Case Study: Phoenix Country Day School
Background
Phoenix Country Day School (PCDS) is a nonsectarian, college-preparatory school with an enrollment of 750 in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12. The student/faculty ratio is nine to one. Located in central Phoenix, PCDS' 40-acre campus includes sophisticated classrooms, modern science labs, art studios, a music building and administrative offices. Each requires access to the school's fully integrated computer network.
In April 2006, frustrated with the slow performance of its network, PCDS sought help from Hughes-Calihan and became an e-Manage client. Hughes-Calihan conducted a thorough network assessment, including a review of PCDS' servers, workstations, network infrastructure, Internet, e-mail, applications, security, remote access and disaster recovery. Hughes-Calihan identified that the network was extremely unreliable, unstable and, at times, unusable. While many of the network's existing components remained viable, the inefficient configuration of those components led to multiple problems, such as extreme slowness or downtime.
Solution
Hughes-Calihan targeted two main areas for improvement: data communications and server operating systems. Hughes-Calihan engineers created a strategic plan to address the problems, recommended the appropriate hardware/software, and proposed a multi-phased Scope of Work to complete the project during the school's summer break.
Data Communications
While PCDS had previously purchased Gigabyte switches for all of its buildings, the existing fiber lengths did not comply with IEEE specifications. As a result, a single flat network supported the entire 40-acre campus. By installing just two Cisco Layer-3 switches and applying industry best practices in its re-design, Hughes-Calihan created numerous, logical segments within the network, never allowing more than 50 devices within a single segment. In turn, slowness across the network immediately stopped. End users quickly noticed an increase in productivity and PCDS properly leveraged the investment in their existing equipment.
Server Operating Systems
Before becoming an e-Manage customer, PCDS remained a Novell Netware (server operating system) and Novell GroupWise (e-mail) organization. Considering Novell's quickly declining market share and the unparalleled range of features offered by Microsoft, Hughes-Calihan strongly encouraged PCDS to migrate to a Microsoft platform. In addition, as a Microsoft Gold Partner, Hughes-Calihan hoped to leverage its superior support resources on behalf of the school. PCDS agreed and, with the purchase of just two additional servers, migrated to Microsoft Windows 2003 (server operating system) and Microsoft Exchange 2003 (e-mail). Hughes-Calihan completed the server upgrades and migration in a phased approach, which kept end user interruptions to a minimum.
Conclusion
Today, PCDS maintains a stable and reliable network. Hughes-Calihan presents PCDS with a technology review every 90 days in order to ensure that the school maximizes its current technology investment, while also planning properly for the future. As Jenny Treadway, PCDS' Director of Information Technology comments, "We have been impressed and pleased by the quality of Hughes-Calihan's work, their quick response to our problems, the professional approach by their systems engineers, and the overall care they take with our system. We would recommend them to anyone looking for a Managed Service Provider."
