Member Article

Aegis IT sees growth in education sector

Leading north east technology consultancy Aegis IT has increased its portfolio of clients in the education sector with a flurry of new contracts from a number of schools around the country.

Working with global vendors Huawei and Whiptail, Aegis has installed servers and hundreds of virtual desktops into schools over the past six months including, Kenton School in Newcastle upon Tyne and St Wilfred’s Catholic High School in Wakefield.

Peter Catch, Technical Consultant at Aegis IT said:

“Working closely with our global vendors we have built a wealth of experience and expertise in the education sector over the years and we’re certainly reaping the benefits at the moment with an increased number of contracts in this market.

“Schools by their very nature have a large number of users so flexibility and secure access are key factors. The benefits of installing cloud-style technologies, like streaming applications, virtual desktops and mobile access devices, mean that schools can allow their students full and secure access to all the technology the school has to offer from any location.”

The project at Kenton School in Newcastle, involved the installation of 200 virtual desktops in the school’s technology suite.

Paul Kernohan, Network Manager at Kenton School said:

“Our problem is the same one many schools face, which is we are trying to plan for the future with ageing desktops and a limited budget to replace them.

“Aegis came up with a number of solutions that not only fit with our current requirements but also gives us the option to grow in the future. Firstly, the provision of an initial 200 virtual desktops solved the problem of buying replacement desktops. Secondly, the installation of Vmware view, encompassing infrastructure of solid state storage appliance from Whiptail, provides enough capacity to run 400 virtual desktops, which means that the school now has enough capacity to implement a further 200 virtual desktops in the future with limited expenditure.”

The specialist expertise that Aegis has gained through its consultancy work in this market has also led the company to develop some education software of its own, which is due to launch later in the year.

“This is certainly a growth market for us not just in this country but also overseas so we’re continually looking a developing new products and services as well as forging links and partnerships with educational institutions all over the world,” said David McPherson, Managing Director of Aegis IT, who has recently returned from a trip to China. “We’re looking forward to launching our first education software in a few months time, which is the result of a lot of hard work, development and commitment by our team and partners.”

For further information regarding Aegis IT or to discuss virtualisation for your company visit www.aegisit.co.uk or call 0191 3102155.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Samantha Peters .