The client

Orpheus is a registered charity and college aiming to inspire and empower young disabled students to live fulfilling, independent lives. For nearly three decades, Orpheus supports young disabled adults aged 18-25 to learn essential life skills, gain formal qualifications and prepare for future employment.

Believing that disabled people should have the same opportunities as their non-disabled peers, they aim to equip young disabled people with the skills and confidence they need by teaching a diverse curriculum that covers the arts, independence and employment skills.

The challenge

Orpheus knew their IT setup was far from optimal; hardware for students was limited and with an aging server estate based on site, the infrastructure was very old, inefficient and not as secure as it should be and, compounding this, they didn’t have any senior IT staff, instead relying on the limited expertise of a few members of staff in the event of a problem to make quick fixes.

With this lack of in-house IT expertise, planning how to move forward was a huge issue. It seemed every option available represented a significant capital outlay in terms of consultancy, investment in new hardware and ongoing support and management.

The solution

In consultation with Orpheus, our team designed a plan to cater for their specific needs: a plan they knew would work for them and one we knew was achievable, manageable and flexible for the future.

Initially, we proposed a full cloud environment delivering a standardised hosted desktop environment to all users. As part of the cloud solution, we also implemented several security solutions, from anti-virus to multi-factor authentication for every user.

Following this, we systematically phased out all of the aging users PCs and laptops and replaced them with new devices helping to facilitate laptops for all students. All of the devices were catalogued with a rolling refresh programme which meant there would be less security and usage issues with aging hardware.

We also wanted to bring the learning spaces up to date. Visual aids form a key part of the learning process and after reviewing requirements with Orpheus, we were able to research, recommend and deliver a versatile solution using interactive smart boards. These multi-dimensional aids are used daily and now are a central piece of equipment in each classroom, dramatically changing the way lessons are delivered to students.

The helpdesk is the first port of call for any IT issues. We provide an always-on resource to resolve issues as and when they happen. For any more complex problems, there’s a process of escalation in place enabling us to assign the right technical resource in real-time so that nothing drifts and downtime is minimised. Support is provided by our UK-based service desks and in the event that an issue cannot be resolved remotely, we provide onsite engineers to resolve the issue as part of the contract at no extra cost.

“It’s very reassuring that 99% of issues are resolved right away, but also that we have a clear escalation process in place for any more complex issues. It’s great that we can now deliver the curriculum irrespective of any circumstance – previously we would have struggled.”

Moira Clifton, Chief Operating Officer at Orpheus

The results

The benefits are numerous. Orpheus are now set up to deliver the full curriculum in class or remotely as and if circumstances change. Students are still able to continue to learn and interact with each other. And via the interactive smart boards the way in which lessons are delivered has changed for the better. This is a great example of where we aim to go beyond being just a supplier of IT services and use our technical expertise to explore the different options, do the due diligence of getting 3 quotes in, as well as negotiating contracts – all of which enables Orpheus staff to focus on their jobs and not worry about IT.

The rolling hardware programme also minimises the security issues of aging hardware as well as decreasing downtime.

The structure we designed, the new processes we’ve implemented and the tools we embedded have also allowed Orpheus to tackle and obtain their Cyber Essentials certification.

Our partnership with Orpheus has not only helped them to deliver the curriculum in a more engaging way, but has also enabled their staff to trust in the technology that supports the vital work they do.

Moira Clifton, Chief Operating Officer at Orpheus said: “It’s very reassuring that 99% of issues are resolved right away, but also that we have a clear escalation process in place for any more complex issues. It’s great that we can now deliver the curriculum irrespective of any circumstance: previously, we would have struggled.”