anti-Virus

We have signed up with Sophos to provide leading edge Anti-Virus, Malware and Ransomware protection on every Platinum device. This will give us the protection we need in today's "Cyber-criminal world" to prevent outbreaks both internally and externally.

The Sophos Central suite (https://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/sophos-central.aspx) allows the I.T. Team to centrally manage and monitor every device with alerts received as they are detected on any device. Sophos will automatically detect and prevent outbreaks before they get a chance to spread which puts us in a much better position than we have ever been with regards to Cyber protection. Both Paul Jones and Paul Hillman have started a Sophos Administrator course to become certified technicians to ensure they are fully up to speed with the inner workings of this advanced software suite.

Team Viewer

We have also rolled out Team Viewer to most devices which will allow us to "remote on" instantly when you need our assistance. This is the corporate standard for remote connectivity so its good news that we now have a quick and easy way to support you remotely.

PC Upgrades

Together with the software packages above we have introduced (described above), a new Freshservice agent has been deployed to give us a full inventory of all desktop and laptop equipment that Platinum has in use. This will be used to define what equipment is in need of replacement. Over the next few months we will be removing all old units that are deemed 'not fit for purpose' as well as ensuring that every PC is running on Windows 10 as well as Office 365. Once we have this level of compliancy for our devices we will look to the future later this year where we can centrally manage all clients from a Microsoft Azure (https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/overview/) portal, which will allow the I.T. Team to deploy shortcuts, upgrades, printers or anything else that usually requires a technician to visit every PC to fulfil. We are in the infancy of this project at present but hoping that you will start seeing new developments coming in very soon.

Freshservice

Last on the list will be the introduction to a new Helpdesk system called Freshservice (https://freshservice.com/). We are still configuring this to make it easy for you to log calls via email or via a portal page. This will keep all calls centrally in a queue so all can see what jobs are to be done on a day to day basis. The system has a whole range of features which we are still learning, but it's an exciting addition to our service offerings that will bring us up to date with modern working practices.

We will seek to ensure that all of the above will be implemented with minimum disruption to your day, whilst attending to the "bigger picture" of making the Platinum Group a secure and safe environment to work in from and I.T. perspective, and ensuring that our customers data and use of the systems we provide is equally as safe and secure.

We will endeavour to update you briefly on a regular basis (as often as monthly) so you are all aware of the journey we are undertaking this year.

If you have any questions relating to the above, or if you have any suggestions, please do get in touch.

Yours sincerely