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01732 759725 32 perform their roles remotely. Even in the best of times, the provision of laptops was a laborious and time- consuming process that diverted the Stonewall IT team from more productive, strategic tasks – imaging set up alone could take at least half a day per laptop. Safe hands Stonewall started looking for an IT specialist to relieve them of this burden and, after a rigorous tender process, selected Apogee as their Managed IT Services partner. Being owned by global technology conglomerate HP, Apogee gave Stonewall peace of mind that their IT devices were in safe hands. Following a thorough consultation and discovery process, through which it gained an in-depth understanding of Stonewall’s work, IT operations and requirements, Apogee identified the models of laptop best suited to each employee’s needs and prepared for their roll-out. A key requirement was for the hardware to be delivered to multiple locations, homes and offices, pre-configured and pre-imaged with applications and software specific to each user. Apogee’s Professional Services team provided a complete end-to-end Managed Workplace Solution for each individual device, from initial set-up and custom imaging to ongoing technical support and end-of-life In common with a growing number of small and medium-sized organisations (see story below), Stonewall, the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe, has embraced managed IT services to improve its IT provision, in its case with Apogee, Europe’s largest multi-brand provider of managed workplace services. Using an IT service provider as an extension of an in-house IT team offers a range of benefits from help in developing a comprehensive digital transformation strategy to supporting the day to day IT needs of end users and the wider organisation. For Stonewall, a particular challenge was the provision of laptops, including purchasing, imaging, set-up and delivery, and the disposal of old devices. This became a matter of urgency during the Covid-19 pandemic, when it was critical for every employee to have the technology and set-up they needed to Mobile PC revenues continue to exceed 2019 levels as newer specs surge in popularity Revenue sales for notebooks and tablets continued to beat 2019 levels over the summer, with Wi-Fi 6-equipped notebooks performing particularly well, according to the latest data from CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company. CONTEXT’s Revenue Trend Index plots current performance for each category against a value of 100, with 100 being the 2019 average. It found that mobile PCs performed best, with notebooks hovering at around 120 on the index from week 25-36, while tablets are now at around 105. Desktop sales through distribution remain well below the category’s 2019 average, at around 75. But while year-on-year revenue for notebooks (-2%) and tablets (-17%) fell in August, desktop sales recovered slightly to growth of +10. Most European countries followed the same trends, with some recording significantly higher notebook sales revenues than 2019 and some near or in line with 2020 figures. CONTEXT attributes the surge in revenue through distribution to sales of products with higher specs. Its analysis of notebooks equipped with Wi-Fi 6, the latest version of the wireless communication protocol, show that revenue sales accounted for just 16% of the total for the business category in May 2020. However, by early September 2021, that figure had soared to 70%. In the consumer market, adoption was slower but increased steadily in the course of 2020 to stand at 57% of revenue sales by September. Explaining the big increase in Wi-Fi 6-equipped notebooks, Marie- Christine Pygott, senior analyst at CONTEXT, said: “Of course, the figures are driven by more products with Wi-Fi 6 enabled by default coming onto the market. Supply also plays a role. But we can’t rule out the fact that commercial organisations and home users are demanding better connectivity for remote working, management and learning. Wi-Fi 6 not only boosts connection speeds but also improves networks when handling multiple devices — as many have in homes during the pandemic.” www.contextworld.com Apogee helps Stonewall streamline IT provision Stonewall IT team saves 65 days by outsourcing laptop set up and deployment to Apogee MANAGED SERVICES data sanitisation and disposal. The secure disposal of pre-owned devices was essential for data security, to which end Apogee put together a buy-back package for Stonewall’s legacy IT equipment. For Stonewall’s IT team, Apogee’s managed service has been a real time- saver, as IT Project Delivery Lead Leon Jones explains: “If we tried to deploy 100- odd laptops pre our Apogee experience, it would have been an issue. Apogee has definitely lightened the load and pressure on myself and our engineers regarding resource time.” Monthly subscription Apogee has also reduced the financial burden of IT provision, by enabling Stonewall to move away from big ticket capital purchases of IT technology to a smaller monthly subscription. This has a lower cost of ownership than capital purchase, with all hardware, software, deployment and support services combined into a single monthly rate across a three-year payment plan. All in all, Apogee’s Managed IT Service, tailored to Stonewall’s specific business needs, has helped the organisation achieve a lower total cost of ownership, whilst optimising user satisfaction and freeing up valuable IT time and internal resources to drive growth. apogeecorp.com/case-studies/stonewall