Dand Carnegie - Chartered Accountants

Ensuring Minor IT Issues Don't Become Major Business Problems.

In 2008, Alan Dand and Kenny Laing made the decision to relocate Dand Carnegie, Chartered Accountants to new premises in Broughty Ferry. As well as moving the team, office furniture and boxes of paperwork, they also had to relocate their entire IT infrastructure.

Kenny is a partner at Dand Carnegie Chartered Accountants. He’s also Shackleton Technologies accountant. He asked us to manage the transfer of their equipment and to set up a new network. We were happy to do this, but, as we always do, we wanted to learn more about the role that IT played within their company.

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The Landscape

He told us he was tired of every minor IT issue becoming a major problem. Typically, that would mean that a computer was misbehaving or, for whatever reason, they’d be unable to access their email. If a computer was out of action, typically, so would that user. The majority of work is done on a computer using different accounting software packages, and this would have an impact on productivity.

If their email goes down, so does their ability to communicate efficiently with their clients. The company is very service orientated and not being able to send or receive emails would definitely impact on the service they could provide for their clients. Being productive, proactive and retaining their reputation were the main concerns but there was also a feeling that technology issues were a distraction they could do without. 

"I wanted a company that could manage our IT and help us be more efficient."

Kenny Laing

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Preventing Data Loss

As we had more conversations, something became apparent. Their data, was the lifeblood of their business. Like any good accountancy firm, their data was backed up on a regular basis. It was secure. But, if the worst thing happened and their security was compromised, getting that data back into a useable state wasn’t going to be an easy process. They were using an older tape backup system that they were managing on their own.

While it was reliable, getting that data back into a workable state would take time. And, when deadlines are a fact of life, time isn’t something they could afford to lose. What started as a conversation about shifting IT equipment from one location to another, became a conversation about business support and then, business continuity.

Kenny and the Shackleton team worked closely together to make sure that the new IT infrastructure was setup properly and securely. In addition, an ongoing support contract was agreed so that any IT issue would be managed by our helpdesk. Most importantly of all, we created an automatic, cloud-based data backup process. So even if the worst thing happened; be that fire, flood or a cybersecurity breach, their data would be protected and business continuity for Dand Carnegie Chartered Accountants would be assured.

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Understanding Client Needs

We’ve been working with Dand Carnegie for almost ten years now. They are one of our longest standing clients. Just as they understand our business beyond our balance sheet and profit and loss statements, we understand their business beyond their IT.

That’s a sentiment Kenny summed up perfectly.

“I’ve known Steve for many years now as we played football together. When I needed an IT specialist it was Shackleton I approached first. And, when Steve needed an accountant, he contacted me. However, friendship can only get you so far. We wouldn’t be working with Shackleton Technologies if they hadn’t delivered consistently for us over the years. I love the fact that despite their growth, I can still speak to a real human being if we have an issue.

Our businesses have changed and grown considerably since 2008 and it feels like we’ve grown together. We’ve saved a lot of time and money by outsourcing our IT support to Shackleton Technologies and I trust them to keep on giving us the advice we need to stay ahead of the game. Our industry is changing and technology will play an even bigger role in our business going forward.

What our partnership with Shackleton really means though, is that both Alan and I have peace of mind about the technology that runs our business. We can concentrate our attentions on providing the best service we can for our clients.”

Kenny Laing