The Challenge at Worcester Cathedral
With any heritage project, it is pretty safe to say computer infrastructure will be a thorny issue!
When these structures were originally built, computers were obviously not taken into account. At Worcester, modern technology had grown organically, usually on a need-to-know basis. This had led to fragmentation and confusion. In turn, different departments (Music, Administration, Finance etc.) would buy computers and set-up their own systems independently. Departmental “technology bubbles” were created, unable to communicate with each other.
Frustration increased, arrangements were repeatedly duplicated, and key goals were missed.
This was the situation when Solutions4IT took over. Their previous IT Company had concentrated solely on the Administration department, as they had the largest group of computers. They neglected the needs of the other areas, perhaps smaller but integral to the busy Cathedral. Our challenge was to bring all of these together, forming a linked “whole”.