The Oxford Knowledge Company

Technology to nurture fast-growth, start-up businesses

Even the best ideas have to start somewhere. And naturally, how those ideas are nurtured is imperative to whether or not they grow.
And whilst necessity may be the mother of invention, defining a niche for that need – as any marketer will tell you – is critical to generating growth of an idea or business.

Heritage
With its senior management’s collective heritage in early technology industries spanning 20 years with some of the world’s premier universities, research bodies and innovative organisations, technology
investment innovators H2O Venture Partners (H2O) is well placed to understand the needs of start-up companies.
And it is in the understanding of a start-up operation’s business objectives and technology needs, where Microsoft Gold Certified Partner The Oxford Knowledge Company excels, comments H2O’s Co-Founder
and Director Dr Paul Coleman.
“Indeed, such business insight is relatively rare for an IT company. We recommend that all start-up organisations should consider the design and implementation a scalable and reliable IT infrastructure well in
advance of their operational launch.”

Experience
And H2O speaks from experience. Many months ahead of its own business set-up, it engaged The Oxford Knowledge Company to design
and develop a systems architecture which provided IT system availability pre-launch, and equally, created a ‘blue print’ design which will potentially be used by H2O’s own investee companies.
Dr Coleman says: “Alongside our basic start-up IT requirements – notebook computers, email system, website presence, network security, and a central server – we needed provision of remote email and fi le access from our mobile devices anytime, anywhere for continual connectivity with our investee companies and broader network.”

Venture Capital Funding
But why was a pre-launch IT infrastructure so important for H2O?
He continues: “A key element for us was to be able to operate effectively from the start. As a small, but growing team this required a viable and failsafe mechanism with which our investment managers could
correspond quickly and easily with existing and future investees, as well as with our own investors, broader network and, of course, each other.”

The design, development and implementation of the infrastructure in H2O’s temporary offi ces took place well ahead of launch, and was expertly led by The Oxford Knowledge Company’s Business
Development Manager Robert Arnold.
“Rob’s architectural design was particularly visionary in its strategic capacity planning for our future organisational growth; it had ample ‘headroom’ to grow. Consequently, we had a highly professional
image, including email connectivity and web presence, as soon as we offi cially launched.”
Subsequently H2O moved into new premises. “At this point, The Oxford Knowledge Company faultlessly migrated the entire infrastructure; and ensured we’d seamlessly catered for our fast-growing headcount. The
design of the system also allows H2O to add in new staff and investee companies as it grows and to adapt its internal systems with no, or minimal, disruption to support the business as it continues to grow.”

Backbone
So, what technologies does H2O’s infrastructure include?
Robert Arnold says: “The backbone of H2O’s architecture is Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 (SBS) – designed for single-server confi gurations providing a cost-effective solution for small teams.
“Remote access, crucial to the H2O operating structure, is facilitated by BT Business Email Organise and Share (for email and collaboration), and a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for fi le and network access”,
continues Arnold.
“As long as the consultants have an internet connection either from a notebook, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile Device or even an internet kiosk, they can securely and reliably access and share email, calendar,
tasks and documents; whether they’re home, onsite with a client, on the train or even abroad.”
Failsafe off-site data back up is provided by BT Datasure, with an industry-leading SonicWALL UTM device and Symantec Antivirus providing virus/malware protection & monitoring across the
infrastructure.
“With BT Business Email Organise and Share the entire email and collaboration infrastructure is outsourced. This means two things for clients like H2O. Firstly, they pay a fi xed monthly charge based on their number of users. Secondly, they have access to facilities, typically prohibitively expensive to start-up businesses, such as 24/7 helpdesk, fully redundant systems and fully integrated BlackBerry access.”

Cutting edge
Dr Coleman summarises: “Overall, The Oxford Knowledge Company instinctively understands and utilises cutting-edge technology to deliver far-reaching IT solutions. In turn, their unrivalled responsiveness enables H2O to focus on building value in our investee companies.
“We’ll certainly recommend their services to the technology companies we invest in; and equally, that the inception of any idea or business should be closely followed by the set up of an expansive IT architecture.
Get IT right at the beginning, and it will painlessly grow alongside your business.”