Sydney reseller upgrades Bitcoin real estate agent

An innovative Sydney real estate agent that accepts Bitcoins has commissioned a local reseller to shift its IT to the cloud.

Solutions provider The Missing Link has utilised Citrix technology to overhaul Forsyth Real Estate's systems.

"We used XenApp, delivered via our SmartCLOUD IaaS Offering," The Missing Link's managing director, Alex Gambotto told CRN. "Users [now] have either locked down desktops, thin client, iPads, iPhones, Tablets – they log into the Citrix Receiver."

Forsyth Real Estate said in a statement that "the new cloud system encompasses all email and desktop applications for all employees and allows the access to our applications 24/7".

James Snodgrass, director and principal of Forsyth said, "We have leveraged new technologies to streamline and modernise the way we do business... [It's] a service that can be accessed from anywhere in the world."

Gambotto said that a variety of skills were required from The Missing Link to complete the project. "Systems engineers, desktop engineers, service desk engineers, project management team, procurement team and admin team" staff were involved, he said.

The Missing Link replaced "IBM Dual Host with shared storage" systems with the new cloud-based infrastructure, according to Gambotto. The real estate agency has a user base of 15 and has been a customer with The Missing Link for over 10 years.

Forsyth is a 116-year-old company on the north shore of Sydney that announced earlier this year it is the first real estate agent in the country to accept Bitcoins. The agency accepts the digital currency for property deposits and vendor advertising.

The Missing Link is based in Artarmon in northern Sydney and was established in 1997. The current owners, Gambotto and operations director Daniel Forsythe (no relation to the real estate agent), acquired the business in 2002.