Alder Grange School
Alder Grange School Achieves Modernised IT Infrastructure with Improved Efficiency and Performance
Tag: Hyperconvergence
Case Studies
The customer
Alder Grange School is a leading secondary school and sixth form centre in Rawtenstall, Lancashire.
Their business needs
Alder Grange School identified the need to modernise its ageing server infrastructure. The existing system, nearing the end of its support cycle,
suffered from slow processing speeds, inefficient power consumption, and outdated technology. Upgrading this hardware would not be a cost-effective
solution.
How we helped
- Deployment of Cutting-Edge Servers: NCS IT replaced the outdated servers with state-of-the-art models. These new servers boast the latest processors, high-performance drives, and energy-efficient power supplies, ensuring optimal performance and reduced energy consumption.
- Enhanced Resilience with Hyperconverged Infrastructure: leveraging StarWind technology, NCS IT configured a hyperconverged clustered
environment. This configuration delivers increased resilience and redundancy, safeguarding the school’s critical data and applications. - Streamlined Support with Extended Service Plan: a comprehensive 3-year hardware and software support plan was implemented, aligning with the lifespan of the new equipment. This plan provides the school with prompt and reliable technical support.
- Flexible Financing Option: to minimise upfront costs, the IT refresh was financed through a 3-year lease agreement with Bluestone Finance. This
approach allowed Alder Grange School to spread the investment over time, optimising their budgetary resources.
Technologies implemented
- StarWind HyperCoverged Appliance
- Support
- Consultancy
- Flexible financing options
Results
- Improved Performance and Efficiency – the new, high-performance servers equipped with the latest technology have significantly enhanced processing speeds and overall system efficiency.
- Enhanced System Resilience – the hyperconverged clustered environment provides increased redundancy and data protection, minimising the risk of downtime and data loss.
- Reduced Operational Costs – cost savings have been achieved through lower energy consumption thanks to the new, energy-efficient power supplies.
Additionally, the streamlined support plan helps optimise internal IT resources and has helped reduce internal support costs.
Testimonial
"NCS IT's expertise not only reduced our operational costs but also enabled us to migrate all services to the latest best-in-class technologies. The entire process was smooth and stress-free thanks to the fantastic team at NCS IT and their partners Dell, StarWind, and Bluestone Finance."
Paul Seery, Network Manager at Alder Grange School
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Case Studies
Affordable Windows
NCS IT Assists Affordable Windows Internal IT Team in Replacing Ageing System with StarWind Hyperconverged Infrastructure
The customer
With over 30 years’ experience in the industry, Affordable Windows Systems Group is one of the UK’s largest manufacturers and suppliers of aluminium and PVCu windows, doors and conservatories. Based in the North West, the large company employs over 300 staff across 7 sites with their head office located in an advanced purpose-built facility in Blackpool.
Their business needs
The seasoned manufacturer has seen rapid company growth which has increased the need to update the company’s ageing infrastructure. Before working with NCS IT, Affordable Windows had a support agreement with another supplier which was no longer able to provide the solutions the expanding company required.
How we helped
NCS IT assisted Affordable Window’s internal IT team with replacing the existing Storage Area Network (SAN) system with a modern StarWind hyperconverged infrastructure and a new backup platform. This resulted in the creation of a highly available and ultra-resilient network for the company, designed to keep the system running through syncing and replication – if a failure is experienced. Next generation firewalls by leading vendor SonicWall were also installed as part of developing Affordable Windows’ disaster recovery plan.
Technologies implemented
- StarWind Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI)
- Secure links to Microsoft Azure platform
- SonicWall firewalls
- Cloud backup platform agent Veeam
- Microsoft 365
- Mimecast to protect emails
- Cabling
- Extension to internal IT team to provide second line services
- 24/7 monitoring
Testimonial
"The team at NCS IT are really conscientious and great at sharing information with our smaller internal IT team - they have also provided us with a lot of excellent training."
David McVey - IT Manager, Affordable Windows
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Case Studies
The Sutton Group
NCS Supports the Sutton Group with Merging IT Infrastructure to Simplify Management
The customer
Based in Bacup, Lancashire, the Sutton Group is a footwear retailer and wholesaler that has been around since 1956. It first emerged as Wynsors World of Shoes before partnering with other companies and forming the group, which now has more than 40 stores and runs an ecommerce website.
Their business needs
Whilst the company has worked with NCS as support for over 15 years, the group’s in-house IT team occasionally needs additional help when investigating and implementing new systems. This time, the company needed to deal with several overlapping issues caused by growth and expansion of the business that included: increasing the IT systems’ performance, simplifying maintenance of the IT infrastructure and reducing physical space occupied by hardware.
How we helped
After a thorough investigation, the Sutton Group decided to hyper-converge their IT infrastructure, which meant replacing separated legacy infrastructure and combining it into a single system – significantly reducing the physical space occupied by hardware and simplifying the management of the infrastructure.
Technologies implemented
- StarWind HyperCoverged Appliance
Testimonial
"We have worked with NCS for over 15 years. The team has a good understanding of our existing infrastructure and provides welcome insight to new and relevant technologies when we are exploring new projects."
Barry Miles - IT Manager, The Sutton Group of Companies
Case Studies
Flexipol Packaging
Flexipol Packaging Modernises IT Infrastructure with NCS to Support 24/7 Operation
The customer
Since 1994, Flexipol Packaging has specialised in the manufacture of packaging products for food, chemical and animal feed industries. Based in Haslingden, Lancashire the company employs over 100 staff in four separate buildings on a 40,000 sq ft site.
Their business needs
Prior to working with NCS, Flexipol Packaging had outgrown its IT infrastructure with its network cabling system not providing full coverage across its site – leaving some staff without access to important information. As a 24/7 manufacturer, Flexipol Packaging wanted to ensure their IT systems were always online and available.
How we helped
NCS was tasked with modernising Flexipol’s infrastructure which involved a review of company-wide hardware, a restructure of its fibre optic cabling to inter-connect the three buildings and an assessment of the company’s server infrastructure to improve an already-resilient system. An investment in new hardware meant the company’s core IT systems stayed online even if there was a failure or power outage – a must for Flexipol’s 24/7 service.
By working with NCS, Flexipol Packaging can rest easy when it comes to manufacturing downtime. The company has also seen a decrease in IT management time as when updates and patches are released, one server can be temporarily taken off the network and updated safely, knowing the other server is running the business as normal.
Technologies implemented
- A resilient network cable structure with HPE managed switches
- New fibre optic links
- StarWind all-flash Hyper Converged Infrastructure (HCI)
Testimonial
"We didn't approach any other companies to propose on the project as we were confident NCS would provide the perfect solution."
John Higson - Financial Accounts Manager, Flexipol Packaging
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