Datapac enables growth at Thorntons Recycling with managed IT service

Datapac announces the provision of a comprehensive range of managed IT services to Irish recycling and waste management company, Thorntons Recycling.

Thorntons Recycling is a fully integrated waste management and recycling company. It is one of the most successful Irish recycling businesses, recovering over 85% of the 350,000 tonnes of material processed annually. Thorntons operates a number of recycling and recovery facilities in Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow, and operates a fleet of more than 100 trucks. The business has been experiencing significant growth over the last two years, increasing its employee numbers by 50% from 240 in early 2012 to 360 at present.

Datapac won a competitive national tender and is now delivering a fully customised managed service to Thorntons Recycling. It proactively manages the entire IT infrastructure from the desktop right through to servers and mobile devices.

As many of Thornton’s 3,000 commercial and 60,000 domestic customers pay for its services online, the availability of the website is critical to the business. A dedicated team of Datapac experts monitor the network and servers 24×7 from Datapac’s Support Centre. Its team of engineers ensures all applications are secure and running at the optimum levels to provide the highest levels of service to Thornton’s growing customer base.

Datapac also looks after all vendor management on behalf of Thorntons Recycling ensuring it has the very latest technologies that are the best fit for the business. This includes guaranteeing the availability of its waste management and mobile driver interaction software. This software offers real-time collection location and validation, allowing drivers to identify and track every bin lift. Collection data is transmitted from each vehicle back to head office throughout the day, keeping everyone fully up-to-date.

Additionally, environmental concerns are extremely important for Thorntons and the Datapac solution includes power management applications for all of its facilities ensuring PCs and devices are powered down at night and at the weekend. This is having multiple benefits for the business including significant savings in energy costs and a reduction in emissions across the entire company.

Nicole Fitzgerald, finance director, Thorntons Recycling said, “Outsourcing our IT to a company such as Datapac gives us access to experts across a wide range of technology areas and ensures our critical IT infrastructure is reliable and secure at all times.

“Datapac’s reporting system provides us with detailed information on everything they manage so we are always aware of what is happening on our network. Its online logging system and range of notification options, depending on how critical an issue is, provides us with the peace of mind that everything is being proactively and quickly dealt with and allows the internal team to concentrate on more strategic business projects.”

As part of this contract Datapac has also implemented Office 365 for all employees, delivering benefits such as improved productivity and greater flexibility via the cloud. Employees can securely access their email and documents wherever they are or on whatever device they are using.

Roisin O’Brien, account manager, Datapac commented, “Thorntons is a fast growing business and our managed IT service supports this growth by enabling them to concentrate on core business objectives while we look after their day-to-day IT needs. As Thorntons continues to expand we will work in partnership with them to ensure it has full access to all of the latest and most advanced technologies. This will enable Thorntons to continue providing the highest levels of service to its growing numbers of employees and customers.”