Fire and Rescue Service

The Challenge

The Service had a need for a partner who could deliver an expert managed service and cloud-first migration programme to improve efficiency, agility and flexibility, while lowering costs.  

Our Solution

We won the competitive tender which involves three of our staff based on site at the Service headquarters, providing a full managed service and supporting the in-house IT team. 

This model is designed to give the Service access to an on-site skilled resource, as well as highly technically capable and multi-skilled technical team back at our nearby headquarters.  

After discussions around various options, our client decided to migrate to our private cloud, moving equipment out of their own data centre and into our Tier 3 data centre a few miles from the Service headquarters, in an infrastructure running on private vCloud.

The Service also commissioned a disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) option using Zerto technology, bringing together disaster recovery and data protection in a single, scaleable solution.

The Outcome

Migration was a big step for the Service and there was no scope for interruption anywhere in the business. It was essential to deliver business as usual across the Service and its 15 sites, including the Command and Control centre which handles a high volume of emergency calls.

 
Our client was delighted that the six-month migration project ran extremely smoothly and was delivered on time, at the agreed cost.  

All of the objectives were met, with key benefits including improved security, efficiency, agility and flexibility, plus significantly lowered and predictable costs.  

As an already established partner, the Service management knew they could trust us to deliver a future-proof cloud infrastructure to take it forward.

Our private cloud met all the criteria and proved to be the right choice, delivering increased security and control, and an ability to quickly spin up services when required. It also meant our client was able to reduce power requirements and support sustainability aims, as well as cut overall costs and management time.

The Service infrastructure is now based around an ideal combination of private cloud securely managed at our data centre, combined with DRaaS which should a problem arise, can deliver critical recovery points within minutes.

The contract is testament to how a long term partnership with our expert team has helped this particular Service to invest in greater resilience and agility, giving it an IT roadmap that will underpin the development of the vital services it provides.