ABOUT BENEAST

Beneast Training Ltd. is an experienced work based learning provider, with an evidenced history of training success. The organisation offers the highest quality training and development in the North West. The company has a renowned reputation for top quality training, developed with passion and dedication over the past twenty seven years. Beneast is a dynamic organisation, working with hundreds of local businesses in the North West to help them train and develop their staff, as well as placing young people into apprenticeships in which they will gain qualifications and work experience hand-in-hand.

SETTING UP THE RIGHT IT INFRASTRUCTURE FOR BENEAST'S REQUIREMENTS

Based in Blackpool, the company has four sites located within Lancashire. The company offers bespoke training facilities with two independent networks and over a hundred desktops, multiple servers and peripherals for its c. 1,500 students. It also has 120 employees based across its four sites using desktops and notebooks, relying on around ten servers. The offices have both wired and wireless networks. SQL databases service the business; the two main ones being a learner database and an employer CRM database.

Sherena Pennington, IT Development Manager, joined Beneast in 2008. At that time the company's IT systems needed to be updated and moved forward. Other training providers were significantly ahead in terms of their use of new technologies.

"I couldn't even start to think about new and emerging technology at that time", explains Sherena, "My primary focus had to be on getting a good, solid IT infrastructure in place".

Sherena found that Beneast had outgrown the support service provided by the existing IT reseller and she started to look for a replacement. Equanet was invited to come on site to pitch for the new contract, and Sherena was impressed with their approach. "At the time we were looking at introducing a Citrix system. Other IT providers were recommending that we ditch everything we had in place and start again but we didn't want to do that. We had to continue to run the business while bedding in a new IT infrastructure".

Sherena was keen to establish some stability and reduce the risk in terms of business continuity. "At the time the company had just one server that was doing everything for the business. I needed to ensure that the tasks were distributed across a number of servers to reduce the risk, and I needed reassurance that we could do that without throwing away the entire existing infrastructure".

Equanet recommended a phased approach. Beneast then contracted Equanet as prime contractor to:

• Identify current IT requirements
• Review and re-design the company's infrastructure to meet future business objectives
• Implement and support the solution

Equanet designed a recommended IT infrastructure and produced a Scope of Work document which included replacement of the network infrastructure, configuration of secure VPN connections between Beneast's four sites, installation of a new SQL server, and a managed anti-virus solution across the whole network. Equanet also recommended ongoing remote support for all four sites.

That approach has worked very well for the company. As Sherena explains; "It has taken a couple of years to complete because we had to work within a set IT budget and show value for money by managing it carefully, but together with Equanet we have achieved it and we have done it well".

ONGOING SUPPORT

Beneast has an in-house IT support team of four. They tend to handle the company's needs for first line support themselves. However, Equanet's service is very flexible which fits with Sherena's requirements: "The service is very much tailored to our needs. If my in-house IT support team is unavailable, our staff can call Equanet direct for instant first line support".

The third line support provided by Equanet gives more specialist support on specific areas of IT. These highly experienced & qualified engineers hold accreditation's with Tier 1 vendors such as Microsoft, HP, Apple & Cisco. For Sherena this offers true value: "Equanet's third line support guys are real think tanks. They can always be relied upon to get to the bottom of the problem. All of Equanet's support engineers are always really polite and helpful; just as they need to be".

Sherena is also pleased with Equanet's account management. "Having a dedicated account manager is very reassuring. We order notebooks in bulk and we tend to go straight to Equanet for this. Whenever we order it arrives on the doorstep, and there is no issue if we need to send anything back".

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

Beneast and Equanet originally embarked on a three year contract and are now two years into this. Sherena is very happy with the service so far. "Over the last two years our needs have changed, and Equanet has worked with us to ensure the flexible Managed Service continues to offer what we require". Beneast is now working towards a Thin Client solution and the terminal servers they currently have in place are starting to take the company down that route.

HOW EQUANET SUPPORTS BENEAST

SCOPING THE RIGHT INFRASTRUCTURE

Equanet produced a Design and a Scope of Work document which included replacement of the network infrastructure, configuration of secure VPN connections between Beneast's four sites, installation of a new SQL server, and a managed anti-virus solution across the whole network.

SUPPORT

Equanet provides remote management of the Beneast IT systems with on-site visits as necessary and supports over a hundred desktop users, acting as the system administrator. Support operatives are organised into account teams, providing network-specific knowledge.

MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT OF HARDWARE AND NETWORK COMPONENTS

Servers are monitored for performance and early warnings are given which minimise down-time and disruption. As well as desktops and notebooks, Beneast's printers and other network peripherals are supported both remotely and through the helpdesk. In the event of a failure of mission critical hardware, Equanet provides Beneast with an eight hour guaranteed hardware fix to ensure uptime.

DISASTER RECOVERY

Back-up's are managed by Equanet as part of the organisation's formal Disaster Recovery strategy.

SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

A number of applications such as Exchange Mail, Microsoft Office and specific applications bespoke to the organisation have been integrated onto the network. This has included a managed email filtering solution which reduces spam, improves security and scans for viruses. A further anti-virus solution is deployed and updated weekly across the network.

REMOTE ACCESS

Equanet monitors performance and access to servers and desktops as necessary to resolve issues. Equanet has also provided secure access for remote workers, configured mobile devices, smart-phones & notebooks, and supports a Blackberry server.

ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

Equanet monitors performance and access to servers and desktops as necessary to resolve issues. Equanet has also provided secure access for remote workers, configured mobile devices, smart-phones & notebooks, and supports a Blackberry server.