“Medhurst works with a lot of secondary schools. They know what schools need and work with us on both a short term support and longer term strategic level – we have an excellent working relationship. Of course as Gold HP partners they also have the necessary expertise and experience to install the solutions they are selling.
Darren Nash, IT Systems Manager, Eggar’s School
Customer Profile
Eggar’s School is a community comprehensive school in the town of Alton, Hampshire, for 820 pupils and 100 staff with Science College status. Darren Nash, IT Systems Manager at Eggar’s explains the important role ICT plays in the school. “Schools now have a very high demand for ICT, with needs on par with any other business. The ICT systems at Eggar’s are seen as a crucial element within the school and provide an essential service to both pupils and staff.”
Business Needs
Having previously virtualised Eggar’s IT systems, Medhurst was approached to deliver a future-proof network infrastructure to take advantage of the growing expectation for BYOD and remote working using the latest HP technology. Eggar’s wanted to make an investment in new switching and wireless technology that would be covered by HP’s lifetime warranty to not only provide excellent investment protection but also to deliver an ICT infrastructure that offered flexibility, scalability with minimum maintenance and management.
Solution
In 2012, Medhurst installed Hewlett Packard ProCurve core and edge switching including power over ethernet. The solution provides connectivity up to 20GbE between school sites, 1GB connectivity to desktop PCs and up to 900MB on wireless devices. To deliver sufficient coverage across the school, Medhurst installed the HP MSM wireless controller and 23 MSM wireless access points to allow high numbers of wireless devices to be concurrently connected without network interruptions. With the ability to control up to 200 wireless access points, the HP wireless controller will enable the school to add more points as its BYOD and remote access needs increase.
Results
Eggar’s now has a future proofed high speed and secure wireless network for all staff, pupils and even visitors. The staff have a fast and reliable connection to deliver lessons across the school from any preferred device and the pupils have 1GB connectivity to desktop PCs, to easily manage interactive media work. With all of the wireless functionality managed by a single console, changes can be made quickly and easily and guest and temporary network access granted to visitors.
Darren Nash, IT Systems Manager at Eggar’s concludes, “
We contacted several ICT companies to propose a wireless solution for Eggar’s. Medhurst’s proposal was the most competitive by far, plus they provide a real live survey beforehand, so we knew the proposed solution would be exactly what we required. Medhurst now work with us to provide additional ongoing support to the technical team. Knowing that our entire ICT infrastructure is backed by HP’s lifetime guarantee also means that we have total confidence that our new system will be replaced next day if necessary.”