Success
Story:
Philadelphia Cultural Icon Keeps IT Costs Low with
Server Upgrade
Background
The
Library Company of Philadelphia is America's oldest
cultural institution. It was founded in 1731 by Benjamin
Franklin as a subscription library supported by its
shareholders, as it is to this day. Free and open to the
public, the Library Company houses an extensive
non-circulating collection of rare books, manuscripts,
broadsides, ephemera, and works of art.
The Challenge
The
Library Company has been a client of IT Solutions since
2003. Since the start of the relationship, The Library
Company was centralizing storage of files and resources
on a Windows 2000 Server. While this unit was adequate
for file storage and some network traffic control, as a
comprehensive solution it was lacking key components.
Among the more critical issues, client workstations were not uniformly joined to the domain and network services were not being provided by the server, thus creating authentication, folder access and connection issues. In addition to having to use multiple logins to access their workstations and the network, users would frequently experience network disconnects and time-consuming interruptions. Collaboration and sharing of calendars, contacts and tasks were an additional challenge for the staff, as there was no centralized software in place. And with email being hosted off-site by an Internet Service Provider, the staff didn’t have the kind of control and freedom associated with email programs hosted locally.
|
Finally, Library Company IT Manager and Reference
Librarian Nicole Scalessa “The number of network login and email recovery issues had become excessive and disallowed me to attend to other responsibilities in my multi-faceted role that includes not only IT management but website maintenance, cataloging, and reference assistance,” Scalessa recalled. |
"The SharedVision plan
has been an invaluable asset -- allowing me to troubleshoot
day-to-day user issues remotely from home." Nicole Scalessa, IT Manager & Reference Librarian, The Library Company of Philadelphia |
The
Solution
IT Solutions recommended an upgrade to Microsoft Small
Business Server 2003. As part of the migration, all
workstations were formally joined to the network and
domain and network services were configured to be
managed by the SBS software. Outlook 2003 was installed
and configured on the workstations so users could take
advantage of the excellent calendar, contact, and task
sharing capabilities of Exchange 2003. Additionally,
users' documents were stored directly on the server in
both public and private folders to ensure inclusion in
the nightly backup routine on the server. A formal
training session was conducted by ITS to introduce users
to the collaborative benefits of Outlook with Exchange
Server 2003.
With the easy-to-administer new technology in place, The Library Company continues to keep its IT costs low and predictable. Scalessa can continue to maintain both of her job responsibilities with limited additional support. Primarily for reliable backup to her IT responsibilities, The Library Company is enrolled in one of IT Solutions' SharedVision managed service plans. The plan provides all the preventative maintenance at a fraction of the cost of a full-time network administrator for a flat monthly fee.
The Return
Today, network interruptions and outages are a thing of
the past. The network as a whole is measurably more
stable and reliable. Combined with the adoption of
Outlook 2003 on the desktops, users are working much
more efficiently and effectively. As a result,
productivity stays consistently high and the calls to
the IT manager are greatly reduced.
"As a part-time IT administrator and full-time mom, the SharedVision plan has been an invaluable asset -- allowing me to troubleshoot day-to-day user issues and monitor the network remotely from home," Scalessa commented. "The number of emergency onsite visits outside of my usual schedule has nearly been eliminated. LCP’s network upgrade not only added stability and predictability to the network but has allowed me to regain focus on other aspects of my job."