Birmingham City University Completes Ambitious IT Overhaul

International IT and managed services provider Logicalis has today announced its multi-million pound refresh of Birmingham City University’s tech infrastructure is complete.

The university said it decided to carry out this redesign after a comprehensive review of its services found there was little synchronisation of data across the network, the existing data centre was short of capacity and hardware was nearing the end of its life.

The project, which began in 2012, is part of the University’s £180m investment in new facilities. It consists of two onsite data centres, along with both fixed and wireless network access for staff and students.

“With a reference data centre architecture, the IT team is able to work more efficiently day-to-day. We’ve reduced server sprawl, increased utilisation and can already see savings in energy expenditure,” said Logicalis.

According to the firm, the update will provide an agile architecture to support long-term innovation and evolving service expectations from staff and students.

The scheme also introduced Cisco Unified Communications Manager – an integrated communications call platform, for 4000 users.

Shaun Buffery, Associate Director for Converged Infrastructure at the University, led the project.

“We see our infrastructure as key to our success as a University. Nowadays, you’re not only competing on the level of education the students will receive, but also facilities and services,” he said.

“This new infrastructure will not only adapt to innovation in student technology and teaching resources, but also enable staff to be more collaborative with one another and the students,” he added. 

© 24N.biz