Logicalis

Logicalis Installs First Class Network And Facilities Management Provisioning At Tremough Campus For University College Falmouth And University Of Exeter

The Client

Consisting of three large campuses, supporting 3200 students and 500 staff, University College Falmouth (UCF) is the first institution of higher education in Cornwall to be able to award degrees in its own name. UCF has one campus situated within Falmouth, the second being at the Dartington College of Arts, Devon and the third is a brand new £70 million campus based at Tremough, which is shared with the University of Exeter.

The Challenge

2004 saw the planning of the latest state-of-the-art academic building for the new campus at Tremough for both UCF and University of Exeter. Priding itself on its excellent facilities, both institutions understood that the intelligent design and integration of technology and communications would play a major role in the success of both the campus and its students.

The IT team led by Head of IT, Nathan Prisk, sought a strategic ICT partner that could fulfil the installation of a high performance wired and wireless IP network for its new £25m campus which would play host to the Falmouth Media and Photography Centre, as well as geography and law courses from the University of Exeter.

Appreciating the influence of technology within new media, it was critical that the network infrastructure would be able to support the latest high-capacity applications designed for radio, TV and digital media.

Prisk comments, “The media centre required the most advanced network possible in order to provide students with the same state-of-the-art tools that are actually used in the media industry. We needed to make sure that the network could cope with the sheer volume of data these applications can generate; prioritise those processes which are most critical, and ensure maximum network capacity for all other students.”  

The Solution

Following a competitive tender process, international ICT solutions provider Logicalis, was chosen for its long-term vision for the project.

“Logicalis has a proven track record in the higher education sector, so we knew from the start that they had the ability to fulfil this project's needs. However, it quickly became obvious that we could also benefit from a long-term partnership, and their range of services would provide us with the support we needed beyond this implementation.”

Opting for a converged voice/data, wired and wireless IP network, Logicalis and the UCF team together designed and implemented a next-generation IT infrastructure that would support more than just traditional IT processes.

As well as completing a Cisco IP telephony upgrade, Logicalis deployed a voice over WLAN (VoWLAN) system. This extended the working environment across the whole campus, allowing staff the ability to literally work from anywhere. Furthermore, says Prisk, it also improved campus safety and security:

“The deployment of mobile devices that could operate via the WLAN was important for a number of reasons: security guards operating across the campus would need to be contactable 24/7 and we could link these PDAs to the IPCCTV system, allowing real-time camera access. The economic benefits of wireless IP phones versus cellular or private mobile radio system, was just too compelling.”

Beyond this, both UCF and University of Exeter were able to exploit the IP network to operate other facilities management systems, and are now running services such as light and heating controls; building access; CCTV; lift operations, and public emergency alarms from the Tremough campus. From an economic perspective, utilising one high-capacity network to run all its critical systems, not only consolidated and lowered costs but also reduced management complexity by centralising the control of all applications on the network.

Prisk says;

“From the outset, we worked with Logicalis to design a network with the capacity and resilience to operate these more complex facilities applications to reduce costs and centralise management. This meant that capacity and the prioritisation of these applications were even more critical. Facilities applications such as fire alarm systems and door lock devices are vital for the safety of our students, and so the robustness and security of the network was paramount.”

All facilities services are secured through new Cisco firewalls and network boundary protection. Prisk adds;

“As well as protecting the applications and data generated by staff and students, the IT security of our facilities processes was a key consideration. Business continuity is critical to the most basic of utilities such as light and heating controls, and therefore we needed to protect the university against malware, viruses, to ensure clear separation of services travelling over the IP network.“

It was during this time that Prisk identified an opportunity to upgrade the core IT network at the Tremough campus. This would offer an immediate improvement in network performance, and lay the foundations to migrate IT and facilities management systems onto the IP network at a later date.

 “Working with Logicalis gave us the perfect opportunity to modernise our existing systems and really push the boundaries in converged services. Migrating both campuses to an IP-based network has enabled us to maximise the use of a single integrated network, easing management complexity, but also enhancing the scope of services that the IT department can deliver, and that staff and students can exploit.”

The Outcome

The new IP infrastructure was completed for the start of the 2007/8 academic year, with all project deadlines being met in time for the opening of the new buildings, as Prisk concludes:

“Installing such a critical project in time for the start of the academic year meant we needed to get it right. We trusted Logicalis to make the right decisions and get the job done, and they did. Their holistic approach to the project – considering the longer term business benefits that could be delivered from the network, rather than simply installing it well - has been a learning experience for us, and as a result, Logicalis is working with us on a number of additional projects.

“Our objective is to be able to deliver equal services to students and staff on all campuses,” explains Prisk. “In the first instance, we are working with Logicalis on a virtualisation project to update the server infrastructure, which will set us in good stead for rolling out IP services and exciting new applications for both institutions.”

Logicalis is also providing ongoing consultancy services, advising UCF on a data management and storage strategy that will ensure the University is compliant with practices such as the Data Protection Act and Freedom of Information Act.