Sector: Charity
Drive Ltd is a charity organisation that provides innovative support to people with learning disabilities in South Wales. They have a network of 60+ remote sites and two offices with over 700 staff, where they deliver various services and activities to their clients.
Drive wanted to improve their IT and Cyber security posture, as their on-site server workload was reaching its end of life, and they faced challenges with data management, software integration, and network security.
It’s more crucial than ever for charities to focus on their IT strategy and consider implementing cloud solutions to stay competitive and meet the growing demands of the sector. Cloud technology offers unparalleled flexibility, scalability, and cost-efficiency, enabling charities to streamline their operations and respond quickly to changing needs.
By adopting cloud services, charities can enhance their data management, improve collaboration among staff and volunteers, and ensure robust security for sensitive information. Additionally, cloud platforms provide access to advanced tools and analytics that can drive innovation and improve decision-making. Ultimately, a well-defined IT strategy that includes cloud integration empowers charities to operate more efficiently, maximise their impact, and better serve their communities.
CSG is a leading IT provider that specialises in cloud solutions, network management, and security services, and were tasked by Drive’s leadership team to help them migrate their data and line of business software to a cloud platform that offers scalability, reliability and security.
Challenges
Drive Ltd faced several challenges with their IT and security infrastructure, such as:
- Their on-site server workloads were reaching their end of life and posed a risk of data loss, downtime and security breaches.
- Concerns around disaster recovery.
- Difficulty integrating third-party software providers with unique requirements for the hosting platform.
- Network security needed review and bringing up to best practice standards.
- Ageing networking infrastructure that needed attention.
The solution
CSG worked closely with Drive to understand their pain points and key objectives and proposed a solution that addressed their IT and security needs. The solution included:
- Decommission of the on-site server workloads and migration to the cloud, providing scalability, reliability and security. The CSG team provided a full assessment of the current environment which led to delivery of services unique to Drive’s needs and requirements.
- Modernising the technology in use to introduce more modern methods of working.
- Deployment of a new security network to provide a unified threat management solution that offers advanced security features, such as intrusion prevention, content filtering, malware protection and VPN.
- Introduction of CSG’s proactive network monitoring and management platform to help with elevated network mapping, monitoring, alerting and troubleshooting.
- To complement the core infrastructure refresh, CSG introduced network switches to replace the legacy switches, as well as refreshing the UPS to provide power resilience and surge protection.
The results
By moving to the cloud and partnering with CSG, Drive Ltd achieved significant benefits, such as:
- Improved IT and security posture, with a modern and secure cloud platform that meets their data and software needs, and a robust and reliable network that supports their operations and services.
- Reduced IT costs and complexity, with a simplified and streamlined IT infrastructure that eliminates the need for on-site servers and maintenance, and a cloud-based management and monitoring system that reduces the overhead and resources required for IT administration and support.
- Enhanced user experience and productivity, with a fast and flexible cloud environment that allows users to access their data and applications from anywhere and any device, and a stable and secure network that minimises disruptions and downtime.
- Increased business agility and innovation, with a scalable and adaptable cloud platform that enables them to respond to changing needs and demands, and to leverage new technologies and opportunities.
CSG helped Drive Ltd with their IT, digital and cyber security transformation, and provided them with a cloud solution that suits their specific needs and objectives. CSG also continues to support Drive with IT support and strategy, to ensure that they get the most out of their IT investment.
