Case Study - The Police Foundation

This research charity were experiencing problems with their small IT network. They found that they were spending a lot of time and money fire-fighting problems and came to iT4C looking for independent advice. Volunteer Adrian Wilkinson fitted the bill.

Project Summary

Adrian came to check the stability of our server and to see whether our computers needed updating (unfortunately they did as they kept crashing and we were losing internet connections, e-mail and unable to get remote access). He tested all existing equipment, software and systems and then ordered everything we would need and was very helpful in getting the equipment we needed at a reasonable price as he was aware that we had a limited budget. His help was invaluable with regard to all the technical language and he was only a phone call away for every query that I had.

Project Delivery

When all the new equipment had been delivered Adrian came and installed everything (this was done over a period of a couple of days - one new server and three new computers, plus updating all other computers and ensuring their compatibility to our printer/scanning facilities). He also ensured that our e-mails were working o.k. (we had trouble with this as some of our e-mails were going missing). He also made remote access for three of the staff accessible and again talked them through any problems they had when they were at home.

Lessons learnt

Without Adrian helping us we would have had a large bill to pay to an outside IT consultancy company and probably would have had to change our systems over a long period of time as we could not afford to get all the work done immediately.

I cannot think what we could have done differently because Adrian was brilliant. He is always helpful and even when I don't explain things very well he seems to know what I mean and fixes any problems for us.

Outcomes

Because the system has now been updated and working well everyone seems to be working more efficiently as we are spending less time trying to sort out problems.

We have every faith and confidence in Adrian and have a really good working relationship with him and know that if we phone him he is able to sort out the problem for us within a very short space of time.

Adrian is extremely qualified, patient and reliable and has been a pleasure to work with.

3rd September 2007