CVR is one of the leading Belgian companies in performing special foundation techniques and shoring of construction pits, placing underground vertical walls for stability. Since the 1970s, the Beringen-based company has been a pioneer in the business. Together with his brother Tom, Nicolas Smet took over leadership a few years ago from father Luc Smet, who expanded the one-man business into a thriving company with 75 employees. The family is passionate about the trade. 'Most companies in our sector specialize in one method of foundation,' Nicolas Smet says. 'We offer multiple techniques. That's easy for contractors; they can deal with one party.'
When the company was smaller, outsourcing IT was obvious, says Nicolas Smet. An internal IT manager would have to take on other jobs. We would not be able to offer him or her sufficient challenge. Today we remain convinced of this way of working. It is in any case difficult to find personnel, not only IT personnel but also engineers or site personnel. There are limits to one individual's knowledge. Whereas at Rank1 there are many bright minds together. That is a big advantage. Moreover, with Rank1, IT continuity is assured. Thanks to the contract we entered into, the service is guaranteed. If you work with a permanent IT person in house, and they leave, you are back to square one.'
Flat structure with short lines
The partnership with Rank1 began in early 2018. 'Rank1 assures us of a stable network environment and provides support for our IT systems,' says Nicolas Smet. 'They understand the needs of an SME. The business has to keep running, that's the most important thing. Rank1's service desk is permanently available whenever we need it. There is a flat structure with short lines of communication. We are never sent from pillar to post. If we have a problem, we immediately get to the right person.'
'I don't know much about IT myself. I push the button and it should work,' says Nicolas Smet. 'It does interest me but I have no background in it. Occasionally I say: and now in Dutch, guys. They understand that at Rank1.' During construction leave, when the sites were shut down for three weeks, Rank1 realized a migration plan. 'Due to problems with a previous IT partner, we had some catching up to do. In that short period, Rank1 managed to bring the servers up to date, install new firewalls and renew the network core. To reduce risk, we first realized a managed cloud backup so that we could always fall back on a known situation. After the construction break, our people could quickly get back to work. Everything went perfectly according to timing.'
Clever minds
Rank1 installed the latest versions of software packages, migrated from Lync to Skype for Business and placed sensors from our monitoring software PRTG on critical components so we can proactively prevent problems and ensure maximum system uptime. We revamped the antivirus environment, the firewall, the Office environment and keep the infrastructure up-to-date.
Rank1 also advises CVR on hardware and software applications. 'IT today is closely related to business operations,' says Nicolas Smet. 'If we want to realize things, we have to calculate what IT costs that entails. In the coming months, for example, we will be taking a close look at our ERP package. Rank1 will guide us in making the right choice.'
IT relief
CVR has a service contract with Rank1 that offers flexibility and transparency on both sides. It does not cover specific projects because sometimes very specific expertise is needed. 'This flexible way of working gives us a clear overview of the costs, says Nicolas Smet. 'Rank1's service is not free, but if the network is down for two days, the costs run much higher. I prefer not to take any risks. So we also consciously choose a backup in the cloud. Compare it to insurance. You hope it's never needed but if it goes wrong, you have to be able to count on it.'
Focusing on the core business is important, Nicolas Smet believes. 'Rank1 relieves us in terms of IT, just as we relieve our customers in terms of foundations. A general contractor wants to straighten a building. He has no idea what precedes it. A contractor is happy when he is out of the ground. And we are happy with Rank1, so that we can concentrate on our specialty.