August 1st 2005:
ramsac a leading IT consultancy today announced that Encore Tickets, the fastest growing ticketing wholesaler in the UK, has outsourced the management of all its IT and comms functions to the company. As part of the new management, ramsac will be implementing new IT processes to encourage more information sharing across the organisation, increase operational efficiency and substantially reduce communications costs.
Encore Tickets is based in Leicester Square at the heart of London’s theatre-land and supplies 7% of the West End’s tickets. 75% of incoming and domestic tour operators use Encore as their preferred ticket supplier for London theatres, restaurants and attractions.
As a small, growing company it was not realistic for Encore to employ an in-house IT person. Director of Marketing at Encore Tickets, Sean Sweeney explains, “In addition to the cost implications, we realised that a member of staff would have holidays and occasional sick days and if the system went down during this time we would be unable to provide adequate cover. We are a service business and as such the repeat business we receive is as a direct result of our clients’ experience in booking with us. We need to be 100% confident that every prospective email booking reaches us in a timely fashion.“
With 12 years' experience of IT outsourcing Surrey-based ramsac were able to hit the ground running quickly assessing the state of the IT systems and acting to deliver the most appropriate strategy. Technical Consultant at ramsac and IT Manager for Encore Tickets, Paul Mew explains, “We needed to put fundamental business processes in place that would make IT simple for Encore Tickets.”
After an initial IT health check, a new server was specified and installed by ramsac and MS Exchange correctly configured to ensure that the storage of all documents and email was centralised, freeing up hard-disk space and therefore reducing the frequency of system failures. ramsac also reduced the cost of communications by making use of an available leased line.
Once the network was stabilised and business processes streamlined, a package of both on-and-off site service and support was provided by ramsac to Encore Tickets. A dedicated telephone helpdesk service and an IT Manager was provided, who visits the site once a month to troubleshoot any issues, offer advice and discuss plans for ongoing IT requirements.
Sweeney has been impressed with the quality of service that Encore Tickets has received, “When you are placing such a critical element of your day-to-day business in the hands of someone else you need to be sure you chose wisely. ramsac has proven itself to be dependable, helpful and professional. We can now rely on our IT network and the applications it hosts. If a problem arises we know that help is immediately available to keep us up and running.”
ramsac’s pricing structure also works particularly well for Encore Tickets, Sweeney adds, “Before we were continuously fire-fighting our IT issues and could not effectively budget our expenditure. ramsac bills a monthly fee, which we can factor into our yearly budget, enabling us to implement strategic IT planning for the first time and at the fraction of the cost of employing a full time IT manager.”
“As Encore Tickets continues to expand and further entrench its position as the market leader, we will continue to look to ramsac to support our IT needs, allowing us to focus on our business with improved efficiency and without unnecessary interruption,” concludes Sweeney.