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Case Study: Multi-Academy Trust saves over £300k with refurbished
Background
Multi-academy trusts face pressures most private sector IT managers don't. Budget cycles are rigid, staffing is lean, and the infrastructure has to keep working — lessons don't stop because a switch goes down.
The IT Manager for a six-school trust came to Intelligent Servers managing all of that across multiple sites spread throughout the county. On top of keeping ageing kit running, he'd been handed a full infrastructure overhaul: complete replacement of the fibre and copper network switch infrastructure, alongside a full upgrade of the server estate.
He needed a partner who could deliver at scale, within a public sector budget, and without adding to an already stretched workload.
Objective
To deliver a cost-effective overhaul of the network switch and server infrastructure across six sites - without disrupting the schools or stretching an already lean IT team. The trust ran a formal tender process.
Where other vendors leaned on hard sell tactics, Intelligent Servers let the knowledge do the talking -working through every spec revision with patience and professionalism.
Industry:
Education
Organisation size:
300+ employees
Hardware:
Cisco Catalyst Switches, Dell PowerEdge R620 & R820 Rack Servers, Dell PowerVault SAS Storage SAN
Software:
iDRAC
Location:
United Kingdom
Network Infrastructure Overhaul
The Trust wanted to upgrade their existing HP ProCurve infrastructure that consisted of 1Gbit at the Core and 100Mbit at the Edge. The IT Manager wanted to upgrade the entire infrastructure with 10Gbit at the Core and 1Gbit at the Edge.
The Trust had a few resellers quote new HP ProCurve/Aruba solutions with most quoting over £350,000. Intelligent Servers came in at £80,000 using Refurbished Cisco Catalyst 6509’s at the Core, giving the customer multiple media types by using 1Gbit RJ45, 1Gbit SFP and 10Gbit X2 Line Cards. Intelligent Servers supplied Cisco Catalyst 4948-10GE’s at the Edge for 1Gbit RJ45 endpoint connectivity and 10Gbit Uplinks back to the Core Cisco Catalyst 6509’s.
Key Benefits
Huge savings with quality refurbished IT hardware
Three year warranty including remote setup and support
Technical advice from experienced account managers
250,000 IT parts in stock, ready to ship
Specialists configure and test hardware then ship in a ready-to-deploy condition
I was dealing with Blaine and Andy and these guys are truly amazing. They helped us design and plan our Network down to the last detail. Blaine was exceptional and after many, many revisions of the spec from our part, was always patient and professional. There was no hard sell at any point which I experienced from other companies in the tender process, their knowledge and professionalism completes the sale without the need for these tactics.
IT Manager
Multi-Academy Trust
They designed a solution for us that met our budget perfectly and coupled with the 3 year warranty, which they do honour with no quibble.
Andy had visited our site throughout the project to assist with the installation and configuration and is exceptionally knowledgeable. Their ongoing support is second to none and I still badger Andy for help now and again and he is more than willing to assist, even when it’s not his problem!
IT Manager
Multi-Academy Trust
Server Infrastructure Overhaul
Since the Trust saved over £200,000 on Networking, the IT Manager had budget leftover to upgrade his ageing Dell R610 Servers to 11 Dell PowerEdge R620’s and R820’s. They also bought a Dell SAS Storage SAN and connected all the R620’s to this. Again, they saved over £90,000 by choosing Refurbished from Intelligent Servers instead of ‘New’ direct from Dell. All the Dell Servers were fully configured with Processors, Hard Drives, Memory and other component parts to the Trust’s exact requirements. The Servers were built by specialists at Intelligent Servers’ dedicated facility and fully tested before being packed in custom packaging to ensure a safe transit.
All of the hardware was backed with a three year warranty which includes remote setup and support. Throughout the project, IT Technicians from Intelligent Servers visited the site to assist with the installation and configuration of the new infrastructure.
Ongoing partnership
Since completing the project, the Education Trust has placed over 25 orders with Intelligent Servers for a range of IT hardware including Laptops for employees, Hard Drives for upgrades and Dell PowerEdge Servers for other infrastructure projects.
This company is a true gem and I would have no hesitation in coming back to them time and time again. They are now my first stop for Networking and Servers and I have no need to go anywhere else. If they don't stock it, they will find it! Unbeatable value and unbeatable customer service. Thanks guys, you’ve done an amazing job and you have benefited the education of all the young people we serve!
IT Manager
Multi-Academy Trust
