Hammersmith and Fulham PCT Choosing Fordway Solutions

ICT integrator Fordway Solutions Limited has completed the design and installation of a new storage and disaster recovery infrastructure for Hammersmith and Fulham Primary Care Trust (PCT).

The new storage solution was needed to handle anticipated data growth, while reducing both the physical size of the PCT’s server space and server power consumption. It has more than achieved this, reducing the PCT’s server count by 60 per cent. The new system has also significantly reduced downtime, will enable faster delivery of new services and provides a secure and scalable disaster recovery platform.

“We knew we had to increase our storage capacity to handle future projections,” explains Zakaria Ahmed, Chief Technology Officer at Hammersmith and Fulham PCT. “We also wanted to bring all our random access databases together and then make the data secure. We realised a SAN was the way forward and Fordway, who were already providing us with network support, reviewed the market and recommended a bespoke solution.”

The infrastructure comprises a fully resilient and replicated SAN infrastructure linking the PCT’s headquarters at Parson’s Green and its disaster recovery site three and a half miles away. To create this Fordway used a combination of VMware virtualisation, Compellent SAN arrays and CommVault centrally managed enterprise back-up, all of which was tailored to the PCT’s specific requirements.

“The Fordway team has worked very closely with us for several years, and has been instrumental in shaping this network to meet our needs both now and in the future. They were able to think about the complete picture, rather than a single aspect, and deliver a fully integrated infrastructure that handles everything we do.”

Zakaria has already seen a number of benefits, from reduced access times to improved reporting. His team describes the SAN as ‘the new storage nanny’ because they do not have to constantly check what is happening.

“We have an excellent record of delivering successful projects for public sector organisations because we take the time to fully understand their needs,” explains Richard Blanford, managing director of Fordway. “Whether they are a university, local government or as in this case, a leading PCT, our process ensures we can identify exactly what needs to be achieved. This, combined with our ability to deliver on time and on budget, has enabled us to deliver more than 100 public sector projects in the last year alone.”