GTO Engineering
GTO Engineering are a leading authority on classic Ferrari from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.
In addition to specialised servicing facilities, they are a leader in complex restoration projects, engine builds and parts manufacturing and supply.
Headquartered in Reading in the UK, they also operate facilities in the US in Los Angeles, California, Atlanta, and Georgia, distributing parts globally.
CHALLENGE
GTO contacted Pro Drive as their existing file server was running out of space and no longer meeting the demands of the business.
Large volumes of media information are stored in order to detail complex restoration projects. The ready availability of this information to both UK and US facilities is critical. Typically, this consists of hundreds of photographs used to catalogue each stage of the work needing to be filed and manually uploaded to their server systems.
In addition, the senior team will regularly travel internationally, and need to have access to commercial and financial documents whilst on the move.
As the business continued its expansion, the existing file server setup did not meet these requirements and did not provide the flexibility the business needed.
SOLUTION
Having carried out an initial assessment and discussed the future plans for the business, it was agreed that a cloud-based approach would be the best fit for GTO’s strategy.
A proposal was submitted around Pro Drive’s Cloud File Server service, based on Egnyte technology. This provides for a central cloud repository for all of GTO’s documents and media files with a mirrored copy stored on a low cost storage device at GTO’s Reading Headquarters. This gives the flexibility requested for the overseas locations. The senior team can now access the cloud data whilst at the same time allowing the UK based offices and workshop workers high speed access to frequently used documents and files.
The workshops are now able to use mobile phone apps to easily upload the photographs taken on their smartphones during restorations. These go to the cloud-based file server, saving significant time over the previous manual process.
Senior staff who regularly travel by plane to US locations are now able to synchronise frequently accessed documents locally to their computers, allowing them to work offline whilst travelling. Reassuringly, their documents are automatically synchronised back to the file server whenever they reconnect to the internet.
Charleen Strong, Operations Manager at GTO Engineering comments “Our experience of working with Pro Drive on the ‘Egnyte’ Project has been a very positive one and we are delighted with the results. Pro Drive’s commitment to delivering a first class service is illustrated by the fact that they constantly monitor the service and always actively engage with us and seek feedback. We’ve been impressed by how much they care about the work they undertake for us”
RESULT
Having successfully moved their file services to the cloud, GTO extended their business relationship with Pro Drive to providing a fully outsourced IT support service to the business. Recently delivering a new workshop wide cutting- edge wireless system, further projects in the pipeline will implement modern, cloud-based systems to increase both the flexibility and productivity of GTO’s information systems.
