Leisure Music & The National Business to Business Centre

Leisure Music is a retail music outlet based in Weddington, Nuneaton. It was founded by Bryn Evans and has been trading for 21 years. The business sells musical instruments, amplifiers, sheet music and accessories.

Bryn was referred into our partners, The National Business to Business Centre by a friend, and attended a seminar in 2003 on Simple E-Business IT, covering the fundamentals of office IT and infrastructure.

The company already had a small amount of IT in place, split across two locations: the main retail outlet and a home office. The two work environments were disparate, but both had ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) connections. The IT infrastructure was very basic with users waiting to use computers for specific tasks, as no internal network was in place.

When Bryn approached The National B2B Centre the initial aim was to implement a simple network with file sharing capabilities and to take better advantage of the ADSL connection at both office sites. Leisure Music had also already invested in a website with basic functionality.

Impartial expert advice

Following discussions with an E-Business Consultant from the B2B Centre, not only was there a need for a small network, but additional requirements also emerged, in that the need to exploit the Internet and raise the profile of the business was a necessity. They had ventured into the use of the Internet but the investment was well above the amount of return.

This resulted in Bryn, with the assistance of an experienced consultant from the Centre, developing the requirements for a website that could be easily maintained and edited by Leisure Music staff and also have the ability to have a fully functional on-line catalogue.

The National B2B Centre carried out an E-Business Assessment and proposed a number of possible solutions to improve the use of the current IT systems in place and also connecting the two business locations together.

The assessment has enabled Leisure Music to approach OpenAdvantage and relevant IT support staff with all the appropriate information to accomplish the work.

The end result has meant the implementation of:
An internal file server using SUSE Linux.A simple internal network.A firewall/VPN serverand ADSL router.Development of an OS Commerce on-line shopping system.

Providing a competitive advantage

Leisure Music now has a scalable and cost effective internal network with a central file server and system backup routines. Which means they are now able to share information across the two work locations (home and office), saving them time and effort.

They have also been able to redeploy a machine that was previously too slow as a desktop machine, by installing the Linux operating system. The VPN server provides secure access to the office network from the home office, and the firewall protects the network from unauthorised access. The ADSL router has given them a shared Internet connection, which now enables all machines to access the Internet.

Clair Evans of Leisure Music said "We now have a robust website that can be easily and quickly maintained and updated by all of the staff.
By not relying on third parties to do this for us we are really seeing the benefits and cost and time involved dramatically reduced"

She also added regarding the new infrastructure: "The new systems we have in place allow us a lot more flexibility in the way we work, with easier and hassle-free access to information".

The company have had issues with the systems initially but any new IT implementation has problems. They have a good support network with local IT vendors, and a continued relationship with The National B2B Centre. The solution has provided Leisure Music with a low cost infrastructure that will enable them to develop and grow as a business, and are now more in control of their e-business, and has provided them with a stable platform on which to expand.

Key Links
www.openadvantage.org - OpenAdvantage
www.nb2bc.co.uk - The National Business 2 Business Centre
www.leisuremusic.co.uk - Leisure Music
www.releasenetworks.co.uk - Network Consultants
www.p-tech.org.uk - IT Consultants
www.oscommerce.com - the e-commerce solution chosen by Leisure Music