Economical software tools and clever design ethos reuses schools existing server capacity
help4IT Ltd, a leading provider of outsourced IT, helpdesk, consultancy and Cloud IT services has announced details of its work with Tring Park School for the Performing Arts that has helped to stretch budgets and expand the capability of the in-house IT department.
Tring Park School for the Performing Arts provides a unique community for talented young people, regardless of means or background, who have a passion for Dance, Drama, Musical Theatre or Music. The School still recognises the benefits of a fine academic education and offers GCSE, AS and A Level national curriculum courses.
Over the last decade, the school has grown considerably from less than 40 PC’s to over 200 machines spread across almost every department. As IT Manager Stuart Cook explains, “We only have a two man team and we are pretty much multi-skilled, but what we needed was the ability to draw on specialist experts to help with projects and ad-hoc troubleshooting.”
The first project was the implementation of virtualisation and the design of a SAN to help protect critical school data and student coursework. Using an economical balance of software tools and a clever design to reuse the school’s existing server capacity, help4IT managed to deliver a reliable SAN solution within the tightest of budgets. Over the last few years, the school has turned to the IT services provider for several additional projects including a Microsoft Exchange migration and network upgrades across the campus.
“help4IT has consistently delivered a professional and extremely responsive service to us,” comments Stuart, “There have been times when we have had real emergencies and they have responded quickly – even out of hours - to help us solve tricky problems.”
The School is now planning a software update rollout and Wireless network upgrade with help4IT and Stuart, who has been within IT for over 10 years, adds “With help4IT, we are not just dumped into a call centre - the team is extremely approachable and we now consider them a long term trusted partner.”