How BITS helped this financial services company overcome the challenges of remote working 

CLIENT OVERVIEW

Kenny, Whelan & Company is based in the heart of Dublin and has been providing expert accountancy and financial services to their clients for over 35 years. They offer a range of solutions including auditing, bookkeeping, financial projections, payroll and tax compliance. 

Initially, Kenny, Whelan & Company were early adopters of new technology; however, as the years passed, they recognised that their technology stack became stagnant and did not evolve. Kenny, Whelan & Company decided to approach our team at BITS after recommendation and have been a client of ours since 2018.

THE CHALLENGE

When the pandemic hit in March 2020 and lockdown was introduced, all the staff at Kenny, Whelan & Company had to start working remotely instantly.

However, they had no remote working solutions in place. The entire workforce was 100% office-based, and everything was on-site, in-house and on-premises. Each member of Kenny, Whelan & Company used a desktop, with no access to a laptop or a webcam to carry out client and staff meetings via a video conferencing platform.

At the time, their entire IT stack was fit for office-based work only, and as a lot of their data is highly confidential, having everything stored on-site was a necessity for security purposes. However, accessing this data and information was not something the Kenny, Whelan & Company workforce could do remotely, so they needed a solution that allowed the team to work from home but with secure access to that data.

Kenny, Whelan & Company is a company that value being reliable and responsive to their clients - if the phone rings, they pick up. Therefore, they needed a solution fast.

HOW BITS HELPED

– The solution we offered was to implement a secure VPN connection into the office machines to enable the team at Kenny, Whelan & Company to work remotely as if they were in the office.

– The VPN solution allowed the team to remotely access their servers, desktops and data securely and quickly. 

– Kenny, Whelan & Company had no laptops or webcams, but we implemented a solution that has allowed the workforce to access a video communication application to ensure their team remains connected to both colleagues and clients.

– Provided strategic advice on the best tools to implement and actions to take to overcome remote working challenges.

THE RESULTS

The VPN solution installed enabled:

– All employees to work from home with confidence, knowing that client information is safe, and their data can be securely monitored. 

– It allowed their remote workforce to access all the data they needed to carry out their job effortlessly.

The video conferencing platform allowed:

– employees to keep in contact with their clients just as before, so they can be as responsive and reliable as they were in the office.

The advice given:

– “Has been invaluable” (Stephen Whelan, Accountant at Kenny, Whelan & Company). The team have taken the advice offered by BITS and have gone from strength to strength and is now a fully operating remote business.

Without implementing the right solutions, they would not have been able to respond to their clients and remain operational throughout the pandemic. These solutions caused a fundamental change and improved their IT, moving the business of Kenny, Whelan & Company forward