Who are Said Business School?
Said Business School is the business school of the University of Oxford, located in Oxford, England. It is one of the leading business schools in the world, offering undergraduate, MBA, executive education, and doctoral programs. The school is known for its rigorous academic environment, global reach, and emphasis on entrepreneurship, leadership, and innovative business practices. It attracts students, faculty, and researchers from around the world and is part of the University of Oxford’s wider commitment to academic excellence.
The Challenge
When Mark Bramwell stepped in as the new CIO at Said Business School, he inherited an outdated and unreliable IT infrastructure that was no longer fit for a world-leading institution. The system was plagued by single points of failure, lacked disaster recovery protocols, and had no failover capabilities.
The support structure was also far from optimal, relying on a small internal team of just 1.6 FTE, with expensive day rate contractors and consultants filling the gaps. The support was limited to weekdays from 08:00 to 18:00, which failed to meet the needs of a dynamic academic environment that requires 24/7 reliability.
The existing infrastructure was not only insufficient to support the school’s ambitions, but it was also causing disruptions that damaged the reputation of the IT department and undermined confidence in its ability to deliver. It was clear that a transformation was needed to bring the school’s technology up to the standard expected of a world-class institution.
The Objectives
For Said Business School, developing a future-focused and robust IT strategy was not just important—it was essential. Every day, week, and year, the school serves thousands of students, all of whom have made a significant investment in their education. In addition to the students, the school’s staff and faculty rely on the IT infrastructure to perform at their best.
Naturally, everyone—students, staff, and faculty—expects the IT systems and services to reflect the school’s reputation for excellence. To meet this expectation and provide the level of support required, an up-to-date IT service offering was crucial. This would not only cater to the needs of the school’s “VIP” customers but also restore trust and confidence in the IT function, ensuring that technology becomes a true enabler of the institution's success.
The Solution
The solution would be multi-faceted: A complete IT service partner was needed to serve the needs of the entire business school and all of its students, staff, and faculty.
The partner would work alongside the school to assist in streamlining the organisation’s technology and network-related processes; mitigating issues and resolving challenges, as well as providing hands-on management during the transition to the new service.
A managed private wide area network (WAN) formed part of the Intercity proposal, as did a round-the-clock, 365-day-a-year hosted data centre with full resilience, failover, and disaster recovery for absolute peace of mind, together with an incentivised future migration plan to Office 365. The proposal went to a panel of 6 members which included representatives from the central university infrastructure and procurement teams, and CIO Mark Bramwell.
From an initial response of 19 companies, a shortlist of 4 was selected with Intercity being the unanimous choice of the panel.
The Business Benefits
Saïd Business School now enjoys a close, ongoing partnership with Intercity’s executive team and 24/7 support service. The school is now fully confident in delivering a modern, resilient, and always-on IT service that keeps everything running smoothly for its students, staff, and faculty. The result? A world-class IT experience that’s exactly what they expect—and totally appreciate.
"The partnership, engagement, visibility and transparency of the Intercity team has been refreshing, as has the unwavering focus on the company's core skills and competencies."
Mark Bramwell, CIO
Intercity is the ideal technology partner to enable organisations like yours to flourish securely in the new age of working from anywhere. We enable businesses and people to be productive anywhere, anytime, regardless of device, communications or technology. Connecting and securing from device to the cloud. To learn how you can Do More with Intercity, please speak to us here or use the live chat. To learn more about Said Business School, and some of the fantastic work they’re doing, please click here.
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