MTA Case Study

Ensuring delivery of critical services for members and consumers during peak time

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Key Outcomes

  • Rapid provision of alternate work environment during a crisis.
  • Access to secure environment to ensure key team could operate.
  • Avoided negative impact on revenue & brand at a critical time.
  • Important part of ongoing risk management strategy.

Situation

Representing more than 3,700 automotive businesses (and celebrating 100 years of service in 2017), the Motor Trade Association (MTA) is the largest automotive industry body in New Zealand. The MTA's members are involved in everything relating to vehicles including sales, service, repairs, and fuelling. They also manage the well-respected MTA gift card and voucher scheme.

The MTA's head office is in Wellington’s central business district and they have approximately 40 staff normally working from this location. Their server infrastructure is also hosted at their office.

The Business Challenges

While some members of the team can work from home, the MTA’s Gift team must have access to a secure office environment with space to process gift orders, manage redemption payments to members, and access related IT infrastructure.

After the earthquake in Kaikoura in late 2016, many businesses in the Wellington CBD were unable to access their normal offices. The MTA initially received the all clear, but an additional inspection a few days later reversed the initial advice. On a Friday afternoon, during their busiest time of year, they suddenly had nowhere to work.

They needed a solution that would provide:

  • Minimal downtime for key office-based activities.
  • A secure office environment for their Gift team (ideally with desks, phones and access to IT infrastructure).
  • Ability to access emergency work spaces as part of a longer-term risk management strategy.

For us, our members are everything and without Plan B our member service would have fallen over at a critical time of year.

Craig Pomare,
Chief Executive for Motor Trade Association

The Business Implications

If the MTA's Gift team was unable to get up and running quickly, this would quickly impact both MTA members and the general public. Gift cards and gift vouchers are a multi-million dollar business for the MTA. If they had been unable to continue this service, these sales could have gone to competing schemes. In addition, MTA members who were redeeming vouchers would not have been paid within normal timeframes, creating a potential cashflow issue for those members.

An inability to fulfil orders and process redemptions for a longer period would also affect the MTA's brand. Not all customers would be aware that services are provided from Wellington, and therefore would see delays as a lack of responsiveness rather than caused by events in Kaikoura.

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The Solution & Business Benefits

Plan B provides the MTA with a solution to ensure critical services can continue to operate, including:

  1. 1. Standby Offices

    Standby Offices to provide access to a fully set up office environment that can be activated at short notice. The facility includes computer terminals, desks, phones and network infrastructure and access to meeting rooms and kitchen facilities. These suites are kept in a continual state of readiness to ensure minimal delays for customers needing to use them.

    As a Wellington business, MTA have subscribed to 15 workspace seats in our Tawa Standby Office facility. They use this service to provide a secure office environment for the Gift team and key staff members, so they can continue to work when their normal office is inaccessible.

    They appreciate how quickly they can be up and running after an outage event and can see opportunities to further enhance their coverage by including other Plan B facilities in their longer-term risk management strategy.

  2. 2. Locker Storage

    Locker Storage allows customers to securely store items specific to their business in our facility, whether for a future emergency event, or as part of a longer-term activation. The locker holder controls who can access the items stored in their locker.

    The MTA needs secure storage of items related to their Gift business in the same location as the Gift team. By using this option, they are confident that there will be no unauthorised access to these items. MTA control access to their storage space, within Plan B’s secure facility.

This solution was ready to go very quickly. The more time you are not able to operate, the more damage is caused to your brand, so this was a life saver for us.

Craig Pomare,
Chief Executive for Motor Trade Association

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