Q2 2019

28 | Q2 2019 Mar19277 With offices across the UK, Celerity is a trusted partner for the provision of cloud, managed and traditional IT infrastructure and services. Following the company’s success in the 2019 SME 100 programme as the ‘Recognised Experts in Cloud & Managed IT Services’, we spoke with Celerity’s Craig Aston to find out more. Expert Data Services for Today’s Data-Driven Businesses The business world has become defined and controlled by data. Data of all varieties holds the key to long-term success, and companies of all sizes have soon realised the importance of adequately protecting and storing their data. In the wake of this growing need, Celerity has become one of this new industry’s exemplars, delivering top-tier services for their ever-growing client base. As Craig explains, one of Celerity’s unique identifiers is their ability to cater to numerous industries, morphing themselves to the individual needs of their clients. “Celerity can deliver services either on-premise, as a fully-managed off-premise cloud or alternatively as a Hybrid- cloud. We are currently entrusted with the protection and management of many petabytes of highly sensitive data for a range of global organisations. Our experience covers a broad spectrum of sectors including public sector, utilities, aviation, defence and manufacturing. Ultimately, we have a track record of successfully delivering business solutions as an honest, agile and, moreover, highly experienced technology partner. “Celerity bridges the gap between customer and manufacturer providing access to best of breed services via cloud, managed and traditional routes. We work collaboratively with clients to achieve organisational goals whilst minimising risk, maximising capability and driving innovation. We are a hands-on partner willing to go the ‘extra mile’ for our clients.” This idea of ‘partnership’ really sits at the heart of Celerity’s success, as they act in tandem with their clients to reinforce and secure their future. More than that, Celerity understand that their clients require tailor-fit solutions, not “one size fits all” services, whilst also understanding that Celerity need to guide and sometimes challenge clients to ensure they are following or moving towards best practice. “Regardless of the challenge or the process, at Celerity we will never try to fit a customer into a template. At the end of the day, we draw upon our extensive experience and knowledge, accumulated by working with clients operating in all industry sectors, to provide value and tailored solutions in line with an organisation’s key business objectives whilst also trying to help clients improve their operations both from a usability, resilience and security point of view.” Naturally, Celerity’s highly-experienced expert team have played a vital role in nurturing their success so far, as Craig discusses in more detail. “We believe it’s the people that makes a business successful and this is very much the case with Celerity. Starting out in 2002 with a small team, we have since developed an experienced and motivated workforce with the right skills and attitude that has driven the business forward to be what it is today. This creates a foundation to give our customers the best service possible and our longstanding relationships with our customers are a testament to that.” As we come to the close of the interview, Craig moves on to discuss the challenges that Celerity, and the greater managed services industry, is facing at the moment. “With the continued pressure on budgets particularly in public sector spending, alongside all organisations being tasked with driving innovation, delivering critical services and managing IT security for their users, the use of trusted partners becomes more vital to deal with budgetary, skills and resource pressures. As a result, given the already crowded managed services area, being able to differentiate yourself as a value-add partner will become even more vital and Celerity’s heritage in data protection, and trusted partner status to both public and large private sector organisations really does differentiate against others in this area.” In his final comments, Craig offers some insight into Celerity’s plan moving through the rest of 2019 and beyond. Like many of their peers, the company is looking to expand their services further: “We will continue to expand, enhance and unify our managed service offerings around data protection (Data Custodian), monitoring & analytics (Intuition) and cyber security (Citadel).” Name: Craig Aston Address: 11 St George’s Court, Kirkham, Lancashire, PR4 2EF, United Kingdom Website: www.celerity-uk.com Telephone: 0177 254 2466