I look after IT for an independent chain of 14 estate
agencies. In IT terms each branch operates as a discrete unit. Now
we want every desktop throughout the chain to be linked and for
everyone to have access to the same data on the houses on our
books. What is the most cost-effective approach?
A website will be cheapest but may not be best
value
Start by considering carefully what you need and what youhave
already:
- Will the information be private (such as the seller's details),
public (such as photos of the houses) or both?
- Will you want everyone to be able to update information or just
key people? What level of computer skills do they have?
- Do you already have a network between your sites?
- Do you have access to the skills and the security to manage a
computer system?
In terms of pure cost-effectiveness for this task, a website
would be your cheapest option. This can have a private area
accessible only by your staff. A website hosted by an ISP will be
relatively cheap and will avoid the need for a server at one of
your sites. It can be accessed by an internet link from each site
to avoid the need for a new network, but consider upgrading to a
broadband line to provide cheap, always-on access to the
site.
However, do take a step back and think about whether developing a
company network could deliver better value for money for your
company in the longer term. A network would let you build an
internal database which would be the most flexible solution for
your requirements and would let you share your public information
via a dedicated website.
The network could also be used for voice and data, and for sharing
other applications such as accounts, customer records, e-mail and
calendars. Building networks is relatively straightforward and
their potential benefits, in terms of efficiency and competitive
advantage, are enormous.
Mick Hegarty, general manager, ICT, BT Business
www.bt.com/btbusiness
ISPs can help if you want to be sure of future
capacity
The most cost-effective way of connecting the individual estate
agents would be to link them via the internet using a broadband
connection (ADSL).
Using the internet in this way is straightforward but requires
careful attention to security. The employment of data encryption
and access control techniques, such as client certificates, is
essential for this approach.
A centralised solution based at a single in-house location would
minimise both hardware and infrastructure costs. However, a
solution based on distributed data and services may be more
suitable in order to ensure data is always accessible.
A lower-cost alternative toin-house hosting might be to use a
third-party ISP providing dedicated servers. This reduces the
potential bandwidth bottleneck of connecting toin-house sources
and, by using multiple ISPs, would provide spare capacity for a
future increase in traffic.
If the house price data application or other services to be linked
require a legacy system, then an extranet based on a virtual
private network or access infrastructure technologies would be
appropriate. Or starting from scratch, the use of XML web services
would allow a web-based solution to be built and could potentially
reduce the cost of training staff.
When determining the most cost-effective solution, the existing
in-house technical abilities should be carefully considered.
Calculate if the solution would be cheaper if development and
ongoing support were outsourced.
Mike Hudd, technical director,
Netcel
www.netcel.com
Outsourcing is the key but set clear service
levels
I recommend that you take advantage of the application hosting
services available on the market and outsource theproject to them.
This way youcan avoid the cost of setting up and maintaining your
own web-based portal and centralised database completely.
Retain control of the cosmetic look and feel of the site and set
clear service level agreements with the provider. This will narrow
the scope for disagreements at a later stage and will ensure that
the standard of work will match your expectations for
quality.
Later, once your agencies are comfortable with using the site and
you are confident that the information is kept up-to-date, you
could look to turn the site into an extranet. If you do this you
can involve your customers too - potentially opening up a whole new
sales channel.
Mike Lucas, regional technology manager, Compuware
www.compuware.co.uk
Centralise your data and take low-cost access
route
One of the key challenges you face is achieving a balance between
cost and reliability.
This type of scenario is crying out for a central solution based on
thin-client technology, such as Windows Terminal Server or Citrix.
With this set-up, you would have all your data in a central site
and users would connect to it via low-cost thin-client PCs or
terminals. All the users would then be sharing the same database
and e-mail system.
However, in order for this to work, you will need a good, reliable
communications network. Traditionally, this would have been
provided via leased lines but with the introduction of digital
subscriber line, you are more likely to use one of these
services.
For the main site, you would need to go with either a conventional
leased line or synchronous DSL so that you can at least get a
service level agreement with the ISP.
Taking this approach would give you more choice for the remote
sites since, in the event of a failure, you would normally only
lose one site, not all. That means you could consider ADSL or SDSL.
However, there are solutions available, such as the IP Stream
package, which combine both the pipe for the main site with ADSL
services for the remote sites.
Trevor Lucas, managing director, TAL Computer
Services
www.talcs.co.uk
Mobile options will ensure staff make best use of
time
The key here is to have flexible access to the vital business
information, not only the houses that are for sale but also
relevant buyer and seller information around the sales
process.
To this end, think about access to information on the move as well
as in the office. I suggest you look to create a database of the
properties for sale, link this to an intranet where you can work as
a team on the sales.
Using business scenarios is a great way of getting these systems
set up correctly. For example, how would you deal with the
following situation? While visiting a house a client says they will
buy it there and then. Can the agent find out the relevant info and
reserve it without going back to the office?
This will give you great competitive advantage, reduce the time
employees spend in the office, rather than out selling, and enable
you to sell more houses with the same number of staff.
The system you need should have a database, a simple to use
intranet and e-mail that you can access from any device anywhere.
You also need to ensure you have the security built-in that you
need to meet common e-mail threats, as well as backing up and
restoring the important data in your business.
Given the dispersed nature of the business, I suggest you use a
specialist to set up, install the system and train the staff. The
total cost for all of this should be less than £30,000, equating to
about £2,000 per office.
John Coulthard, head of small business, Microsoft
UK
www.microsoft.com/uk