Specsavers moves to Google Apps

The platform will be deployed to 2,500 staff worldwide in the first quarter 2011

Global optician Specsavers has migrated to Google Apps from a Scalix system in a bid to streamline collaboration and communication throughout the company and make the first step into the cloud.

The platform has been deployed to 500 staff worldwide, will be migrated to 2,500 by the end of the first quarter, and further deployments will be made following this. All company staff that needed to use email had previously worked on Microsoft solutions.

Karl de Bruijn, European IT director for Specsavers, said: "Although the pricing of this and a Microsoft Exchange platform were similar, investment into Microsoft was an investment into specific Microsoft products. The Google Apps investment delivered an entire communications package and required a change in mindset."

The deployment was organised by cloud computing specialist Ancoris. The company created a system that has enabled the easy deployment of email and collaboration tools to new sites as and when they are required.

The organisation is now able to centrally manage its email systems. Google Apps has been linked to the corporate intranet and supports mobile working by enabling staff to access mail, calendaring and sites from any internet-enabled device.