The Organisation

Client: The University of Suffolk 

Industry: Higher Education

Services: Windows 10

The University of Suffolk is third in the county* for widening participation.

With a central campus in Ipswich and a growing number of partner colleges and organisations, the University supports 5,000 campus-based students and 600 staff.

The University of Suffolk needed to upgrade the Ipswich Waterfront campus, composed of 1,200 desktop PCs, from Windows 7 to 10.

*According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

Vision and Goal

With a complex array of applications and group policies to reclassify, the University required detailed planning and operational excellence to align its capabilities with a Windows 10 upgrade. The University was looking for a professional services partner that understood their complex challenges. These included enterprise endpoint and identity management systems that were preventing a streamlined and cost-effective upgrade to Windows 10. 

Recognising Altiatech’s holistic and flexible approach to solving complicated technical challenges in multi-vendor environments. The University identified Altiatech as their preferred partner to deliver a technical roadmap that would establish a viable, streamlined Windows 10 upgrade path.

The Challenge

A detailed examination of the problem revealed that numerous operational processes arose from organic growth in technical architecture and infrastructure. 

To address these technical issues and reduce operational challenges, Altiatech and the University identified three key areas in the enterprise delivery systems:

• Endpoint management of desktop operating systems and software.
• Identity management.
• Active Directory Group Policy.
  

The Solution

The initial scoping phase of the project revealed that each area identified was interlinked, with Active Directory Group Policy having a disproportionate impact on complexity, which affected service delivery across the campus. As a result, all three areas were addressed, and in some cases, rearchitected and reimplemented before moving to Windows 10. 

Altiatech’s approach in agile development presented a breakdown in deliverables, enabling the University to verify and sign off each project phase with certainty. 

This flexible strategy led to an iterative, fast-paced procedure that accommodated the sophisticated demands of the project. 

The Results

After each project phase was completed, performance increases were measured and documented. This allowed the University to experience the benefits of the project incrementally and encouraged continued effort and investment in the larger goal.

John Herd, Head of IT Services at University of Suffolk said: 

"Altiatech have been instrumental with helping the University of Suffolk overcome its IT challenges. Their attention to detail and documentation practice has helped our own team fully understand each phase”. 

On completion of the project, Altiatech delivered the following:

• Enhanced end-user experience.
• Increased employee productivity. 
• Reduced logon times.
• A proven tested technical infrastructure for delivering a successful Windows 10 experience.
• A streamlined and cost-effective Windows 10 upgrade path, minimising migration challenges and costs.

When will your business make the upgrade?

Take advantage of our expertise. Whether you need to upgrade an existing device, buy new hardware, or need help deploying software, get in touch today!