Hertfordshire's Data Security and IT support specialists - 'Activate IT Solutions'

Activate IT Solutions provide high quality IT services to local businesses. We specialise in Data Security which is an ever more increasing area of importance as all businesses begin to rely almost exclusivley on their data integrity. We aim to be technology partners to our clients and offer strong, speedy and cost effective Support and Maintenance services - this is more than just fixing problems as they arise (important though this is) it is really about putting systems in place that are 'future-proof' and require little support once installed.

We also offer expertise in the field of Ecommerce, we have several clients trading online. Hand in hand with this goes Website Marketing, this increasingly important 'science' is now vital to ensure that the websites so important to businesses today can be found easily by potential clients before their competitors! With Networking and general IT Consultancy services we offer a full range of IT services to our clients. We pride ourselves on the quality of the service we provide, please use the callback request form opposite to arrange a meeting to discuss your businesses requirements in detail. Please note, we do not charge for such consultancy...

Data Security... 'Probably the single most important service we provide...'

It is increasingly true to say that most large businesses have invested heavily in high value security systems, this unfortunatley leaves smaller companies even more exposed as they now become an easier target for attacks. Over 80% of small businesses do not back up their vital data regularly and very few keep anti virus and firewall software properly updated

We carry out full security reviews of IT infrastructure and help close any potentially dangerous holes in security perimiters before unscrupulous hackers and viruses can get in. Also included in the security review is the vital issue of data backup, we suggest and implement the most cost effective strategies.

It costs relativley little in terms of time and money to safeguard data, the risks of not doing so can actually threaten continuity of operation for many businesses. Contact us today and we will give your system a free review and give you recommendations of any action required.

Support and Maintenance...'this is a core function of what we do...'

Our clients rely on us to keep their systems running. Even the most robust IT setups occasionally require attention and we are on hand to quickly respond in the event of a problem. However, we do not just fix the problem and leave, we take steps to ensure that it does not re-occur as we aim to be a proactive partner to our clients, always on hand for advice and consultation on IT systems and new technologies that may enhance efficiency or security.

Our engineers are highly experienced, well trained and qualified to Microsoft industry standard, as such almost all IT problems are solved either over the phone or within 1 hour of being on site.

Our standard support and maintenance agreement is only £47 per month, this entitles clients to 6 free hours of on site support in 6 months, free telephone support, an initial evaluation of the systems to be supported and analysis of data loss risk and system security. For those not requiring a fixed term agreement our standard hourly rate is £25 (we do not charge for travelling time). Contact us today to find out how we can support your business.

Ecommerce... 'selling online is much easier and cost-effective than ever before, done well it can be a huge profit generator

'The Internet is the largest and most potentially profitable marketplace in the world', this sounds fairly obvious but many businesses just dont take advantage of it as they should. The simple truth is that the most successful businesses are the ones that adapt to the fast pace of change in the ever more technology reliant world. Almost everyone in this country now has some access to the Internet and most are now happy to buy online, there has never been a better time to take reach that huge market.

We are specialists in creating online trading solutions for small to medium sized businesses as well as ensuring that the search engines find the site before the competitiors! Another important part of our service is web analyitics, we show who is visiting your site and what trends are apparent.

Talk to us about the solutions appropriate to your business we can offer to get you up and trading on the Internet.

Networking...'communications within and from and to your business must be fast, effective and reliable'

Networking is a fundamental part of any modern business, the ability to share data, send email and use the Internet are key to an efficient workplace. We are highly experienced in installing networks and troubleshooting existing installations to ensure the continuous flow of information.

Wireless networks are very popular now and with good reason, they are less expensive and disruptive to install and have the range to cover most small to medium sized offices. This improved range is a double-edged sword as it means that your data can be physically available outside your walls, we ensure the correct level of security is imposed to prevent unauthoridsed people 'tapping in' to your network.

Another part of our networking service is performance analysis, we make sure that your network is running at its full capacity and there are no 'bottlenecks' slowing the system down.

Marketing...'everyone wants more customers, we help you find them...'

Our marketing service falls into two areas, firstly website marketing. This is a relativley new area of marketing and basically means that a businesses website should rank higher in the search engines than its competition (prefferably on the first page of results) for given search critera. This is not an exact science, however, we keep in touch with the ever changing search engine requirements and optimise sites we develop or existing sites to help ensure that they rank highly and are found before the competition.

The other area of our marketing service is provided by our affliate company Centaur Consult they are a business to business marketing consultancy with many years experience of helping their clients get closer to their customers and improve sales. Centaur Consult provide creative marketing solutions in-house using their team of specialists.

Activate IT Solutions and Centaur Consult can really help your business reach out to the 'web-savvy' customers of today.

Consultancy... 'A fresh persective often leads to a clearer view...'

Consultancy tends to happen as a by-product of our relationship with our clients. We aim to be a 'virtual IT department' and as such we build very close relationships with the businesses we support. Because of this closeness we are able to see the IT infrastructure clearly and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. We are then able to offer advice on the best technologies to implement for the most cost-effective upgrades.

Because we are so locally focused we find that our clients will often simply pick up the phone to ask about something they have seen on TV or in a magazine and whether it can be applied to their business, we are always on hand to give the right advice.

As part of our six monthly maintenance contract, we conduct an initial evaluation of the IT systems in place and on every visit we take the time to speak to our clients about their systems performance and any new technologies that may make them more effecient.

Please use the contact request form to request a callback - we will respond within 24 hours to arrange a visit where we can discuss your requirements in detail. Please be assured there is no charge or obligation for this meeting...

Alternativley you can call us on the number at the top of this page or email directly to enquiries@activate-it.com

Hertfordshire's Data Security and IT support specialists - 'Activate IT Solutions'

Activate IT Solutions was formed in 2000 by Andrew Howell and Stefan Dodds. Based in Hertford, its mission was simple, to provide high quality, cost-effective IT expertise to local small to medium sized businesses. We still hold true to this principle, we belive in ensuring that our clients have a reliable point of contact to look after them in the sometimes confusing and constantly changing world of IT, leaving them to do what they do best, running their businesses...

We belive we provide a service thats second to none which enables us to be a true 'virtual IT department' for our clients who neither want to pay for or need a full time IT technician.

Andrew's experince comes in the form of running the desktop support function of a major investment bank in the City, while Stefan is a highly skilled programmer having designed systems for companies such as Merck Sharpe & Dohme and MFI. There are others who bring their specialist skills to Activate IT click here to see us all and our areas of responsibility...

One of our clients, a land marketing company based in hertford has a small network supplying 5 staff with internet and email access. They signed up for our support and maintenance agreement and we immediately went to work...

Their wireless network was unsecured and vulnerable to hacking, their backup system was not actually backing up any data, they wanted to be able to access their emails on the internet and via their mobile phones and some of the PC's had badly configured anti virus software which had allowed viruses into their environment. All these issues were dealt with and we are now looking at enabling a shared calendar so the staff can syncronise their days!

Another client in Hoddesdon, a window fitting company, recently moved offices. We were on hand to recommision their IT infrastructure in the new premises causing as little disruption to their day to day business.

We often buy IT equipment for many clients, we have a trade account with a supplier and get very good prices on high quality equipment