J Poulsen Shipping
When Poulsen Shipping first began shopping around for a new remote access solution for their company, the phrase "anytime, anywhere access" may have sounded a bit like an industry cliché. Recently, however, they had a chance to test how G/On handled the challenge. SAS airlines began offering broadband access on all their trans-Atlantic flights – but would a user be able to log on to the company network from 5K above the ground?
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In the past, Anders Poulsen, Manager, Chartering & Operations, of the fourth-generation, family-run shipping company, had logged on to his company’s network from home, from the seaports of the world, and from a number of international airports. But this time when Poulsen inserted the little G/On USB key into his colleague’s laptop, they were sitting in business-class seats on SAS flight SK926 en route to Chicago. After a few seconds, the log on dialog box appeared, and Poulsen logged in with his normal user name and password. The G/On client securely stored on the USB key automatically began communicating with the G/On server. "We connected to the company infrastructure back home, logged on to the terminal server and jumped to the G/On Server to check the configuration. It was the ultimate test. I was counting on it to work, and it did. It really does what they said it would," Poulsen says. When they were done, Poulsen logged off and removed the USB key. As usual, there was no trace on the laptop of the connection that could subsequently endanger the network (if for example, the PC was infected by viruses or spyware). The flexibility they needed Poulsen Shipping is one of the few companies with the expertise necessary to ship special items such as cranes, space shuttles and locomotives. In order to maintain their unique position, their chartering and technical experts need to be on site at the shipyards of the world at any given time. Other employees need to communicate with countries in different time zones, which means they frequently have to work from home outside of regular office hours. Their former remote access solution did not offer them the flexibility they needed, and nor could they rely on its security. There were three main problems with the old solution. First, users had to carry their own computers with a modem in order to log on. Second, user names and passwords transmitted via the dial up system were prone to interception. Finally, the system was slow and difficult to use. A big solution for a small company So, Poulsen Shipping began the search for a new system. At first, it seemed that they would either have to compromise on flexibility and security, or acquire a solution that was really more complex and costly than they had bargained for. Then, they talked to Jeroen Weisbrod, a Giritech partner. "We could have come up with a solution for Poulsen Shipping that was cheaper to install and had the same type of maintenance in terms of hours and costs, but it would not have had the same level of security and flexibility," says Weisbrod. "Or, we could have tailored together a number of other solutions that would match the flexibility and security. But then it would have been too complex and expensive – especially for a company with just 31 people." Easy to install, use and maintain Having chosen G/On, Poulsen Shipping discovered that the setup was smooth. It was done in connection with an upgrade to the company’s entire infrastructure. Administrators were pleased to find that there was virtually no new administrative burden because the solution simply extended the company’s improved infrastructure. Users were pleased to find that they now had high-speed access to the Internet at home and a fast remote connection from anywhere they could access a PC. "Employees took to the new system right away. It only takes a few minutes to start using. You plug in the key, type in your password, and off you go. There’s not much more to it," Poulsen says. "Now, users can access all the programs they’re entitled to. And it’s around twice as fast as what we were used to with the old solution. It’s just like being in the office." The smoothness of the administration experienced by Poulsen Shipping is something that Giritech partner Weisbrod recognizes from his other G/On customers as well. "I’ve gotten only two phone calls during the last couple of years from all my customers including Poulsen Shipping, and they were both easily solvable issues," Weisbrod says. Anders Poulsen confirms Weisbrod’s statement. "The only support issue we’ve dealt with had to do with [Microsoft Windows] Service Pack 2, and that really had nothing to do with the G/On system itself. Everyone’s satisfied; there are no problems." |
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