In mid 2022 we began the search for a new IT support contractor following notification of the retirement of our long term IT support contractor.
From the start it was evident that Michel and LaneSystems understood our position as a Hospice and a Charity especially following the knock-on effect of COVID on our Charity income stream. The human side and ability to go the extra mile to facilitate us as a Charity and all without exceeding the agreed budget was met.
Michel and his team set out a plan to mitigate the risks in moving providers: visiting our Hospice, the Head office site and the outlying shops to understand first-hand the situation.
The support LaneSystems has given the Hospice has been second to none. Michel and his team have exceeded expectations and continue to offer a prompt and efficient service. Furthermore, Michel has kindly donated equipment to the Hospice and man hours, which we are extremely grateful for. We have now moved to a MS 365 system and will look to further developments including a move to Sharepoint data storage facilities.
Stuart Hodgkins
Estates & Facilities Manager,
St Teresa’s Hospice
We investigated several IT companies for advice, and management in maintaining our IT systems. Lanesystems was chosen due to the honest comprehensive and proposal supplied by Michel and the time he took to explain each aspect of the proposal.
The handover from our previous IT contractor was carried out smoothly during the period of December 2021 to Jan 2022. Since that time the service offered by LaneSystems has been very good and we have been impressed with their response times and the quality of service provided by their team.
Stuart Penny
High Force Research
I just wanted to drop you a quick line to say many many thanks to you and all your staff for the fantastic help and support that you have given to us over the last couple of months.
LaneSystems have played a crucial role in ensuring that we have been able to continue to provide advice and support to vulnerable people during the covid 19 pandemic- we quite simply could not have done it without you!
Whether it was the provision of loaned equipment, accessing more computers, people coming out to us to get things working or remote support- it has been there when we needed it.
Please pass on my thanks to all the team for their fantastic efforts in a period when I am sure you have all been under tremendous pressure.
We have been a client of LaneSystems for four years and throughout this time we have remained impressed with the level of service they have provided to us, their competitive rates offered and their understanding and willingness to cater for our every need in respect of IT support provision.
As an Advice Charity we have little internal IT knowledge or support and equally little resources to fund our requirements in full. In this respect, LaneSystems have supported us through donations of hardware and software and free or reduced labour costs, always developing a solution within our remit and budget to ensure best use of funding to support those in the local community who need our services.
However, the real measure of a company’s commitment and ability to provide solutions and support is not when things are running as expected, but when external events greatly impact on your service provision as with Covid-19.
LaneSystems were extremely pro-active in their response and made immediate contact to offer support and assistance. Like many agencies we have moved from a business model of 90% face to face activity, to 100% telephone, webchat and remote working. With the support and pro-active attitude to their customers, this transition took place virtually overnight allowing us to deliver our services as key Charitable workers in the overall nationwide response to the virus.
Hi Michel and Laura - hope this finds you both well?
I just wanted to say a big Thank You to everyone at Lanes for helping us all out with our IT. Tracy is delighted and very appreciative of all the work you have done.
I am personally very grateful to Callum in particular, for sorting out my VPN network! You have honestly enabled us to
keep our show on the road, and we are all very grateful!
Best wishes and thanks very much again.
Hi Michel and Mark,
I would like to offer my thanks and appreciation for all the work you and your staff have given us recently. You have been a critical element is our transition to working from home. Barring a couple of inevitable minor glitches, this has gone very smoothly and we are now all sorted. Lanes have played a blinder – thanks very much.
Mark
Director,
North Tyneside Citizens Advice
We at ‘Free the Way’ would firstly like to reserve special praise and thank Lanes System Ltd for their fantastic, 5 stars support they’ve offered our organisation. We’re a very small charity based in East County Durham and Lanes System Ltd were kind enough to firstly value the work we do within the community and secondly by offering us a package that was affordable. Like many small charities are impact is widespread, but we really run on shoestring. Lanes System Ltd not only took the time to visit our project but also assisted us by offering us recommissioned desktop PC’s free of charge and fitted them, set them up and offer us support in addition to this generous supply.
We at Free the Way, are delighted to be in partnership with Lane Systems Ltd, we couldn’t be happier with Mark, Laura and the team. We sincerely thank you for all your work, time and commitment to our service.
Sandra Goggins, Free the Way
Manager
MAIN have been with LaneSystems for the past 3 years. During that time Michel has worked on our behalf to reduce our monthly IT costs by more than a third.
As a charity supporting over 400 service users a week it’s vital that we use our budgets wisely. Michel gives us honest advice about the services we need and there are no hidden costs.
Over the years Michel has donated time and equipment that has been vital to the growth of the charity. Prior to using LaneSystems we were struggling with Cloud based servers, which was causing massive issues, if the server went down nobody could work.
Michel donated 2 servers which has ensured that our 56 remote working team members can always access the information that they need to work with our clients. I can move between our three offices in Durham, Thornaby and Middlesbrough and don’t have to log back into a remote cloud server, I can pick up exactly where I left off saving me huge amounts of time.
Like many, my working environment is fast paced with people asking me to do 50,000 things. I can pick up the phone to LaneSystems and I trust that they will deal with my query asap. If something can’t be solved straight away they tell me that too, keeping me updated on progress.
The wider team go above and beyond too. I was struggling with an Excel spreadsheet Formula and contacted Kevin. Most companies would have advised that this was not part of their service to us, however Kevin got back to me with a solution the same day.
As well as the day to day impact that LaneSystems have on MAIN their support and generosity has huge benefits to our service users too. A third donated server and two PC’s are used to play Minecraft. This has created a safe environment in which the young people can make friendships based on common ground, starting with a computer game and then leading onto activities away from the computer.
We never get fobbed off by Michel and the team. What we do get is attention to detail, regular communication and excellent customer service. Of all of the external companies and suppliers we use, LaneSystems give by far the best service.
Darren Holt
Service Team Manager
I am one of those people...
Those that sit and listen to you say every week how you should protect your data, back up your work and have a plan in place for if a disaster strikes.
I remember the Friday night, thinking I need to back up 3 months of hard work (which consisted of challenging cases and difficult drafting) - then my son fell over and I was distracted, and I forgot. On the Sunday evening I logged into my computer - and no desk top! No documents, no precedents, no access to my work.
I felt sick, a wave of panic and very hot and suddenly very stupid and vulnerable, and I hate feeling vulnerable.
I messaged my BNI colleague at LaneSystems on the Sunday, something I try not to do because everyone should have a day off. I was contacted and told to bring my computer in on Monday.
I did, and got direct access to a technician who, without looking at the computer, reassured me that he would do what he could and he felt my data could be recovered.
It took 3 days, which were long days, and being self employed, days that I lost income. I then got the call to say all data was restored. the computer was brought back to my office, and not only had the technician restored it, he had backed up my data and gave it to me on a hard drive.
For my experience, I would happily recommend LaneSystems but please learn from my experience and do not wait for a crisis - purchase a monthly plan that gives you access to their IT guys, who were very good and calm in my crisis and not judgemental.
Thank you to LaneSystems and their IT technicians for their professional, quick and knowledgeable service. I am hugely grateful for the service they gave to me and my business.
Sharon Webster
Your Will Made Easy
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your recent rescue mission on one of our PC units in the workshop.
Several months ago, you visited our workshop to advise on new equipment to replace our slow and inefficient systems. We took your advice, and had your team supply and install new IT systems and software.
When we had a recent issue with one of our workshop computers, I knew exactly who to call. Within a few hours of contacting you, we had dropped the machine off and your team had been on to it and assessed the fault.
Our industry relies heavily on IT systems and to be faced without a computer system working is detrimental to the daily tasks. Without your turnaround to save information stored on this computer we potentially could have lost a revenue of £400 per day.
Due to our current size, we do not require an ongoing service package, but I would not hesitate to recommend you to people and companies who require such a service.
Thank you - North East auto Tech
I felt compelled to write to thank you for the supporting MAIN over the recent months. Our previous IT Service provider was giving us an exceptionally bad customer experience and we were actively seeking to look for a new provider at the end of the contract term. We looked at a number of companies, concerned that we didn't make the same mistake again.
You took the time to visit our location to get to know our business and what we needed, and realised a lot could be improved on. This not only represented a saving on our previous provider but also lef to a significantly improved provision
Your team are always on hand to offer support throught the issues which arise and offer a non grudging approach to supporting our IT issues
As a charity you have taken time to find out what you specifically can do to support us and move us forward and have given us some sound advice and signposting to other services
You have supported us with our app and cleared the way through all the jargon to help us understand what we needed to do to solve the issues we were having with this and to facilitate hosting
You have been very generous in donating raffle prizes for fundraising and a significant amount of other equipment which is currently being used by the service users accessing our clubs
I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for MAIN and would not hesitate to recommend your services
Helen Jaques
Charity Manager, MAIN
Lane Systems Ltd have been supplying First Choice Recruitment’s IT needs since 2007. During this period we have seen our requirements for IT support grow from 1 computer to a full network of computers and associated equipment as our company has expanded.
Lane Systems have consistently supported us with their expertise, prompt attention to resolving any issues and going the extra mile when necessary, with money never being an obstacle. We are highly satisfied with Michel and his staff, who are always very friendly and professional and with whom we have always had an excellent relationship. We would therefore have no hesitation in recommending their services.
Nick Moore
Managing Director, First Choice Recruitment
Here at Lanesystems we manage a large accountancy firm consisting of 5 sites spread across the North East. The practice uses specialist, industry appropriate applications such as Sage line 50 / IRIS / Digita / Sage Payroll. Having approached Lanesystems in 2014 to assist in the re-design of infrastructure, we were tasked to facilitate the following:
- Redundancy
- Resilience
- Global security
- Site to site roaming
In this instance many of our competitors recommended using a Cloud Based platform to provide a centralised system to operate from. Unfortunately, the use of a central server which accommodates all users comes with its own risks:
- Broadband outage
- Remote application support by Key software suppliers
- Cost
For this accountancy firm, running a business consisting of 50 + employees dependent on one point of failure (Broadband) was simply not an option. Whilst there are many other solutions available including a lease line and dedicated circuit as an alternative carrier for the broadband, the SLA times are 1-4 hours to investigate but resolution can be significantly more.
Cost is an important consideration. Every business has to be sustainable and therefore understanding the costs associated with IT solutions over the years is crucial. Lanesystems constructed a strategic plan (vital for businesses of this size), based on a 3 year ownership to allow accurate budget forecasting. The plan focussed around Hybrid architecture utilising a cloud environment and in-house servers. This type of architecture allows users to continue using various applications in the event of a Broadband failure.
For this company we provided a fully managed environment from PC hardware to the support and liaison of other software manufacturers. As a company, we don’t believe in passing ownership of a problem but resolving it with minimal intervention of the users.
Recently a client approached LaneSystems to resolve a problem they had with working between the 2 sites. They had currently moved all their services to a cloud based environment which allowed Remote Desktop Connections to a central server within a Data Centre.
The 2 sites have 16 users in total. The industry they are in requires large data files to be accessed and stored centrally to be accessed through different user accounts and software packages.
While the solution they had in place allowed every user to access documents centrally unfortunately all users were having issues accessing the 3D modeling application data files. Running these programs on a Remote Desktop connection allowed very limited speed and functionality, rotational axis and rendering of 3D models proved difficult.
The other issue that they had was inconstant broadband reliability on both sites. LaneSystems provided a solution that was not dependent on the internet reliability, but allowed individual users data files to be accesses centrally but shared locally on each site. This increased the usability of the 3d modeling application yet provided a central data store for all documents. When files were being used, there were locked automatically and synced to both sites.
The solution provided resilience and redundancy with increased productivity on both sites including centrally managed user accounts. The capital outlay for this solution was considerable, but the long term financial advantage was justified within the first 3 months of implementation.
A massive thank you to Michel Lane and all his team at Lane Systems Ltd for their donation of PCs and monitors this week. It is so important to find business partners who are willing to go that extra mile and provide not just excellent IT support, but invest in the principles of charitable giving and put time and energy into working with us to support our fundraising initiatives and promote our charity.
We approached Lane Systems in the relatively early stages of our management buyout as we were keen to understand our options with regards to our IT services. IT is a critical element of the running of our business so it was vital to have a seamless transition from our previous employer across to our new business.
Lane Systems suggested a meeting at the outset where we discussed our business at a high level and the necessary IT requirements. We felt that this was extremely worthwhile as it allowed Lane Systems to understand how we work and where IT fits into our processes. Lanes were able to make suggestions in respect of the necessary hardware and software requirements for our new business going forward and were able to point us in the right direction in terms of website development. Lanes recommended someone from their trusted network of contacts who we could work with to develop our brand and put together a website which catered for our needs and to our budget.
Lane Systems took a very hands on approach with regards to our situation and wanted to visit our previous employer's office to review the IT network as it was. They liaised with the IT manager of the previous business as well as the provider of our back office system to ensure that they understood some of the complexities surrounding our database and more importantly to avoid any loss of data during the migration. This was particularly valuable as it allowed us to focus on other matters concerning our MBO.
We had regular contact with Lane Systems throughout the transition and had a dedicated installation team who kept us informed of the progress as things evolved. The transition was in two phases, one on the premises of our previous employer and the other to our new premises. Both transitions were handled extremely efficiently and within the timeframes set out by Lanes with the upshot being that we had relatively little downtime which was of great importance to us.
Lanes continue to provide us with ongoing IT support and we cannot fault their commitment to ensuring that our business continue to operate efficiently from an IT perspective.
LaneSystems have provided Wilton Engineering’s IT Support since 2007. The services they provide us include IT Support, Network Infrastructure Setup and Maintenance, and System Administration.
I have always found the quality of LaneSystems’ service satisfactory and their manner professional. They have achieved the agreed response times in our SLA in almost all cases. In urgent support cases they have always excelled; managing to deploy someone to site when needed, even on weekend evenings.
We meet personally with Michel Lane once a month to discuss our service and strategy going forward. Not only is he receptive to our ideas and needs, he is proactive in suggesting service improvements. I have found him particularly effective when it comes to developing a strategy for data integrity and security.
Wilton Engineering are a demanding client: we require fast response times, difficult setups in remote locations, and have a workforce that scales up and down rapidly. LaneSystems have always provided the flexibility required to accommodate our needs.
LaneSystems has been providing our IT support since 2015 and assisted in a complete overhaul of our IT Infrastructure. From the outset a clear 12 month plan was developed by LaneSystems to transform our system to meet the ever growing needs of the business. We now have a new server, offsite backup and a more stable and reliable e-mail platform.
LaneSystems has always been sympathetic to the requirements of the business, limiting down time to a minimum and working ‘out of hours’ to assist with the running of our business as and when required.
Day to day activities and queries are dealt with efficiently and unlike previous support contracts a member of staff is on call daily from 7am, any overnight queries can be resolved before our working day officially starts. Although the full support team is available a designated Technician has been assigned to us, this has been a great help and gives a friendly face and more of a personal touch to the service provided.
I would certainly recommend LaneSystems to anyone requiring IT support.
We have been a customer of Lane Systems for many years, leaving our old IT supplier after Lane Systems demonstrated their knowledge and experience, with the old supplier present, so a direct comparison was achieved. Not only did they instantly impress with their knowledge, their price was more than competitive and we achieved substantial and immediate savings.
Our professional relationship quickly developed, with Lane Systems showing a sound understanding of our IT and business needs, with a recognition that as a Charity we have limited resources for services that fall outside of our core activities, such as a state of the art IT infrastructure.
Despite this Lane Systems have supported and guided us through the IT minefield both in terms of hardware and software and on many occasions have donated both time and equipment to ensure we have a robust system that is fit for purpose for all our IT needs.
Customer Service and response times when required are exceptional and therefore as a package in terms of commitment, service delivery, business intuitiveness and of course cost, we would have no hesitation in recommending Lane Systems for all IT requirements and as a Citizens Advice we know a good service when we see one.
LaneSystems provide excellent IT support services for us, keeping our very busy advice services running smoothly, and helping us to make the best use of the latest digital technology. They are very responsive, usually able to sort out our IT glitches remotely and very quickly. Staff at Lane Systems are very conscientious, work really hard, and are always friendly and helpful. Well recommended.
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