Lincoln Diocesan Trust And Board Of Finance

Customer Profile

The Diocese of Lincoln was originally constituted by William the Conqueror in 1072 and is responsible for the administration of over 600 churches throughout the region through its structure of deacons and arch deacons who are all overseen by the bishop.

At the Church House offices in Lincoln where the Bishop resides the administration of the parishes is carried out including the management of property, staff, events and all aspects related to The Church.

---

Limitations with existing solution

Lincoln Diocese had been a customer of HBP since 1996 and over this time had expanded their use of IT within the organisation. Their existing solution was based around an office-based network running Microsoft NT on a central fileserver. Applications used included Pegasus Opera, Microsoft Office, Exchange Server and other bespoke Access databases.

As the use of technology had grown over the years the Board were faced with how to provide access to this for Ministries throughout the region that were now needing access to various applications and files. The method of e-mailing files or travelling into the office was becoming unworkable and costly so a more efficient method was needed that prevented these problems.

---

The solution

Over several months of consultation HBP reviewed with The Board of Lincoln Diocese the long-term IT objectives so that any proposed solution would be as future proofed as possible. It was clear IT was at the core of the business compared to nine years previous and that the use of IT by outworkers had grown tremendously. Therefore any solution would have to be robust enough to cater for this demand both now and in the future. Remote workers needed to have the same functionality as they had been used to in the office without compromising on network performance and security.

HBP investigated various options open to The Board that would meet their requirements both technically and financially and in July 2004 the decision to implement HBP's most comprehensive solution was made.

Due to the requirements of the system to ensure optimum performance four new fileservers were installed to manage various tasks.

The main HP fileserver provided network applications for office based staff with the usual file and print sharing solutions on a secure network. A further HP fileserver running MS Exchange was used to provide a secure and robust e-mail solution for all network users which incorporated shared calendars.

Using an intY server allowed everyone secure Internet access, which could easily be administered and monitored by the network administrator. This also acted as the secure gateway for the remote workers to access the central network. Finally a fourth HP fileserver was used to run MS Terminal Services, the application used to provide the remote workers with the programs they needed access at the speed required.

Fifty new PC's were installed at the various locations to ensure that the full benefits of the solution could be achieved without any bottlenecks. Other investments made in the infrastructure included D-Link gigabit switches and fibre optic links to help manage network traffic efficiently.

---

Key Benefits

By investing in the latest technology the biggest benefit Lincoln Diocese have gained is the convenience for all network users to have access to the applications whenever required. Travelling costs have been a significant saving as well as being able to access up to the minute data whereas previously information had to be posted out when electronic transmission wasn't always possible.

Security of information has also been improved through the centralised storage of sensitive data and the facilities available within the Microsoft applications to configure security by user preference.

Administration through the centralised servers has meant it is still easy to manage the configuration of the systems despite the increase in technology. Users who previously were only occasionally in the office are now much more a part of everyday interaction with colleagues through the use of e-mail etc.

In the future the infrastructure is in place for the implementation of Voice Over IP Telephony allowing remote workers to carry out phone calls over the network with other remote or office workers. This will greatly reduce the phone call charges and help everyone communicate more efficiently.

If you have an IT problem that requires our expert service, Contact us now.