Momentum Engineering
17 January 2008

Momentum is a dynamic young practice of consulting civil and structural engineers who have grown from just 3 directors to over 10 staff in 2 years. The office enjoys a rich and diverse selection of work including the refurbishment of the Ustinov Theatre and the controversial extension and alterations to the Holburne Museum.

Momentum’s choice of computers, operating system and support was clear from the beginning. Farpoint knew we wanted a straightforward, yet powerful and flexible IT solution which was ahead of the computers we had worked with in the past. Within the first few weeks we had an office network with supported file and mail server, software which we could understand and administer, and the ability to work at home as if in the office.

From the start, we knew that it was an unusual decision to develop a structural engineering practice that worked on apple macs as almost all consulting engineers use pcs with windows software. However, we soon found we could carry out nearly all our tasks with MAC software and we could also enjoy the more mature and developed operating system. The growth of the practice also coincided with apple’s move to Intel processors which then increased our choice of specialist software. Most of our work is still carried out within the MAC system, but the use of BootCamp and Parallels has enabled us to choose the best and most appropriate programs for the specialist tasks carried out in the office.

Mark Hooper’s strategic advice has resulted in Momentum requiring very little on site support with most problems being sorted out without any ‘expert help’. Despite this we know that Farpoint will still assist wherever possible and are generally interested in what we want to achieve from our IT. Farpoint offer dedication to both the products they sell and the customers that they support. For Momentum this dedication was taken to a new level when Farpoint decided to move their entire shop next door to our office.