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Who we are

Open & Honest

CARISS design, install and support education and business computing systems. The company is built on our customer charter, our in-depth knowledge of Open Source Software (OSS) and our experience of Information Technology in general. Taking full advantage of the flexibility and diversity of OSS, we are confident that we can provide and support the best computer system for any organisation.

CARISS uses existing, globally successful products - Open Source Software. We charge clients for our expertise in tailoring and installing these products to meet their specific requirements. Additionally, we provide ongoing maintenance and support packages. We work closely with our customers to fully understand their business, concerns and budget before designing the optimal system. The importance of this initial two-way consultancy cannot be over-emphasised. It is exactly the same process that you would go through with a doctor before he prescribes a course of treatment or surgery. So it may be that you need exercise (training), a course of treatment (improvements to existing systems) or perhaps extensive surgery (complete or partial system replacement).

What makes us different?

  • The importance we place on quality and service,
  • Our experience working with a vast array of different organisations,
  • The excellence of Open Source Software,
  • We have no dependence on, or lock-in with any large proprietary software vendor,
  • The high level of our technical skills.

The key to our success is the reliability, usability and cost-effectiveness of Open Source solutions. We provide software that is not owned by anyone. Did you know that everyone who uses proprietary software has to pay a licensing fee? We want to raise awareness that there are equivalent Open Source solutions. There are no licensing costs, no cost of upgrades and the software runs on comparatively low specification computers. It is also very stable with few crashes and is not prone to viruses.

CARISS, in conjunction with our partners, have a vision to make OSS the heart of education and business systems in the 21st Century. The benefits are massive. Budget savings due to lower support costs are just one example. What school headmaster, for instance, could resist the offer of more teachers in the classroom funded from their existing budget? As the software can run on relatively old computers, the cost of constant machinery upgrades can be avoided, again providing an opportunity to save money. The systems are well written and robust and support can be provided off-site. This remote support facility means that a school can also save on technicians’ wages and businesses experience less down time and less call out charges.

CARISS, like our products, is different. We care about what we do and we care about our customers. CARISS believes that people work together effectively when they are involved and motivated. Our policy is to be open and honest. There are no secrets within our business and no hidden agendas.

Our Background

CARISS started trading in 1998 under the name ASK IT, offering IT consultancy services to a variety of organisations; Pfizer, Camden Training Centre, Legal & General, New Life Christian Fellowship, Site Services, Nuttall Hynes, Hot Properties and numerous small businesses.

Projects include:

  • managing teams engaged in multi-million dollar global migration projects
  • database development
  • system and network administration
  • training
  • testing
  • process development
  • large scale deployments

2002 - 2003

  • Became aware of Open Source Software (OSS).
  • Evaluated and took full advantage of OSS, migrated our internal systems.
  • The enthusiasm for OSS grew and our clients started to use the software.
  • OSS providers and the Open Source Consortium united.
  • A greater awareness of possibilities and viability of open source solutions.
  • Growing trend amongst customers evaluating and using OSS.
  • Identified many organisations that were exploited by others, when inadequate computer systems were rectified.
  • Combined research and experience with the benefits of OSS to provide a better service for the end-user.

2004

Vision of the business formed:

"To offer a service that supplies and supports OSS solutions to the education and business markets'; providing an unparalleled service, coupled with excellent products."

2005

  • ASK 4 IT Ltd formed with a trading name of CARISS.
  • Our strap-line “Open and Honest” was chosen to reflect the ethos of the company and the products we supply.
  • The structure and policies of our business were reviewed and established.
  • Invested in the development of our own in-house IT systems.
  • Our Head Office, at the Kent Innovation Centre in Broadstairs was opened. From here we support both local clients and companies as distant as Teesside and Cardiff.

How We Work

CARISS provide a service that is second to none, providing total end-to-end IT solutions for any organisation.

We are entirely honest with our customers - we will do what we say.

We are committed to helping improve the way the IT industry delivers services and our customers are the beneficiaries of that commitment.

Before setting up a company system or engaging in wholesale system migration, CARISS act as “Information Systems Architects” to ensure that future systems will meet the unique needs of your organisation. This enables us to progress onto designing the technical configuration of your systems, installing and testing the systems, training your staff and supporting the systems for as long as is necessary.

CARISS’ in-house IT systems allow us to support our clients remotely as well as allowing our staff and associates to work from home or remote locations.

All our systems use a single centralised data store so all personnel have access to the same data regardless of their location.

We charge for our services at reasonable rates enabling us to pay our first-class staff appropriately and to invest in training and improvements.

We monitor our performance by checking customer satisfaction and addressing shortfalls as and when they occur.

We enter into agreements with our customers and provide guarantees.

Why Open Source Solutions?

CARISS has recognised that IT is a young discipline, shrouded in mystery and jargon. The major expense in IT is software that is controlled, almost entirely, by large corporations. The major aim of large software vendors is to sell software and upgrades. Very few vendors support software well, except to produce the next upgrade (at the cost of the customer). The priority of such software vendors is to sell, whether or not the software meets their customers' needs is debateable.

We have identified the quality of IT in almost every organisation as inadequate. Often systems are slow, riddled with viruses, unreliable and costly to maintain. Another common problem is different systems not “talking” to each other effectively. Organisations with low budgets and little in-house expertise, such as schools, can be exploited when trying to rectify these problems.

OSS turns the ‘traditional commercial software model’ on its’ head.

OSS software:

  • is free but you can opt to pay for configuration and support
  • pre-dates the proprietary model and has proved to be a cost effective alternative for many organisations
  • is extremely high quality
  • often outperforms its commercial counterparts
  • is not prone to viruses
  • is reliable
  • is secure

OSS is not marketed by large corporations with huge marketing budgets but it has made significant in-roads into many markets. Its share of the server market is massive and the internet browser “Firefox” is making huge percentage gains at the expense of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Other superb products, such as Open Office, are also enjoying significant growth.