Perth and Kinross Council
Scenario
Well Managed Infrastructure – Enterprise Infrastructure Refresh
Situation
Perth & Kinross Council is a local authority responsible for administering government services in an approximately 2,200-square-mile region in central Scotland. Headquartered in the city of Perth, the Council meets the needs of both rural and urban populations and employs a corporate network servicing approximately 1,800 staff members in 70 local offices.
The Council had been using Netware 5.1 for its network operating system with Novell Directory Services for authentication. The network showed signs of instability, costing considerably in lost time and productivity. To provide a reliable service and to meet the challenges of ongoing Modernising Government initiatives, it became imperative that the Council upgrade the network.
Charteris Role
Simply upgrading Perth & Kinross Council's network wasn't a straightforward decision, however. For the past several years, multiple directory services had been in use throughout the Council and with local servers spread throughout most local offices and the resulting requirements for consolidation, security, and easier administration. Any solution the Council chose had to meet a wide-ranging set of technical requirements.
With the help of Charteris, the Council migrated its Novell-based network over to Microsoft Windows Server 2003, replacing NDS with Active Directory® to provide enhanced reliability, a more solid foundation for increased services, and a simplified single logon to all Council applications.
Our work included:
- Consulting with the in-house team to define the business and technical issues and justify a revised infrastructure strategy.
- Definition and implementation of a project approach to deliver that strategy.
- Project Management of the full project lifecycle.
- Definition and implementation of revised operational procedures to enable the potential provided by the revised infrastructure to be realised.
Solution
Working closely with the in-house team Charteris focused on the core activities required to lower costs, improve quality of service and increase agility across the Council's network.
In doing so our team engaged to consolidate the existing distributed server estate by 50%, drastically reduce the administrative overheads by improving the efficiency of core operational processes and provide a platform which enabled the in-house development team to take immediate advantage of the opportunities presented by Microsoft's .NET architecture.
"The benefits we've achieved today surpass my expectations" observes Alan Nairn, Depute Director of Corporate Services. "We've exceeded time and reliability estimates, and increased security. In terms of technology, this project has been the biggest leap forward the Council has made in the last 10 or 15 years. Here we have a product that provides everything we require in terms of stability, forward progress, and deliverability. Windows Server 2003 has given us the bedrock that we need to fulfil our e-government strategy."
Please click here to download a detailed case study about the work undertaken by Charteris at Perth and Kinross Council.