CASE STUDY UNDER LOCK AND KEY
DATA
DRIVEN
The COVID -19 crisis has led
organisations to look at ways
of managing a dispersed workforce
remotely, while equipping buildings
with the technology needed to monitor
capacity and maintain social distancing.
As a result, the role of data centres in
looking a er IT systems is more important
than ever. Data centres need to o er a
highly secure and scalable infrastructure
to house critical IT systems, ensuring
technology resilience is maintained
and the information contained is fully
protected.
But aside from housing and managing
the data, says Mark Scott, Head of Managed
Services at data centre specialist Keysource,
there are huge benefits in using a multiskilled
24 MARCH 2021
and highly trained workforce to help
run these centres. “Where we add value, is
that along with an IT ‘Smart hands ’ service,
which is traditionally run by an IT provider
– we are also able to provide the facilities
management capability. In addition, we
complete the service requirement by bringing
in other skills such as health and safety,
construction and commercial as a one stop
shop.”
Scott and his team have been working
closely with a major city police force for over
five years. The force’s critical IT systems
support services such as emergency service
communications which handle an average
of 6,000 emergency 999 and 15,000 nonemergency
calls every day.
Keysource was engaged initially to manage
the force’s two critical data centres as part
of its strategic transformation programme,
but have gone on to support the evaluation,
design, and delivery for several additional
IT and technical requirements. The force’s
traditional IT estate was located in four
data centres, strategically placed around a
major city and before Keysource took over
they’d moved to two data centres further
afield which, as was common, were designed
for way more space and power than they
needed.
Says Scott: “I’ve worked globally in data
centres, and every single one you walk into,
when you overlay the service requirement
to the capability and operation, there is so
much that can be improved. With our service
and support, we have worked e ortlessly
as one team, building on our credibility to
improve security and availability, reduce
cost & risk, and significantly influence their
sustainability credentials.”
Aside from the tech knowhow says Scott,
Mark Scott, Head of Managed Services at Keysource tells
Sara Bean why taking an FM approach to managing data
centres brought huge benefi ts to a major city Police Service