The Oxford Knowledge Company

Keeping the online customer satisfied

As the Internet continues to dominate and impact traditional business practices across all industries – understanding the online behaviour of existing and potential customers is paramount.

And by understanding, measuring and even predicting customers’ online activity, organisations are able to make informed business decisions in response to the ever-changing needs of their audiences.

Second nature

For global Internet media and market research leader Nielsen//NetRatings – which currently reports on 70 percent of the world’s internet usage – monitoring this online behaviour is second nature.

And naturally, the support for such a global provision requires a failsafe and intuitive IT infrastructure; the European hub of which is maintained at NetRatings’ Oxford (UK) location by Microsoft Gold Certified Partner The Oxford Knowledge Company.

The Oxford office of NetRatings is the financial heart of its EMEA operations and carries a headcount of over 25 people comprising financiers, analysts and sales professionals. Historically, IT services had been managed by sister company AC Nielsen’s UK-based IT support team. NetRatings IT Manager Paul Petricevich, based in Silicon Valley’s San Jose explains:

“Over time, this provision became cumbersome and extremely expensive to run. And ideally, we needed a local IT partner to physically – rather than virtually – attend NetRatings’ Oxford site for routine maintenance and onsite support issues.”

Migration

“The Oxford Knowledge Company was integral to the migration of client PCs from the previous AC Nielsen domain into this dedicated EMEA domain; allowing NetRatings to run independently from its sister company. We now have a more resilient network since data replicates to other European sites. This replication enables the Oxford employees to log on and work in any of the European offices.

“During the transition, we encountered firewall incompatibility issues in moving from Outlook Web Access mail to the Microsoft Outlook email client and the legacy antivirus software needed replacing with a McAfee solution. However, it’s great testimony to The Oxford Knowledge Company that not only was this handled responsively and quickly – all during working hours – but that there was little impact on employee productivity or morale.

“With the assistance of The Oxford Knowledge Company’s Technology Consultant Bara Mustafa, we performed a seamless and highly successful migration which, above all, was painless for the system’s users.”

In situ

So, post-transition, what scope of services does The Oxford Knowledge Company provide for NetRatings?

Bara Mustafa comments: “By attending client site for half a day each week, we pre-empt problems within NetRatings’ Microsoft Windows 2003 servers, and ensure that backup tape rotations are in place and working correctly to protect data integrity. Equally, we’re available to troubleshoot other issues such as printing problems or to deal with larger jobs like desktop upgrades.”

IT wellbeing

So overall, how has The Oxford Knowledge Company made a positive difference to NetRatings’ IT wellbeing?

Petricevich concludes: “Undoubtedly, without the proactive advice and support of The Oxford Knowledge Company, it wouldn’t be possible for our Oxford office to run as efficiently as it does; indeed, we’ll shortly be working with them to duplicate this success and bring the same benefits to our London location.

“The Oxford Knowledge Company’s can-do and responsive attitude instinctively speaks our language and effortlessly bridges any transatlantic IT divide which could exist between our organisations.”