Rochdale Borough Council procures new Ethernet line solution
About the council
Rochdale Borough Council provides more than 800 different services for residents, tourists and the business community in Rochdale, Heywood and Middleton. It is one of ten Greater Manchester Authorities.
The council serves an increasing population of more than 206,000 and employs approximately 6,000 staff – 10,000 including schools.
Challenge
They needed an Internet solution that would support the council’s day to day operations and their objectives to provide a range of services to the borough.
The current levels of Internet usage were nearing maximum capacity which was causing issues in terms of productivity and efficiency within their internal network. Staff were experiencing very slow responses especially at peak times throughout the day.
We have worked with Zen for many years and used them for our main site Internet connection as well as using their broadband services at many of our smaller sites.
Neville Johnson, IT Manager, Rochdale Borough Council
Their Internet connectivity was a 10Mbps Ethernet line solution, however bandwidth requirements were continually increasing and an option with greater flexibility was becoming necessary.
The council had an existing relationship with Zen having used broadband services at many of their smaller sites throughout the borough, as well as business connectivity for all networked offices within the council.
Zen were happy to work with the council’s strategic partner, the Impact Partnership, to install a solution which would fulfil their immediate requirements as well as providing the flexibility to upgrade in the future.
Solution
We proposed a solution designed to meet Rochdale Borough Council’s requirements both now and in the future. Our solution was to replace their existing 10Mbps Ethernet line connection with a 100Mbps Ethernet line solution to allow for greater flexibility and scalable growth.
To meet their immediate requirements we increased their bandwidth to 20Mbps with the potential to increase speeds further as the need arises.
The upgrade was completed on time and was executed with minimal disruption to the existing service. It was scheduled at a time we requested which meant our users had no experience of downtime.
The Benefits
The increase in capacity and speed of connectivity provided by the Ethernet line is an enabler and a platform for further improvement.
It has led to fewer problems at peak times, which, with ongoing improvements to the wider infrastructure, should enable the council to provide a much more efficient service to all stakeholders.
The council’s IT partner, the Impact Partnership has been pleased with how close we worked with them to schedule the installation. They also highlighted the excellent levels of communication and technical support that they continue to receive from Zen.
Zen has always been very approachable and been able to provide us with the right solution for its needs. I’m sure the service we receive by Zen is typical of the service they would provide to all customers.
Neville Johnson, IT Manager, Rochdale Borough Council
