Business moves to cloud and owners get time away!

What was the issue?

Quinovic Kapiti Mana are a well-established and busy property management company looking after hundreds of properties for owners.

Some systems in the cloud, but much was still running on a server
Server was Windows Server 2008 R2 (the Win 7 version) with Microsoft ending support in 2-3 months.
The options were to replace with another costly server or move to the cloud
The biggest problems were therefore the potential unreliability of the server, and future proofing
As a former IT business owner, Bernard could continue to run the IT/server himself, but …
This ties you to the business, and
Limits the ability of the principals to be away from the business
You would like to prepare the way to having a manager run the company

Quinovic needed:

To make the office easier to run, whilst maintaining security and management ability
Initially, replacing aging computers for the team
GTB suggested you consider moving to Dropbox, removing the last key use of the server (file store and share) and thus opening the way for its retirement

Upgraded fleet of old PCs with more powerful new ones, allowing the work required to be done
Setup Dropbox Business and moved documents to it
Setup Microsoft 365 Apps for Business for team to have common, supportable, work tools
GTB on tap as IT support when needed
Later – server retired (simplifying office management)

The business’ IT has now moved fully to the cloud, hardware has been updated, and the server has gone
This means the principals can take time off and be away, yet still be in touch!
The ongoing support for IT from GTB is also very important to the owners/business
This work allows the principals to step back from the business, opening up possibilities for their eventual succession or exit.