Dom Pedro Hotels one of the most prestigious and reputable hotel chains, are recognized not only for the high quality standards of their hotels, but also for the elegant and luxurious experience they provide to guests.

The group has seven 4 and 5-star hotels in Lisbon (Dom Pedro Palace), Algarve (Dom Pedro Gold Resort, Dom Pedro Marina, Dom Pedro Portobelo and Dom Pedro Beach Club) and on Madeira Island (Dom Pedro Baia Club and Dom Pedro Garajau). The group is also present in Brazil (Ceará) with the idyllic Dom Pedro Laguna Beach Villas & Golf Resort.

Martinho Sales, IT Manager for the Dom Pedro Group, spoke with us about the adoption of Google Apps:

For many years, all we had was an MS Exchange 2007 server that was hosted internally and maintenance was very time consuming for us (up to two consecutive days when there were problems) which could represent one day of downtime for serious malfunctions. Most users accessed email exclusively through MS Outlook and mobile users were not supported.

Our IT team supports all the Group departments and we are constantly evaluating on the best way to optimize and streamline the resources we have at our disposal. In this sense, the solution we wanted had to be flexible, easy to implement and above all offer reduced maintenance.

After conducting several comparative studies regarding current costs (but mostly future costs), it took us about one month to make our decision and move forward.
In addition to the IT department, our administration was also involved in the decision-making process and our CEO was one of the main driving forces behind the adoption of Google Apps.

Some of our motivations for moving forward with Google Apps were:

  • access to email, contacts, calendar and drive through the Internet, increasing reliability,
  • ensure that all employees, and especially those with mobility needs, have access to email and documents from any location and using any device,
  • reduce user dependency on the company’s technical staff,
  • reduce the use of VPNs,
  • maximize service uptime.

MS Exchange was migrated in phases by department/sets of accounts according to the availability of our technical staff.

Throughout the entire project we benefited from the experience and professionalism of the TopSolutions team that adapted its implementation process to the availability of Dom Pedro’s IT resources, accurately and efficiently addressing all of our technical requirements and specific characteristics. We give TopSolutions five stars for all the support and cooperation we received as this was one of the key factors in the migration success.

The use of the web interface contributed to user satisfaction (especially mobile users) and we really did not need to spend time training employees on how to use Google Apps, not only because most of them were already using Gmail for individuals, but also because the apps are quite simple and intuitive to use.

In addition to email, some of the applications we use every day include Google Drive, Calendars, Google Talk, Google Sites and Google Docs. At the same time, the Google Postini solution also complements and enhances our email security by creating an automatic archive in real time.

Google Apps are a decisive contribution to improving our communication and collaboration (both internal as well as external), allowing our employees with mobility needs at home and abroad to access their information anywhere and without any problems, using only an Internet connection.

Today, Google Apps have already become an integral part of our daily lives and we are very satisfied with their performance.
In a sentence, we would say that the option is a perfect fit with the spirit of excellence and continuous quality that characterize the Dom Pedro Group.

If you want to know more about Google Apps for Business click here.

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