Youth at Risk delivers intensive personal development training and coaching programmes in areas of deprivation all around the UK which involve local people in helping transform their most disruptive and excluded young people. The work helps them take responsibility for themselves, take control of their lives and gets them on the road towards becoming thriving, contributing members of society. Youth at Risk’s tough love approach is about the long haul, demanding an enormous amount of the young people in an intense and emotionally demanding set of psychological and physical challenges, followed by months of
support and supervision by local volunteers.
The charity took the decision to move its entire ICT infrastructure to a cloud environment a number of years ago to make best use of limited ICT funding and found a local supplier accordingly. However following a corporate restructure and business re-focus, this supplier was no longer able to provide the required IT services and so put the charity in contact with alternative suppliers.
Carat was chosen because of its extensive experience in ICT, its friendly approach to customer service, and its ability to provide the different hosted services needed to develop a bespoke solution at a highly affordable price.
The project involved backing up and moving all applications and services, including internal databases, Sage accountancy software, Microsoft Exchange, Blackberry Exchange, documents and files sharing facilities from third-party servers to Carat’s Cloud computing facilities, with minimum disruption or system downtime.
The migration process was completed in accordance with the charity’s strict data management requirements and Carat’s technical engineers configured a brand new network for office staff and home-based teams over a single weekend. Secure log in details were created for onsite and remote users, enabling them to access their files and email accounts (via PC or Smartphone), as normal at the start of the working week.
Carat is responsible for every aspect of the charity’s ICT requirements including; data management and back up processes, the provision email and file sharing facilities for all staff and the management and implementation of appropriate antivirus and firewall technologies to prevent a security breach. Carat also provides comprehensive support assistance and helps with any hardware purchases, such as laptops or printers, to ensure the charity benefits from the best possible deals.
Says Robert Gregory, CEO of Carat Computer systems: “We are really pleased to have been selected as the preferred supplier. Charities are under immense pressure to maximise their ICT resources without compromising on security. Our cloud-based system enables them to do just that; they can easily add new users and or applications without incurring any additional costs, making it a highly attractive proposition.”
Says Keri Kaynes of Youth at Risk; “We are pleased to be working with Carat. We now have a high technology solution that is simple, flexible and affordable with the security that Carats dedicated support team are there to help when we need them”.
Carat operates an IFPS Fair price policy and is a certified academic and third sector supplier.
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