Client: Jo Cowen Architects
Industry: Architecture & Planning
Company size: 11-50 Employees
Location: London, UK
Jo Cowen Architects is an award-winning RIBA Chartered Practice based in London. The talented team of architects and designers have a wealth of experience delivering bespoke single homes to urban design and master planning across residential, commercial and mixed-use sectors. The practice relies heavily upon their IT managed services to keep them at the forefront of cutting-edge design and innovation.

"With Clay, we've generally just found a one-stop-shop for all our needs."
Jo Cowen | CEO

TRANSPARENT & FIXED COST SERVICE

Clay has been providing core IT services to Jo Cowen Architects for over 11 years, covering three office moves and the practice growing to nearly 50 staff. Our VIP support enables the business to focus solely on their clients and projects.

  • Microsoft 365 environment (inc. integrated MS Teams, OneDrive & SharePoint)
  • 24-7 user support and helpdesk (contractual response time of 1 hour or less)
  • Core IT services (infrastructure, networks, backups, file sharing & upgrades)
  • Provide both physical servers (on-prem) and Cloud-based (Azure / AWS)

As a Microsoft Certified Partner, we also offer proactive security monitoring, stress testing and Microsoft Security Score management.

SUPPORT WHEN THEY NEEDED IT

The pandemic brought remote working needs to the forefront. Jo Cowen Architects transitioned from an initial 100% of the studio working from home to a current 50% hybrid setup. Network upgrades in advance of the pandemic and moving the business onto the Microsoft Azure platform enabled staff to continue collaborating with full access to the hardware performance required to generate complex renders via a home internet connection.

SUPPORT WHEN THEY NEEDED IT

The pandemic brought remote working needs to the forefront. Jo Cowen Architects transitioned from an initial 100% of the studio working from home to a current 50% hybrid setup. Network upgrades in advance of the pandemic and moving the business onto the Microsoft Azure platform enabled staff to continue collaborating with full access to the hardware performance required to generate complex renders via a home internet connection.

STOPPING THE BLAME GAME

Any studio downtime could hurt the business with high profile and time-sensitive projects. Clay's vendor management services, stops staff from being caught up in the middle of a blame game between the software provider and local IT dept.

  • Autodesk
  • Adobe
  • SketchUp
  • BIM Track
  • MicroStation

Clay handles and identifies wherever the problem lies, enabling staff to stay focused and productive.

HYBRID PERFORMANCE

With a hybrid IT setup of both on-premise (London & Isle of Man) and Cloud servers, the practice has been able to access the processing power of the Microsoft Azure Cloud. With Clay's virtual servers (remote desktops), online processing power can be 'spun up' with high-end graphics cards on demand. Each environment is shared between multiple users without significant performance loss.

  • Un-throttled performance
  • Remote access
  • Geographical resilience
  • Client data security
  • Automatic updates

Rather than repeated capital equipment expenditure, virtual servers offer an approximate 30% CAPEX saving per user for the practice. Clay's solution is also provided on a flexible monthly subscription that can scale with the needs of the business.

HYBRID PERFORMANCE

With a hybrid IT setup of both on-premise (London & Isle of Man) and Cloud servers, the practice has been able to access the processing power of the Microsoft Azure Cloud. With Clay's virtual servers (remote desktops), online processing power can be 'spun up' with high-end graphics cards on demand. Each environment is shared between multiple users without significant performance loss.

  • Un-throttled performance
  • Remote access
  • Geographical resilience
  • Client data security
  • Automatic updates

Rather than repeated capital equipment expenditure, virtual servers offer an approximate 30% CAPEX saving per user for the practice. Clay's solution is also provided on a flexible monthly subscription that can scale with the needs of the business.

"The Clay team are extremely good at finding the right products and support systems ... in the most cost-effective way." Jo Cowen | CEO

Jo Cowen Architects

Are you looking for this type of IT experience?

📞 020 8148 5252
✉️ hello@clay.uk