Office of the Board of Studies selects Logicalis for
managed solution
Responsible for the state's examinations system from
school years 10 to 12, the NSW Office of the Board of Studies
(OBOS) provides educational leadership to government &
non-government institutions. When OBOS undertook a major network
refresh to take advantage of new technologies, they turned to
Logicalis for a fully managed solution.
Challenge
OBOS were looking for a solution that would enable them to stay
at the forefront of technology. They wanted to provide a platform
that embraced the concept of "Connected Learning", utilising
converged communications technologies to extend educational
services and share information more effectively with students and
teachers. The upgraded infrastructure would also lets BOS take
advantage of the productivity and operational benefits provided by
converged networking and adaptive network security
Solution
Logicalis has been providing the NSW Board of Studies with
managed network and security services since 2003, and responded to
OBOS's changing requirements with a fully managed network, which
incorporates Logicalis' NetManage network management services.
NetManage gives BOS full visibility into their network environment,
combined with the peace of mind that Logicalis' engineers are
proactively monitoring all aspects of the IT environment and taking
ownership of all faults, through to resolution.
An end-to-end Cisco network delivers the capacity and Quality of
Service to support future video-conferencing and telephony
requirements, which will be deployed in the next stage of the
network refresh. This includes replacement of the existing PABX,
and IPCC-based IP Contact Centre functionality. The network refresh
also extends secure VPN connectivity to remote users and Board
Liaison Officers located across NSW.
Security is paramount to OBOS, and the new network incorporates
strong authentication for remote users, Cisco IPS and redundant
firewall infrastructure and Network Admission Control for posture
validation and device authentication.
Benefits
In addition to the significant cost savings Logicalis offered,
OBOS has peace of mind in knowing that Logicalis has its
specialists looking after the network.
As more and more students and schools elect to get their exam
results online, it's an annual test for the Office of the Board of
Studies to ensure they have reliable access. OBOS opens up a line
at 6am on the morning the HSC results are released, and the first
12 hours is the network's heaviest load of the entire year. The
current network infrastructure is reliable and able to
handle this, so that schools and their students can log on and not
have to wait for long periods of time at their computers.