Datacentrix, a leading provider of computing power, business value and solutions to corporate organisations in South Africa, has won a contract to provide desktop and hardware IT support and services to the 92 Virgin Active Clubs in South Africa as well as its one club in Windhoek, Namibia.

Datacentrix’s head of outsourcing in the Western Cape, Celma Marcus, secured the deal in conjunction with Virgin Active Western Cape’s account manager, Francois de Kock.

“Datacentrix ensured that Virgin Active was fully aware of its capability and focus on customer service, and we believe that it was this commitment to a customer centric value add proposition that led to Virgin Active being a very satisfied customer,” says Marcus. She adds that the key to any successful outsourcing agreement is to appoint the right people in the right positions.

An on-site service desk has been established at Datacentrix to receive calls from Virgin Active. Service requests are logged, resolved and a full outcome report on each request is logged in the system.

The IT hardware support and services were originally handled in-house by Virgin Active, before the company made a business decision to outsource. Datacentrix then won the contract for the outsourced hardware support and services.

“We also took over the existing IT hardware support engineers at Virgin Active,” says Adam Pitts, service delivery manager for Virgin Active South Africa. “Virgin Active supported this as these former employees now have career paths and formed a knowledgeable core for the Datacentrix support team.”

Four engineers are based in Gauteng where some 40 Virgin Active clubs are operational. Other engineers are resident further afield in centres such as Durban, Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Nelspruit.

“We are a health company and our business focus is on people and their health,” says Patrick Nightingale, national IT manager for Virgin Active South Africa. “By outsourcing our IT hardware support, we have recorded a 60% improvement in services since the beginning of June 2010, so it has been a good move.”

Nightingale adds that while IT is a vital tool for Virgin Active, without which it could not run its business, the company’s core focus is not IT and outsourcing was seen as the way forward in the best interests of all concerned. “Datacentrix has been very responsive and supportive and there have been very few hitches in their service provision.”

The scope of the Datacentrix service includes the installation, movement of, changes to and retirement of assets such as application software, operating software, configurations, desktop computers, printers and peripherals. It also features on-site technical assistance and error resolution, operating software assistance, hardware and replacement support to PCs, servers, card readers, play stations, disks, RAM and power supply replacement; and finally network support, including WiFi routers, switches, network cables and fly leads.

Pitts says there is ongoing communication, monitoring and management of the support and services provided. “Quarterly reviews of services rendered are conducted and assessments of requirements and improvements for the next quarter are also undertaken.”

Virgin Active is part of the international Virgin group owned by highly successful British entrepreneur Richard Branson and is focused on bringing positive change and improvements to its services to clients through a commitment to technology.

Source:http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37743:datacentrix-wins-it-hardware-support-servicing-contract-from-virgin-active&catid=69&Itemid=58