Presbyterian Support Central (PSC), one of New Zealand’s largest not-for-profit organisations, is embarking on a cloud technology journey as way to improve productivity, reduce costs and drive innovation.
Working with technology partner Fronde, PSC migrated to the Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) cloud, created a virtual data centre and improved disaster recovery capability all underpinned by local 24/7 managed services support.
Included in the migration was PSC’s virtual desktop infrastructure which is delivered via Citrix running on the Sydney AWS servers.
According to the company, end users will now benefit from “anywhere, anytime access and greater speeds than the previous Wellington-based data centre.
“We previously considered cloud services as a bold move, but our experience to date has exceeded expectations,” says Alan Lyford, IT Manager, Presbyterian Support Central.
“Fronde has opened up our thinking to the possibility of a complete cloud service for our organisation, as a way to free-up crucial funds, harness innovation and deliver more front line services.”
Lyford says already PSC is reaping the benefits, both financially (NZ$120k over three years) and in speed to innovate.
The AWS cloud solution allows PSC to scale up or down as required, only paying for the capacity used while new ideas can be trialled faster and at a lower cost than previously, with small concepts able to be “spun up” and piloted in a few days.
“It is a cost effective and efficient way to test ideas, to make sure the big projects are worth funding,” Lyford adds.
James Valentine, Chief Technology Officer Fronde, says that cloud solutions enable companies, regardless of their size, to free up technology budgets, optimise their spend and invest the savings in innovation rather than “keeping the lights on”.
“PSC now has IT infrastructure that can keep pace with their growth, and a support and disaster recovery system that promises local presence and knowledge, preservation of data and faster system restoration,” he says.
“That leaves PSC free to do what it does best; making a real and positive difference in people’s lives.”
Lyford says that AWS is an important stepping stone for PSC, as they consider replacing legacy systems with Software as a Service (SaaS) in the future.
With more than 1,400 staff across 26 locations, including 500 in the field, PSC offers residential care and in-home support services for older people as well as a range of social services for children and families.