Motix gets its own IT infrastructure at new location

"We used to be part of PEC Group and used their IT infrastructure," says Gerrit Taverniers, Managing Director of Motix. "After a management buyout, PEC Products became a separate company. The agreement even then was that we would also move to another location after three years. That has since happened, along with the change of our name to Motix."

Move after acquisition

So the acquired division, which focused on exclusive distribution for German ITEM in Belgium and Luxembourg, had to move out of Leuven to another location. Originally, Motix wanted to erect a new company building but there was too little time to do so. Therefore, as an interim solution, they decided to move into a rented building on an industrial estate in Aarschot, where Motix still had to provide all IT itself.

So the acquired division, which focused on exclusive distribution for German ITEM in Belgium and Luxembourg, had to move out of Leuven to another location. Originally, Motix wanted to erect a new company building but there was too little time to do so. Therefore, as an interim solution, they decided to move into a rented building on an industrial estate in Aarschot, where Motix still had to provide all IT itself.

Good preparation for independent networking

Before the move of Motix to the new business location, VanRoey installed its own Dell server at PEC Group's old location. The server was already in use there. At the same time, they prepared the company network at the new location and the Wifi was also provided. Thus, everything was already ready for the new Motix to run independently.

"On the day of the move, we could easily switch off the server, take it to the new building and connect it there," says Marten Haspeslagh. "Thanks to good preparation by EuroSys, everything was done in just two hours. We had planned the move on a public holiday so it was no problem that our network was unavailable for a while. The following working day, everyone was able to start working as usual."

Backup in the cloud

Now that Motix needed to build out its own IT infrastructure, the organisation wanted to get it right, secure and future-proof straight away. In consultation with EuroSys, they opted for a redundant server setup with local backup combined with cloud backup in the EuroSys data centre. This way, company data can never be irrevocably lost.

Gerrit Taverniers : "VanRoey also manages our software licences. We have a lot of different licences so it is quite complex to manage them properly. For instance, we have licences for the VMWare systems on our server, for the Veeam backup software, for the network security from WatchGuard - the firewall and anti-virus technology - and for the VPN. We also get a very clear report from you regularly with the status of our licences."

Monitoring and maintenance outsourced

Since Motix has no IT specialists of its own and deliberately prefers to focus on its own core business, VanRoey also provides network monitoring and IT infrastructure maintenance after the migration.

"You monitor our server remotely with their central management system. If there is a problem, you automatically receive a notification and we also receive a text message ourselves," Marten Haspeslagh explains. "VanRoey also calls us if necessary. In addition, every two months someone visits us for half a day to check the server, check error messages and solve local problems or questions from users. Small changes like creating new users we can do ourselves, but for the bigger interventions we get help from you guys."

Continuity assured

It is a very strategic choice for Motix to bring in an external IT specialist. "We cannot keep an IT person working full-time," explains Gerrit Taverniers. "Moreover, our priority is to sell our products. This is precisely why we need a good network and well-functioning IT infrastructure, so that users are not hindered in their work. It just has to work all the time: it is only when there are problems that you notice how important it is. Suppose our ERP system were unavailable, productivity would quickly grind to a halt and deliveries could be compromised. Our customers are mainly machine builders and they simply expect punctual deliveries of the parts they need."

Tailor-made technological advice

Thanks to VanRoey, Motix can count on continuous support and personalised service. Marten Haspeslagh: "They give us proactive advice on the best technology and the timing of our IT investments - for example, when it is time to replace the printers, update the antivirus software or renew certificates. With you, we have our regular contacts so we always know who to turn to and we are helped quickly by people who know our organisation and our IT environment.

VanRoey has also ensured that our current IT infrastructure is ready for future growth, for example if we were to hire additional employees or distribute more products. They are now supporting us in switching to a new ERP system that will enable us to further automate our warehouse. The cooperation goes very smoothly. Therefore, we definitely want to work with VanRoey as well when we will eventually move to our own new building."