Oxford Photovoltaics Ltd is a spin-out from University of Oxford to commercialize new solar cell technology.
The solar cells are printed directly onto glass, are available in a range of colours and can be incorporated into glazing panels and building facades. An 8% efficient organic cell that can last more than 20 years is widely regarded as a major breakthrough in the industry.
Oxford PV needed an IT system that would match its current budget and enable the rapid growth that the company expects. Experience of IT systems in his previous companies had convinced Oxford PV’s chief executive, Kevin Arthur, that he did not want his own server infrastructure – “I just didn’t want the overhead of owning servers, worrying about backup, software versions and down time”.
The brief to Riverbank was to provide what appeared to be two contradictory things – a cloud-based system that could also be used offline. With flights to China and the US likely to be a regular feature in his diary, Kevin Arthur needed to be able to do a day’s work in flight.
Riverbank’s solution was based on Office 365. It provided all the Microsoft Office applications that Oxford PV were used to, meaning they wouldn’t have to change the way they work.
Oxford PV would also be able to work without an Internet connection, thanks to the offline capability and automatic synchronisation provided by SharePoint WorkSpace.
The attractive pricing, smoothing of finances with monthly payments and limited setup costs also appealed to Oxford PV. With technical support from Riverbank, everything was covered.
The reality has been that Office 365 is working well. “It’s at least as good as expected”, said Kevin, “and with Riverbank doing the support it just takes one phone call to get new people up and running”.