20 December, 2007
Kent and Medway’s public sector organisations
will achieve significant savings and help to hit environmental
targets through the introduction of VMware virtualisation
technology, supported by training sourced through Kent
Connects, their lead technology partnership.
The virtualisation software, which sits over a number of
servers, enables any server running at full capacity to draw on
the under capacity of the others. Typically, a
configuration of fifteen servers can be reduced to five,
providing immediate savings both in terms of equipment and
energy required. Savings will continue into the future
because of the reduced need to procure more servers over
time.
Debbie Wisdom, Kent Connects’ Strategic
Director is delighted by the new arrangements: “Our
partner organisations are responsible for delivering an
extensive range of the public services in Kent and Medway. With
the application of this technology they can make these services
more accessible and more efficient, whilst meeting
environmental targets and reducing cost.
“It’s important that the introduction of this new technology is
backed up with the right training programme – as making sure
that strong skills are in place will ensure that the
organisation gains maximum value from their investment. There
are strong benefits to our partners carrying out this training
within the partnership. Working together allows people to
develop complementary skills, brining them closer together and
reducing the need for further technical support as skills can
be sourced within the partnership.”
Kent Connects has helped the organisations to make sure they’ve
got the right skills in place for the technology, working with
learning company QA-IQ to provide a unified programme of VMware
training.
Russell Edwards, Kent Connects' Account Manager at
QA-IQ explains: “As a VMware Authorised Training
Centre (VATC) we’re able to work together to tailor a Skills
Licence that gives Kent Connects’ customers access to the
highest quality training at a price that provides real return
on investment. We are able to put together a Licence-based
programme that, by treating the sixteen organisations in the
Kent Connects partnership as a single body, allows them to
access significant discount based on economies of scale.
It’s more efficient as the programme can be standardised to
their requirements and they’re able to train more people on
fewer courses, making sure that they’re minimising the time
needed away from business-as-usual activities.”
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