Case Studies
Electra Partners
a&o delivers outsourced IT services for Electra Partners
Electra Partners is one of Europe’s leading independent private equity fund management groups, with over £800m under management. The Electra team is comprised of over seventy people working across offices in London, Paris and Frankfurt using sophisticated technology to manage the assets of Electra Investment Trust and other private equity clients, as well as maintain their strong track record in private equity investments.
In order to improve the operations and support of IT services, Electra Partners made the decision to outsource their IT capability and services
The a&o Approach a&o adopted a collaborative approach in order to identify Electra Partners’ key IT issues and requirements. The wealth of experience a&o has in the field of outsourcing means it is acutely aware that a one-size-fits-all approach is simply not good enough when dealing with a Company’s IT requirements. In order to develop an in-depth understanding of the issues involved, a&o fielded a dedicated team of IT professionals to work full-time and exclusively for Electra Partners. In this way, a&o were soon able to advise on the most effective use of technology to meet and achieve the company’s specific business objectives and goals.
a&o successfully conducted a full infrastructure replacement across all three Electra Partners’ offices. Work undertaken in this wide-ranging programme included the installation of a new Wide Area Network, video conferencing facilities and migration from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Exchange. All telephone systems were replaced with Alcatel Voice over IP (VoIP) solutions and new ISO and BS approved processes were put in place to allow for ongoing seamless project management.
a&o continues to provide around-the-clock management of all aspects of Electra Partners’ IT systems. In addition, they also work with the company on areas of long-term strategic importance to ensure the most effective IT solutions are implemented at every stage of the company’s development.
Key Benefits Optimised performance and improved reliability have been seen by Electra Partners as a result of the more effective management guidance brought by a&o.
As a result of their pan-European expertise a&o were able to work effectively to deliver optimised solutions across all of the Electra Partners’ European offices. Electra Partners is able to work in a fully integrated way across Europe and the IT solution, delivered by a&o, enables the company to have the network flexibility to support a variety of services such as Multimedia Applications, Video Steaming and VoIP.
Reliability has also been a key benefit and the solution a&o delivered and continues to manage for Electra Partners offers a non-stop service operation.
Owing directly to the IT infrastructural changes and management processes implemented by a&o, a major office move was handled for Electra Partners with minimal downtime. The entire office relocation was conducted over just one weekend, with all IT services operating as normal by Sunday evening.
Electra Partners Comments: “We’ve been consistently impressed with the services a&o has provided for us. Their staff have always been knowledgeable, helpful and on-hand to deal with both our day-to-day and long term IT issues.”
Steve Ozin, Chief Financial Officer - Electra Partners
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Trafford Borough Council
e-enabling local government
The business issue Trafford Council provides services for some 220,000 residents and visitors to a borough comprising a mixture of inner-city, suburban and rural communities. Home to the world-famous Manchester United football club, the area has also seen significant developments in retail, cultural and housing schemes in recent years.
Like many local authorities, Trafford has been tasked by Government mandate to deliver all council services electronically by 2005. In addition, initiatives such as the National Grid for Learning (NGFL) and several local projects required them to review the suitability of their present IT infrastructure.
Our approach a&o has formed a true partnership with Trafford - helping to determine an overall IT development strategy as well as providing networking solutions.
At the core of this strategy was an upgrade to the data network to link both the core council buildings, plus remote locations such as schools and libraries. A remote access solution was also implemented in order to permit council members to access corporate applications such as email and mainframe systems.
The original design study was tasked with delivering maximum investment protection by allowing scalability for future sites and a high degree of security.
Key Benefits The delivered solution was based on providing a high-speed link between each of the 6 core sites using 155MBp/s microwave technology. Using advanced resiliency features to maximise availability, the network also support Quality of Service (QoS) to reliably support voice and multi-media services.
Secondary locations are connected to the core sites by a mixture of links including leased lines, ISDN and SDSL. The chosen technology for the LAN at each site is based on Gigabit Ethernet for the backbone and switched 10/100Mbp/s to the desktop.
Building the intelligent network foundation The full realisation of the e-Government initiative can only be achieved by a council that is able to deliver information and systems seamlessly across the whole organisation as well as the wider community. In the case of Trafford, this necessitated the creation of a single network connecting some 82 remote council buildings and 100 secondary and primary schools.
A particular feature of the proposed design was the adoption of high- speed microwave technology. Boasting significantly reduced on-going costs over conventional leased lines, this solution also suited the close proximity of the core council sites. Further use of broadband xDSL circuits for the remote offices also allowed high bandwidth services to be provided at a minimal cost
Tailored service a&o provide on-going services to Trafford, tailored to their exact requirements. Two full-time consultants assist with the development of future IT strategy, designed around the specific needs of the council. This directly supports the council in delivery of best value IT solutions.
Tony Kettle, Network Infrastructure Manager - Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council comments:
“The implementation of our new network infrastructure underpins all of our e-government and modernisation strategies.”
Cheshire County Council
Broadening horizons to a “Connected Cheshire”
The Business Issue The county of Cheshire boasts a history dating back over 2,000 years. Its landscapes reflect the gentle pastures of the English Midlands and Welsh Marches, as well as the rugged hills of England’s North Country. It is against this backdrop that the County Council is tasked with servicing the needs of the local community, businesses and environment in equal measure. Consistent with central Government initiatives, its attention is focused on the effective use of IT systems and ‘eGovernment’ methods; with the aim of continually improving the quality and accessibility of services available to the community. The creation of a high-speed communications infrastructure linking all county services was seen as essential for achieving this vision.
Our Approach The Council is working in partnership with a&o to design and implement a county-wide broadband solution to effectively connect schools, libraries and Council offices throughout the region. Planning is critical to any large scale project and both a&o and Cheshire County Council established an experienced project team to work together in evaluating, testing, implementing and supporting the technical and logistical migration process.
True partnership was vital in coordinating activities and open communication throughout the project ensured that a&o designed a flexible and scalable network that represented Best Value for the Council.
Key Benefits The “Connected Cheshire” Project will launch Cheshire County Council towards achieving its 2005 Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) targets set by Central Government. To the local community and Cheshire schools and libraries this translates as increased education, training and development across the Internet, now available through the new high-speed communications infrastructure. This enhanced environment will also support ongoing development of the Councils financial and administrative systems, a factor which will improve the everyday speed and efficiency of Council services, whilst providing a modern, flexible IT platform for future Council services and initiatives.
Building the intelegent network foundation The full realisation of the e-Government initiative can only be achieved by a council that is able to deliver information and systems seamlessly across the whole organisation as well as the wider community. In the case of Cheshire, this necessitated the creation of a single network connecting some 192 remote council buildings and 352 primary, secondary and special schools and 39 libraries. A particular feature of the proposed design was the adoption of high-speed radio technology. Boasting significantly reduced on-going costs over conventional leased lines, this solution also suited the close proximity of the core Council sites. Further use of broadband DSL circuits for the remote offices also allowed high bandwidth services to be provided at a minimal cost representing an exceptional return on investment compared to traditional methods.
Tailored Service Throughout the project, both Cheshire County Council and a&o followed a highly cooperative approach based upon long-term partnership. To this extent, a&o were able to gain a strong understanding of both the compelling reasons for the Council’s objectives and external factors that will effect the development of the solution following implementation. this knowledge sharing enabled the solution to be tailored around the specific needs of the Council’s business strategy and subsequent technology objectives.
Jeremy Taylor, Chief Executive of Cheshire County Council Comments:
“This strategic initiative provides an opportunity for the citizens and business communities of Cheshire to be at the forefront of electronic service delivery.”
E C Harris
Enhancing communications and improving information flow
The Business Issue EC Harris is a leading international Capital Project and Facilities Consultancy with approaching 1,800 employees worldwide. Through innovative application of traditional professional skills, developed processes and information, they deliver all aspects of a capital project and its ongoing operation. Faced with rapid expansion of their business, the flow of communication throughout the organisation was being constrained by the existing IT infrastructure. The increasing demands for network bandwidth could not be addressed with their existing solution and new applications under development could not be rolled out to the business.
Our Approach a&o designed and installed a scalable, high performance wide area network to facilitate the use of essential business applications for the next five years. By providing impartial advice, a&o helped to identify a best fit approach with maximum flexibility. After a successful pilot project, the service was rolled out to the major EC Harris locations, with minimal disruption to the business. The technical installation services and project management was provided by a&o. In addition, the infrastructure is monitored 24x7 from the a&o Network Management Centre.
Key Benefits The highly resilient network, connected using a diverse ring/mesh topology, was delivered over private ATMlinks. The network design provides resilient data paths and avoids any single point of failure. Automatic re-routing is built in to the architecturewhich permits continuity of service in the event of a component failure. The ability to add new office locations, increase bandwidth or deliver multimedia application (including voice) is also built into the solution. Through the use of sophisticated monitoring tools, a&o staff can remotely manage all aspects of the network and provide regular uptime and usage statistics.
Enabling Business Expansion EC Harris are rapidly embracing new IT systems and increasingly depend on the availability of these business systems to service the needs of their clients. The delivered solution provides a reliable and flexible ‘fabric’ on which these tools can be deployed at a high performance and fixed cost.
As the delivery of information underwrites many of the services they provide, EC Harris have benefitted from the ability to provide this data more quickly and across a greater part of their organisation. In addition, it permits knowledge to be gathered and distributed more easily which helps to maintain their leadership position.
Partnership Due to the dynamic nature of their business and aggressive growth plans, EC Harris required flexibility from their chosen service provider as well as the delivered solution. In addition, they required a long term commitment and a supplier willing to meet stringent service levels. a&o were able to meet all of these requirements, working in a true partnership to achieve the goals set.
By providing a managed service, a&o assume primary responsibility for the network, including change management and service level reporting. On-site maintenance is also provided for all elements of the network hardware. In addition, a&o consultants have been able to assist EC Harris with the development of their overall network strategy.
Paul Raine, Group Infrastructure Manager - EC Harris Comments:
“The new network will enable us to provide optimum levels of service and develop our e-commerce projects and partnership.”
Mid Staffs NHS
Centralised application deployment and data management
The business issue Mid Staffs General Hospitals Trust provides 650 acute beds and healthcare services on 2 sites - Cannock Chase Hospital and Staffordshire General Hospital.
The Trust were faced with the problem of maintaining and developing a computing environment consisting of many disparate systems and departmental servers. Additionally, a population of mixed-specification PCs presented difficulties with deploying applications and in offering effective end-user support.
Our Approach After conducting a successful pilot project, a&o implemented a server-based computing solution for the Trust. This allowed a standard set of applications to be used by all users across both locations. In addition, a centralized storage system was deployed to manage all user and application data under a common management platform. The resulting infrastructure allows all computing services to be managed in a cost effective and flexible manner.
Key Benefits A core element of the a&o solution was a centralised ‘server farm’. This comprised application and data servers configured in a space-efficient rack-mounted format.
The Trust’s standard application suite is published to the existing population of 600 PCs using Citrix MetaFrame technology. By virtue of the fact that these are installed centrally, administration costs and effort and significantly reduced.
Increased Productivity The key benefit delivered by the solution is the ability to deploy new applications across the Trust quickly and with minimal effort. End users benefit from being able to access these applications and information from any point on the network. Furthermore, they are able to use the latest office productivity tools, gain access to the Internet and share information with colleagues more easily than before.
In common with many organisations, the Trust has a high ratio of users to support staff. With the Citrix technology they now have the ability to ‘shadow’ users - which enables direct assistance to be offered as problems are raised. This improves the efficiency of the IT staff and reduces the delay in resolving support issues. In addition, routine maintenance tasks need only to be carried out on the central servers. Security and reliability are improved as a result, with less need to manage a distributed population of PCs
Improved Management of critical data Using a high-speed storage network, the Trust has connected all key servers to the centralised disk storage system. Mission critical data such as patient records, pathology database and e-mail are retained on a single high performance, scalable platform. By consolidating disk resources in this fashion, the Trust have benefited from improved economies of scale. In addition, backup and archival policies are easier to implement using a enterprise-wide data management platform and high capacity automated tape library.
Bob Weaver, IT Manager - Mid Staffs General Hospitals Trust commented:
“We were in no doubt that a&o had the skills necessary to implement such an important project for the Trust.”
Reliance Security Services
Improving business efficiency
The business issue Reliance Security is a leader in the provision of contract security, surveillance, facilities management and support services. It employs over 9,500 people and has a network of offices covering the UK.
As a company operating in a competitive, cost-conscious marketplace, Reliance has to ensure that IT services are provided in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. Furthermore, it is important that employees operating in the geographically dispersed offices have access to key information and can communicate effectively with customers and colleagues alike.
Our Approach Reliance first engaged a&o to design and implement a server-based computing model to deliver their core applications across the business. After undertaking an extensive pilot project, a solution based on Citrix MetaFrame was rolled out to all office locations. Through effective project planning and control, existing data was migrated to the new platform, and disruption to the business was kept to a minimum. New applications have subsequently been deployed in a timely fashion with minimal cost and effort.
On-going end-user support is provided by a help desk service operated and managed by a&o
Key Benefits The main benefit delivered by the adopted model is the ability to centrally administer and support the complete user desktop environment. Through the use of tools built into the Citrix technology, end-user sessions can be ‘shadowed’ by the help desk, leading to rapid problem determination and resolution. In addition, greater control over the desktop environment helps to improve productivity, and reduce the likelihood of un-authorised use of unlicensed software by the users.
Reliance have also been able to adopt the same model for additional offices brought on-line due to business expansion.
Standardisation and Control With over 30 offices across the UK, Reliance were faced with the task of upgrading their network infrastructure to deliver new applications, with the maximum amount of flexibility for the future, whilst at the same time improving the service levels to the users.
The choice of a server-based computing model was chosen as it met each of these criteria; with a&o providing practical advise on the best methods to deploy the technology. The recommended strategy provides both a resilient and high performance foundation, whilst maintaining the ability to retain centralised control.
Users benefit from a standard desktop and core application set – irrespective of which office they use - with close control retained by the IT department.
Helpdesk Services A high degree of emphasis is placed on the provision of an effective end-user help desk which provides 1st and 2nd line support to all 500+ users, on-site training, plus server and network monitoring and administration. Hosted by a&o, the service is delivered by dedicated personnel who are fully conversant with the Reliance environment.
The service has solicited a high degree of praise from the user community, providing as it does a responsive and highly tailored service to Reliance. Keith Kemble from the Reliance Midlands region commenting after a review meeting noted that the staff extend their thanks for the swift way the a&o team deal with the IT issues when they arise. Irrespective of their location, the users are able to receive direct on-screen guidance from the help desk, to help overcome problems with the use of particular application or system feature. In addition, the help desk liaise with other service providers, and act as the single point of contact for all IT-related matters. Routine administration tasks such as monitoring backup, registering new users and managing moves and changes are also handled by a&o. Overall, this enables the small in-house MIS team to concentrate on developing new services for the business, with minimal involvement in day-to-day operational issues.
Steven Pegg, IT Manager - Group IT Manager, Reliance Security comments:
“Whether running our help desk, or providing consultancy and technical support, a&o has always provided a high quality service. I consider them to be an essential part of the IT provision to Reliance.”
