Desktop & Server Upgrade
Summary
Client: Universities Colleges Employers Association
Sector: Higher Education
Company Size: 20+
Benefits of Cyber Security service:
- Reduced the threat of phishing attack and access to cloud services
- Sophos cloud security to monitoring and manage endpoint security
- Daily security checks and remediation of security issues
- Remote access secured using Azure multi-factor authentication
Other Services Provided:
- Managed Internet
- Managed Server
- Managed Desktop
- Managed Voice
The Challenge
Upgrade server and desktop hardware to improve IT productivity:
- Address PC performance issues
- Ensure operating systems supported
- Standardise applications
- Provide simple to use secure remote access
Design & Implementation
The existing IT solution consisted of Dell desktop PCs running Windows 7 and Dell servers running Windows 2008 with remote access provided through connections to local desktops. Issues with this solution were:
- Slow PC boot times
- Different versions of applications in use depending on PC hardware
- Some security products could not be installed
- Windows 7 and Windows 2008 Server go end of life Jan 2020
- Remote access was dependent on local desktops being connected
- Remote access was complicated and difficult to administer and did not support BYOD
To address the issues highlighted above Comis implemented the following solution:
- Upgraded PCs to Windows 10 with Core i5, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD
- Implemented Sophos endpoint, web gateway and BitLocker security as part of the Comis Managed Desktop service
- Upgraded servers to Windows Server 2016 including a Windows Remote Desktop Server
- Installed a SonicWall SMA secure remote access appliance
Benefits
The benefits of implementing the solution designed by Comis were:
- Significantly improved desktop PC performance through SSD installations
- Deployed a standard build and applications for all PCs
- Improved the security of servers and desktops through deployment of all Sophos security applications supported by the Comis Managed Desktop service to monitor and remediate security issues
- Delivered a reliable and secure flexible remote working solution for staff to connect using BYOD
- Ensured all server and desktop hardware and operating remain under support from vendors
The Technical Part
We upgraded all desktops to Dell Optiplex models with Core i5, 8GB & 256GB SSD running Windows 10 Pro and ProPlus from Office365 which delivered a significant increase in performance. This also enabled us to install the full Sophos endpoint suite of services to improve security. We also upgraded the Windows Server to 2016 and installed a Windows 2016 Remote Desktop Server for remote access. Remote access was delivered using a dedicated Sonicwall SMA appliance to ensure secure remote connections.
