Core Categories

• IT Support
• Strategy & Transformation
• Information Security
• IT Recruitment
• Infrastructure
• ITIL Compliance & Accreditation

Epping Forest College

Technical infrastructure rebuild and rapid upgrade to new technologies

Background

• Over 5,000 users were depending on an infrastructure which was not up to date with new technologies
• The end of support for the current systems Windows 98 and NT 4.0 was going to severely affect the College\'s IT infrastructure and costumer service
• A new, more modern system was required, able to deal not only with the current e-learning requirements but also with any software that might be adopted in the future 
• The migration project had to be carried out in a reduced timescale, before students returned for enrolment

Plan-Net\'s intervention

• Plan-Net designed and implemented a scalable Windows 2000 Active Directory solution that recognised the College\'s existing administration requirements and also contained the flexibility to accommodate any future organisational changes
• Desktop standardisation and automatic application deployment were also some of the issues addressed
• Plan-Net consultants made sure that the new network design was scalable, hence could adapt to changing needs
• Two support staff were placed to assist with the desktop rollout, and were then kept as 2nd line desktop support, also assisting with the increased level of calls during the enrolment period
• Plan-Net consultants provided training and ensured significant skills transfer to EFC\'s staff, enabling them to better manage post-project support
• Other consultancy projects were initiated, such as Wireless LAN and systems Management Server work

Results

• The college managed to deliver their IT services at full capacity when students returned
  
• Seen their satisfying work, the two support staff supplied for the project have been kept and have become part of the EFC support team
• EFC\'s staff widened their knowledge and skills base thanks to the training received from Plan-Net consultants, with positive effects on the quality of post-project support
• The flexible network is able to deal with the College\'s future e-learning requirements
• EFC has now the ability to run and upgrade to newer applications that were no longer supported by legacy operating systems, providing them with greater efficiency and productivity

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