Challenge

Based in Grantham, The King's School is a high achieving academy with 1100 pupils and 150 staff. The school requires an IT infrastructure which is robust and a reliable team of skilled and expert technical staff to manage both day to day routine operations and to advise on the strategic context.

The King's School had serious IT delivery problems and senior management were concerned at the fragility of the 'back-end network' infrastructure.

Objectives

  • Stabilise, improve and future proof the back end infrastructure
  • Provide responsive, quality support to the teaching and admin teams
  • Advise on industry news and assist with the strategic direction of IT

Approach and Solution

With a consultative approach, Datcom addressed all the primary system issues, which they had been faced with, over the last several years. Datcom implemented a VMware vSphere solution which provided the school with the flexibility to adjust the systems on demand, without having to invest in new hardware.

Datcom's primary objective was to ensure a smooth transfer of support. This was achieved by transferring The King's School's existing IT team in to Datcom's support desk. Undertaking monitoring, fully documenting and supporting day to day incidents as well as project tasks meant that The Kings School's requirements were met at every stage.

Datcom has regular Account Management meetings, with The Kings School, to advise them on past & future projects, requirements, industry news etc. A Datcom engineer is at the school once a week and daily telephone conversations are held to ensure maximum knowledge & understanding between both parties.

Results

The King's School are now into the second year of the partnership with Datcom, whose staff are fully embedded in school life. Datcom has been able to turn around the perception of IT within the school and it is now viewed as one of the key enablers, helping the King's team and pupils to reach their maximum potential

The King's School's new IT infrastructure has been online with 100% uptime and supports several new applications, including King's new VLE, without additional infrastructure costs.