OGL Group overhauls architectural practice’s IT infrastructure

Oxford architectural practice Gray, Baynes & Shew has overhauled its IT infrastructure with a suite of IT solutions from technology partner OGL Group, to boost business productivity and to improve operational efficiency for continued growth.

An award-winning architectural practice, Gray, Baynes & Shew (“GBS”) took advantage of a free network appraisal which uncovered some concerning weaknesses and cyber threats.  Realising that its incumbent supplier was no longer as attentive to the level of IT service the practice required, GBS asked OGL Group to conduct one of its free network appraisals. This check is used to establish a company’s baseline security and identify where gaps lie, which is how OGL Group uncovered some concerning weaknesses and cyber threats.

Poor IT is the last thing any business wants, but it’s especially true of architects that use high-intensity CAD software (computer aided design) for their design work, which demands a powerful, well-managed and well-maintained infrastructure. 

Tony Stewart, IT Project Manager at Gray, Baynes & Shew, explains: “I knew our infrastructure needed work following the shift to more home-working during and since the pandemic, but I was shocked to be shown the extent of its weaknesses and gaps. To hear that a relatively simple check by OGL uncovered our login credentials and passwords had been compromised and were on the Dark Web was a huge eye opener.”

The network appraisal examined every one of the firm’s network assets, from physical servers, virtual servers, network-attached storage (NAS), to firewalls, workstations, printers and much more. The result was an extremely detailed and valuable third-party perspective for the firm’s IT team. 

Tony Stewart, IT Project Manager at Gray, Baynes & Shew explains: “I knew our infrastructure needed work following the shift to more home-working during and since the pandemic, but I was shocked to be shown the extent of its weaknesses and gaps. To hear that a relatively simple check by OGL uncovered our login credentials and passwords had been compromised and were on the Dark Web was a huge eye opener.” 

GBS appointed OGL as its IT partner after discovering that its legacy IT infrastructure needed an overhaul and recommended a suite of technology products and services that included server configuration, Synology storage and cloud sync, firewall security, anti-virus, SaaS backup, remote monitoring and patch management. 

The patch management service is now the firm’s first line of defence. It blocks unwanted traffic, whether that’s protection from emails with very large file sizes or executable files which autorun. While Synology storage helps GBS to manage, secure and protect its data. 

Matt Thorneycroft, Business Development Manager at OGL, concluded: “IT and cyber security is so important these days, it must be resourced and financed accordingly. Tony was realistic about the work needed to get the network to a good, robust place, following years with an IT provider that didn’t appear to be pulling their weight any longer.”