Westminster City Council and The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea

Summary

4C Strategies is working with two councils (the Authority) who had historically run separate network infrastructures with a limited degree of interconnection. There are approximately 150 networked offices across both councils, ranging from municipal buildings accommodating up to 1,600 users to small outlying offices used infrequently by a handful of staff. The two councils have a total of around 6,000 staff, with some sites also accommodating a high number of “guest” users, such as libraries. The Authority identified a goal of one shared Bi-Borough infrastructure, with a solution that embraced developments in virtualisation, outsourced services and cloud computing concepts. 4C Strategies provided services in contract development, procurement, deployment and high-level project management and acted as a proactive addition to the team, resolving conflicts on behalf of the client and anticipating potential issues before they arose.

Brief

Assist in the procurement of a cost effective Bi-Borough WAN solution.
Contract development.
Aid the deployment of the replacement solution across both councils.
Ongoing high-level project management following deployment.

Westminster City Council WAN Case Study

Outcome

4C Strategies helped the Authority to select and deploy an SD-WAN “overlay” solution, delivered over an internet based “underlay” network. The new, cost effective solution offers a cohesive, secure and robust service, enabling advanced networking capability. The solution addresses the goal of a shared Bi-Borough infrastructure, whilst providing flexibility and agility for the IT team to use technology as an enabler across both councils. The solution also enables IT staff to monitor network traffic through analytics for enhanced trouble-shooting.

4C Strategies demonstrated a unique ability to empathise with stakeholders, represented the Authority’s best interests in negotiations with third party suppliers and made it easy for decisions to be reached by setting out all information, options and recommendations in a clear and concise manner. 4C Strategies quickly became a trusted advisor at all levels within the Authority and built a strong and open relationship with the client, sharing in their journey and providing a friendly and approachable service throughout.

Testimonial

“4C Strategies demonstrated a unique ability to empathise with stakeholders, represented our best interests at all times and made it easy for decisions to be reached by setting out all information, options and recommendations in a clear and concise manner. Paul quickly became a trusted advisor at all levels and we benefitted from our strong and open relationship with him, sharing in our journey and providing a friendly and approachable service throughout.

“Paul very quickly gained a solid understanding of our requirements, brought an unsurpassed level of market and technical knowledge and demonstrated a unique ability to balance any business or technical challenges that arose as the project progressed. Paul worked as a genuine member of our team, forming strong working relationships with, and most importantly gaining the trust of, all of our stakeholders. He was always happy to pick up the phone and answer any questions and we valued his friendly approach throughout the process.”

For further information call 01858 438938 or email webenquiries@4c.co.uk.

Westminster City Council and The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea

4C Strategies is working with two councils (the Authority) who had historically run separate network infrastructures with a limited degree of interconnection. The Authority identified a goal of one shared Bi-Borough infrastructure, with a solution that embraced developments in virtualisation, outsourced services and cloud computing concepts. 4C Strategies provided services in contract development, procurement, deployment and high-level project management and acted as a proactive addition to the team, resolving conflicts on behalf of the client and anticipating potential issues before they arose.

WHAT DO OUR CLIENTS SAY?

Ulster University

Donna O'Kane

“Dave very quickly gained a solid understanding of our requirements, some of which are unique due to history and geography in Northern Ireland. He brought an unsurpassed level of market and technical knowledge relating to unified communications and demonstrated a unique ability to balance any business or technical challenges that arose as the project progressed. Dave worked as a genuine member of our team forming strong working relationships with, and most importantly gaining the trust of, all of our stakeholders, ranging from telecommunications staff, through senior academics, to our board directors.”

Cambridgeshire County Council

Sue Grace, Director Corporate and Customer Services

"4C became a valuable member of our project team by producing high quality documentation, helping us to understand the UK marketplace and playing a full and proactive role in the evaluation. The 4C procurement ‘tool-set’ fully captured our requirements and allowed the suppliers to clearly articulate their proposals at all stages of the Competitive Dialogue. If you have a need for an independent ICT consultancy we would have no hesitation in recommending 4C Strategies."

University of Oxford

Stuart Lee, Deputy Chief Information Officer

"We were extremely pleased with the work we commissioned 4C to do for us. Exploring the infrastructure complexities within Oxford is a difficult task, but 4C did this diligently and to a high standard. We were kept in touch all the way through and this felt very much like a partnership, shaping the recommendations jointly. The final report delivered to time and to scope and offered very good value for money."

Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust

Steve Mattern, Associate Director of IM&T

“The project to replace the telephone systems in our three hospitals was always going to be a major challenge for the Trust. We retained 4C to help us to develop our strategy, go out to procurement and transition to the new solution in one coordinated step at all three sites.

West London Mental Health Trust

Trevor Nelms, Director of Business Technology

"4C Strategies has assisted in a range of complex ICT projects, from inception through to deployment, and demonstrate a rare ability to bring together technical expertise with business acumen and tight project management skills"

University of Edinburgh

Tony Weir, Director of IT Infrastructure

"We chose 4C as a strategic partner to help the University manage a large-scale project to modernise the University’s telephony service. This project involved full upgrade to the University’s VoIP infrastructure and migrating over 5,000 analogue extensions to the new system. 4C where chosen for their expert skills in telephony, the quality of their strategic advice and their ability to manage a business-critical project, all of which have proved invaluable in assisting the University to deliver a successful project."

University of Westminster

Thierry Delaitre, Head of FST Technical Services Department

"4C has played a key role in defining and delivering this important Mobile Learning project for the Faculty of Science and Technology. Their technical skills, relationship with the wider University, sector knowledge and project & change management skills have significantly contributed to the success of this project and its transition to Business As Usual"