EQ Accountants

It was at this point that EQ came to the market looking for this issue to be solved with an overarching SD-WAN solution to this problem. After a rigorous tendering process, they chose to engage with Revolve Communications, which gave our Head of Commercial, Steve Smith, the chance to sit down with EQ’s IT Infrastructure & Security Manager, Joe Massie to discuss the whole process….

Joe – “It was a bit of a mixed bag. We had a central connection in the data centre, but then as part of our M&A strategy, we basically inherited four sets of network infrastructure. We had everything from off the shelf, Draytek equipment. We had a Fortinet in there. We had Barracuda and we had Sophos. And it was a bit of a mess across 13 sites, so it ended up being unworkable and a real project to try and integrate the other systems into what we felt was our minimum standards”.

This led to some serious pain points for the IT team, seeing issues with unstable VPN connections, unpatched hardware causing legacy conflicts, V-LANS that nobody could quite explain why they were there, but couldn’t be removed as something in the communication infrastructure would break if they were. Team members from as far North as Forfar and as far South as Anwick needed VPN access to all kinds of terminal server-based software and even simple things like printer access was becoming troublesome, not ideal with such a geographical spread of their now 13 offices.

This was when Joe decided to go to market and obtain that coherence the business needed. Revolve were already the supplier of the business mobile telephony for EQ and with the support of parent company Abzorb, proposed an SD-WAN solution, using Cisco hardware, leased lines and business-grade broadband connectivity.

Joe needed the solution to have less points of failure than his present setup. He was keen that any new solution was an “as a service model”, meaning that he wouldn’t have to administer the entire infrastructure on his own, he’d have a robust service package. And a package that was more than “best efforts” when it came to support, but actual definable SLA’s, particularly out of hours. A well-known and well-respected hardware brand was attractive to him, as was a partner who had the knowledge to install and administer, as well as having the power to escalate major issues up the support chain.

Steve – “And that process, from ideation on your side, through to project completion, how did that go for you? Was there anything that Revolve or Abzorb could have improved upon? Anything that positively or negatively surprised you?”

Joe – “I was quite surprised that the pace of it, pleasantly surprised. I would have weekly catchups, and I would be told “this is where we're at”, “we're doing these 3 sites next week”, “this has all been ordered”, “here's access to the project management tool that you can look at that anytime you like”. I could see how things were progressing and every time there was an update, which was very frequently, there was forward progress, there were things happening, there were things that were not needing any input from me that would just progress, which was lovely and it's super nice to just feel like it was all under control at all points. I just felt a security that things were constantly in motion, that nobody was spinning their wheels, and we felt like a priority, which, if you think about some of the sizes of the other projects and undertakings you had on at the same time, is somewhat unexpected. It was very nice to get the premium feeling treatment and always feel in the loop.”

These weekly catch-ups were key for Joe – keeping him informed of project progress and keeping his mind at ease that all was being taken care of.

Obviously, he wasn’t redundant in this phase, helping our engineers in site visits, answering technical questions around specific set-ups, etc. All going to show that if you want to go far, go together and this was a fantastic example of a “village” working together for the same goal. Whilst the weekly catchups were initially essential, the cadence slowed as the project progressed and eventually happened on an ad hoc basis, which was ideal for Joe.

Steve – “And you have masterfully avoided the question regarding what Revolve and Abzorb could have done better!”

Joe – “I feel like I should have something to reply to that always, but I really have struggled to say anything negative, I think it's been a smooth experience and a real standout in in terms of deploying and managing the project and feeling comfortable giving the keys to it away. I think it's been a really great experience. I've not had any true support requests; it has just worked. It's been essentially zero touch for me. We’ve had support above and beyond from Revolve and Abzorb. You helped me troubleshoot issues which are outside of what's been supplied as part of the solution. It was brilliant. So, yeah, it just works, which is probably the highest compliment I can give it. It has caused me no stress at all.”

There were even more benefits that became apparent as the new infrastructure grew in place.

Joe – “Having the Cisco Meraki name has really been a benefit, when we talk about our Cyber Insurance, audits, etc - it's very nice to have that. They're being updated as well. The update cycle is something that I hadn't put too much thought into because it was something that I just did as part of the role, but actually having that taken off my plate and being happy that we're secure, we're compliant, we're not going to lose anything because of a dodgy update, it's all super nice. Not having to manage individual backups per router per site, per set config, anything like that. It's built a great platform for us to grow into and to have the standard set and then obviously adding in additional sites, it should be easier to bring them up to standard and bring them into our support framework and into the SDWAN infrastructure.”

From the Revolve side, it’s been an absolute pleasure to work with Joe and the rest of the team at EQ. The plan has worked because we’ve had open and honest communication from ideation, all the way through to completion. A fine example of a project that has just worked.

“It's been a painless process in as much as doing anything at scale can be. And it's definitely exceeded my expectations with the level of service that we've received. And the quality of the final product. I've got no regrets, no doubt about that. We made the right decision at the end of the tender process to go with Revolve and Abzorb and just looking forward to a continued partnership - onwards and upwards.”

EQ continues to enjoy success in supporting SMEs across their local communities, helping businesses navigate challenges and grow with confidence. Alongside their core accountancy and tax services, they’ve also seen strong engagement with several of their specialist service lines, including commercial finance, private client tax, and company secretarial support. By expanding these areas, they’re able to provide more services to their clients and support them across a wider range of financial and strategic needs.

Looking ahead, EQ is focused on continuing to deliver the highest level of service to their clients while building on their reputation as a trusted adviser to businesses in their local communities. A key part of this will be investing in their people and expanding the expertise available within the firm so they can continue to provide valuable, forward-thinking support to their clients.

They are also focused on further developing their advisory services, helping clients navigate challenges, plan, and make informed decisions that support long-term growth.

Revolve have been providing businesses with mobile communication and mobile security solutions since 2014, from their base in Dundee. Following the acquisition in 2024 by Abzorb, we have added VoIP Telephony, leased lines, business broadband and networking to our offering.

We work with single person businesses, all the way up to blue-chip multi-nationals and cover a wide variety of industry sectors and geographical locations. We are network and hardware agnostic, meaning that we always provide the best solution for our client, not the only solution we have.

Please get in touch with us at [email protected] if you would like more information about our products and services.