Case Study - Age Concern Camden

Virtually perfect!

An all-in-one multi-server solution transforms remote access usability for staff supplying services to Camden's older citizens.

Camden is one of the larger London boroughs with a correspondingly burgeoning older population, but is lucky to have Age Concern Camden (ACC) helping to provide information and services to a broad range of its older people who are housebound and isolated. A brief selection of its functions include Campaigning, Advice and Support, Advocacy, Counselling, Dementia Services, and Talking Therapies.

The breadth of ACC's impressive operation matches its borough's size encompassing half a dozen sites - including offices, resource centres, and two shops – looked after by 60 staff and over 200 volunteers.

However its ageing main file/email server, supplied by previous IT providers, was struggling to satisfy demand. Although users in remote offices had access to network resources such as files and email, existing VPN and Terminal Server solutions left them unable to print and was dogged by speed/connectivity issues and slow logins. Contending with very restrictive mail and folder quotas meant strict housekeeping of emails regularly. It prevented users from sending emails if the quota was exceeded, which was a constant problem for everyone, but particularly for those coming from a period of holiday, working with large files, or when working on projects to a deadline.

Tasked with managing and supporting the IT network of ACC with 6 remote sites is Ayla Wyse, IT and Facilities Manager. "We wanted to provide better IT facilities particularly for remote users and to address the space issue which was affecting all staff so that they could focus on doing their jobs effectively and efficiently."

Wyse did a thorough job, going beyond just consulting their current IT support company. "We then invited four companies to provide a solution to the issues we had and evaluated their proposals. I did web research and discussed with users who have deployed similar technologies prior to making a decision."

Initial discussions centred around replacing the current environment with the more traditional like-for-like server model consisting of up to 3 servers, but there was a case for looking longer term, as Arik Fletcher, Technical Manager at Co-Operative Systems, explains. "With the global shift towards consolidation in mind (both for economic and ecological reasons), we strongly recommended a move to a virtualised platform. This involved the use of a single higher spec server which would initially host virtual replacements for the file, email, and terminal servers and later the SQL server. Specifically this meant Microsoft Hyper-V R2™ running on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2™ as the foundation of the virtualised server base, with variants of Microsoft Server 2008 as the operating system for both the file and email servers and for the Citrix server."

Finally Microsoft Exchange 2010™ was to serve as the email server platform and Citrix XenApp Fundamentals™ as the remote access solution. With an extensive track record in these products in almost identical configurations to the one recommended, Fletcher said they felt confident that it was the best solution for ACC.

Running with Co-Operative Systems was eventually the preference for Age Concern Camden. "The solutions presented had advantages over the others, and staff I've dealt with impressed me with their knowledge and attitude." But the architecture wasn't straightforward, as Wyse mulls over lead up to the decision: "As a charity, we don't have the resources to be on the cutting edge of technology, but we didn't want to replicate a similar structure which was giving us so much grief. The pricing seemed out of our reach initially, but Zorina Baksh, (Products Manager) was very helpful and patient with my questions. We managed to re-define the scope of the project to address the main issues and break it down to phases, which made it possible for us to go ahead with the solution recommended."

The five phases were broadly: Planning (document the network, liaise with third party suppliers); Preparation at Co-Operative Systems (prepare and test new hardware base for virtualisation host sever and each virtualised guest server); Implementation on site over weekend (installation of actual servers, migrate data and test); Support and troubleshooting (for users first logins on the Monday); and Completion within two weeks (Fixes and changes identified during troubleshooting, decommission old servers). It was agreed Wyse should be on hand to monitor the process where possible, to give ACC a sense of ownership of the new system and involvement from the ground up.

The virtual all-in-one-box solution has resulted in a generally faster and more stable network with quicker access to documents. The Citrix replacement for the old Terminal Services gives staff a cleaner and more feature-rich experience for remote access and vastly improved printing. Finally, bigger storage quotas have ended precarious local archiving of emails, with better handling by the new server operating system. Further performance improvements and network stability will be found once the PCs have been migrated to Windows 7 and the Office suite is upgraded to Microsoft Office 2010.

Wyse concurs with the happy outcome: "It's a smoother working experience for the remote users, server-related problems are mainly solved and space issues addressed. Altogether a better use of staff time, increased productivity and less frustration for users."

Virtually perfect!

Age Concern Camden is a voluntary organisation which exists to serve the interests of all older citizens of the London Borough of Camden, from all walks of life and ethnic communities.