Study 1:
"Worker Productivity"
Client: Small Manufacturing Facility
Problem Description: This family-owned and run company faced problems with worker productivity. When the supervisors were not nearby, it was difficult to ensure production goals. The owners asked us, "How can our workers be more conscientious and productive without us having to hover over their work spaces and micro-manage them?" The problem was at its worst in areas of the facility that were furthest from management's office.
Solution: mouseandmen installed web secure enabled cameras to monitor workers, knowing that people react differently when they are in front of a camera. Management observed a rise in productivity and a reduced strain on supervisory staff. Supervisors were able to monitor the floor facility from both a dedicated screen as well as their desktop monitor. "I have known Mark for nearly 10 years. He is easy and fun to work with and extremely good at what he does. These days adjectives are grossly overused and therefore meaningless so I need to say that my following choices are carefully considered. Over the years Mark has proved himself to be infinitely patient, reliable, resourceful and well organized. Without his tech support I would be out of business."
Study 2:
"Disaster Recovery"
Client: Provider of Business Services
Problem Description: Management needed to ensure that the Windows Small Business Server running Microsoft Exchange be able to recover quickly from failure. The financial loss due to downtime could, at the worst time, be very costly both to the budget and their reputation.
Solution: mouseandmen installed a backup and recovery server that continuously monitors the server and copies the entire system. In addition, the recovery system can be upgraded by purchasing a backup server for immediate access. With this new technology, small businesses have access to the same level of disaster recovery as do large businesses.
Study 3:
"The cost of broadband"
Client: Graphic Design Firm
Problem Description: The cost of broadband was rising over time and as more users were added to the office network. Management sought a way to maximize Internet access speed without paying higher fees. (For example the cost of moving from a business DSL solution to a T1 can be a big leap for a small business budget.)
Solution: mouseandmen installed a network monitoring server on an old and unused Windows PC, by which we obtained the important data to make informed decisions about what kind of data is moving in and out of the office. The pattern was easy to spot for management. Users had been on bandwidth intensive websites thus bottlenecking the real work from moving through. By reconfiguring the firewall, mouseandmen was able to restrict certain network activities, based on the user. This brought the client's broadband up to speed again without the cost of an upgrade.