Ashton, Leigh & Wigan PCT has appointed CSA Waverley to deliver a major project to virtualise server and storage environments as part of a long term vision to build an independent disaster recovery site.
CSA Waverley says the system aims to reduce the organisation’s hard server estate by 90%.
ALW wanted a more agile server and storage environment to help exceed service delivery expectations of PCT staff and GPs.
The organisation has identified key aspirations for service delivery and business continuity at the heart of its ICT strategy and is looking to improve power consumption, manageability, serviceability and ultimately carbon footprint.
The current IT environment consists of 30 hard servers and over 2000 end users running PCs, laptops and printers. CSA Waverley is set to take the existing server configuration and initially consolidate it into one HP Storage Area Network (SAN), rationalising the server estate to just three HP Blade servers using VMware.
All future application requirements are planned to be virtualised in the same way.
Nick Hogan, IT development manager for Ashton, Leigh & Wigan PCT, said: “This current work falls within a long term project with CSA Waverley to further consolidate our IT environment and facilitate the development of a credible DR facility that enables replication between sites for business continuity reassurance.
“Waverley has come up with a cost effective proposition to unlock DR capability for the future. Their credentials in the NHS are second to none and their technical creativity has impressed. Ultimately, they worked closely with HP to tailor a competitively priced, high performing ‘best-in-class’ system that went beyond our initial needs.”
CSA Waverley managing director, Andrew Boyle, added: “As NHS organisations place green issues at the forefront of their focus alongside business continuity, consolidation of server environments is a natural and progressive step to take. We specialise in helping public sector organisations take creative and cost effective steps to achieving and in many cases exceeding their targets.”
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