Ancoris has been chosen by Specsavers, the world’s largest privately owned chain of opticians, for the deployment of Google Apps to 2,500 staff worldwide.

This comes as part of Specsavers’ new IT strategy to improve communication and collaboration throughout the organisation and support its continued global expansion. Specsavers has grown extensively in the last few years on a global basis, launching in the Asia-Pacific region in 2008 and opening more than 200 stores in the last two years.

Specsavers selected Ancoris for their consultancy and deployment services to assist with their evaluation of Google Apps against Microsoft Exchange solutions. Ancoris initially implemented Google Apps for 80 users in a newly opened lens manufacturing plant in Hungary before implementing the solution to Specsavers’ global workforce.

Specsavers is now able to quickly deploy e-mail and collaboration tools to new sites without the need for a large on site presence. It can centrally manage email systems, utilise existing infrastructures, such as Active Directory for access and user accounts, link to its corporate intranet and support mobile working by enabling staff to access mail, calendaring and sites from any Internet enabled device.

Commenting on how Google Apps have supported the organisation’s IT strategy to enable further growth, John Lister, CIO at Specsavers said: "Google Apps is an excellent set of tools for our email and collaboration requirements because of its capability, technology and ease of management. Google Apps allows us to scale easily and quickly, without having to invest heavily in buying software and licenses we may not use."

Specsavers is currently rolling out Google Apps to head office staff in Australia and New Zealand.  Deployment to the remaining head office, laboratory and manufacturing operations in the UK, Nordics and Netherlands is planned to be complete in the first half of 2011.

Lister says, "Ancoris are not only our delivery partners but also our subject matter experts and architectural advisors, bringing knowledge of best practice in rolling out Google Apps and an understanding of the risks, cost implications and benefits of each of the choices we need to make."

Robert Whiteside, Head of Google Enterprise for the UK, Ireland and Benelux, said: “Modern businesses need to be able to grow or evolve quickly to remain competitive. Cloud based solutions such as Google Apps offer this flexibility and deliver constant innovation, with new products and updates introduced instantly and easily to all users. We are thrilled to see Specsavers moving to Google Apps with Ancoris. As cloud computing has become mainstream and the demand for our products grows, working with professional and skilled partners continues to be key to our business expansion.”

David McLeman, Managing Director of Ancoris said, “"We are delighted to have been selected by Specsavers for its global roll-out of Google Apps. The business case for cloud computing is very strong. We have now safely migrated around 30 companies to Google Apps over the last 18 months as CIO's look for more innovative platforms for the delivery of IT applications.”

• Specsavers was founded by Doug and Dame Mary Perkins in 1984 and is now the largest privately owned opticians in the world.

• The couple still run the company, along with their three children. Their son John is joint managing director.

• Specsavers has more than 1,500 stores throughout the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Australia and New Zealand.

• Annual turnover for the Specsavers Group was £1.36 billion for 2009/10 and is forecast to reach £1.55 billion in 2010/11.

• Specsavers optical stores and hearing centres are owned and run by joint venture or franchise partners. Together, they offer both optical and hearing services under one roof.

• Specsavers employs more than 26,000 staff

• Specsavers was voted Britain’s most trusted brand of opticians for the ninth year running by the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey 2010

• More than one in three people who wear glasses in the UK buy them from Specsavers * – 9,700,000 glasses were exported from the warehouse to stores in 2009

• Specsavers was ranked No 1 for both eye tests and glasses in the UK *

• Specsavers is the largest retail provider of home delivery contact lenses in Europe and one of the top two retail suppliers of continuous wear lenses in the world

• Specsavers is now the largest retail dispenser of digital hearing aids in the UK and offers a hearing service from more than 400 locations

• Specsavers supports numerous optical and hearing charities, including Guide Dogs and Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. During its three-year support for Diabetes UK it raised more than £250,000 to fund various projects

• Since 2003 more than a quarter of a million glasses have been collected and recycled by Specsavers stores for Vision Aid Overseas, for use in developing countries. Specsavers has raised over £370,000 for the charity since 2006, with almost £245,000 going towards its work in Zambia.