For a quarter of a century, Shields, a specialist circular telecoms equipment company, has relied on ctm to support its technological evolution and significant growth. From developing bespoke IT solutions to enabling cloud transformation and cybersecurity enhancements, ctm has been a trusted partner every step of the way.
“ctm understand our needs, history, and what’s important to us. Their institutional knowledge makes them truly effective, and we know we can rely on them to mobilise at the drop of a hat.”Gerrit Van Dijken, Chief Operating Officer
The partnership began when ctm developed a custom stock control system called Jupiter 2 (J2). “ctm were instrumental in the early success of Shields because they developed and supported the J2 system,” explains Gerrit Van Dijken, Chief Operating Officer at Shields.
This bespoke system not only met Shields’ unique requirements, but was built very quickly thanks to ctm’s strong grasp of their business processes and needs.
“Because ctm understood our business, they were able to translate our requirements into a software package without needing an army of business analysts,” says Gerrit. “It made that development process very fast and light touch.”
This successful collaboration laid the groundwork for a lasting partnership based on trust, expertise, and mutual respect. Over the years, ctm’s deep understanding of Shields’ evolving needs has helped them support the company through significant growth and change.
“Our strong, longstanding relationship with ctm is built on their understanding of Shields' history, what we do, and what’s important to us. They know our infrastructure and have evolved with our business. Their institutional knowledge makes them truly effective.”Gerrit Van Dijken, Chief Operating Officer
As Shields expanded into new markets and its operational complexity grew, the company recognised the need to modernise its IT infrastructure. Moving from on-premise servers to the cloud became a top priority for centralised management, improved efficiency, and enhanced security.
ctm helped Shields achieve this transition as efficiently as possible, retiring legacy systems and migrating data and users to the new, integrated setup.
“During the cloud migration, ctm handled the data transfer from our legacy systems to SharePoint and ensured each user received personalised support, making the transition as smooth as possible.”Gerrit Van Dijken, Chief Operating Officer
The migration brought significant improvements, particularly in data integrity and operational efficiency. Shields’ previous system required parallel processes, which often led to data duplication and extensive manual data entry. With ctm’s support, these inefficiencies were eliminated, providing a single source of truth for the business.
“There are no synchronisation issues any more, and we’re operating with the same information across the business,” Gerrit says.
Day-to-day operations have transformed as well. “Our team spends less time on data entry and more time on more strategic activities,” Gerrit notes. This shift has allowed Shields to operate with greater speed, accuracy, and responsiveness.
Cybersecurity was a major driver behind Shields’ move to a cloud-first environment. The transition significantly reduced their attack surface and allowed centralised management, enabling better threat detection and prevention.
“We have a much smaller footprint now in terms of potential entry points, making it easier to detect any potential attacks,” Gerrit says. “We’re already seeing results with earlier, faster reporting of suspicious activity.”
When Shields wanted to further strengthen the security posture with ongoing cybersecurity support, they turned to ctm. Integrating IT infrastructure and cybersecurity services under one roof has simplified problem resolution and strengthened Shields’ defences.
“Having ctm manage both our infrastructure and cybersecurity gives us a single point of contact, making it easy to address any issues. If we spot something, we reach out, and ctm immediately jumps on it. It’s transparent and very efficient for us.”Gerrit Van Dijken, Chief Operating Officer
ctm’s comprehensive cybersecurity support provides peace of mind. “It makes me sleep easier at night, knowing we've done everything within our power to protect ourselves.”
The relationship between Shields and ctm extends far beyond standard IT support. “It's a partnership rather than a customer-supplier relationship,” Gerrit notes. He values the strong connection he has built with ctm’s senior leadership, especially during crunch times.
“When real issues arise, we know we can rely on ctm. We can reach out to their senior leadership team to get the full support of the organisation behind us at the drop of a hat.” Gerrit Van Dijken, Chief Operating Officer
Consistency, technical expertise, and customer service define ctm’s approach. “ctm has a supportive, knowledgeable team. I like the easy rapport with their technical staff.”
Gerrit appreciates ctm’s willingness to adapt and grow alongside Shields, whether it’s extending support hours for their California operations or exploring new services. This flexibility has been crucial as Shields has expanded internationally, reinforcing the value of a partner who understands and evolves with the business.
“ctm are open to new service offerings. So we can trust that if we have a requirement they don’t currently provide, they're willing to work with us to develop it.”Gerrit Van Dijken, Chief Operating Officer
As Shields continues to grow and navigate new challenges, ctm remains a key partner in providing adaptable, secure, and efficient IT solutions.
“Our measure of the success of ctm’s services is how efficiently the IT infrastructure allows us to operate — and how few IT complaints we get from users!” Gerrit says.
Over the decades, ctm have demonstrated the expertise, adaptability, and commitment needed to support Shields’ mission for years to come.
