Staying Secure & Connected With Netmatters - Urban Mission School IT Case Study

The Client

Urban Mission Schools and Community (UMSC) is an independent school aiming to re-engage young people, aged 11-16, with learning. Located in Lewisham, London, UMSC strives to support young people throughout their journey with education – giving them the tools they need to succeed in later life.

The Problem

UMSC approached Netmatters with a series of problems surrounding their IT infrastructure.

When they joined us, UMSC had a very basic IT infrastructure with minimal ongoing maintenance and a server that was doing very little for them. As a result of this, the business needed to revolutionise their infrastructure and security.

The client was also experiencing performance issues across their network in terms of file access and application performance issues due to a very slow Domain Controller.

Additionally, the Wi-Fi in their building needed an overhaul as they reported major wireless network problems such as slow speeds, weak signal and regular drops in connectivity, causing frustration for both staff and students.

Finally, the customer's email signatures were basic, unmanaged and set within Outlook locally, meaning there was no way to easily update them or make them uniformed.

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The Solution

Once we onboarded UMSC, we set to work removing the need for the server. Any necessary software was moved to the local machines or the cloud, and DHCP and DNS roles were moved from the server to the router.

Following this, we went on-site and completed a Wi-Fi survey and from there, ordered and implemented a new Ubiquiti Wi-Fi system. The new solution offers improved scalability, customisability, and delivers high uptime performance along with enhanced security.

We also wanted to address major issues across their network with regards to security. We spent time improving their Office 365 environment, setting up various security rules and enforcing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) across all accounts. We also implemented ESET Anti-virus and Full Disk Encryption to ensure all data is safe.

On top of this, we rolled out email filtering across the business to ensure that the emails being received had been thoroughly analysed before being delivered to individuals in the company. Email filtering improves cyber security by minimising the risks concerning spam, malware and phishing attacks.

With the aim to improve the business’s email signatures, we introduced Exclaimer, an award-winning and certified email signature management service. UMSC now have business-grade signatures which can be centrally managed by us and creates a more professional image throughout the documentation process.

The Results

Once we made most of the network infrastructure cloud-based (Microsoft 365), this allowed UMSC to be more location independent as staff now have accessibility at any time, from anywhere. Cloud-based solutions are highly cost-effective as they minimise the need for onsite maintenance, as well as associated hardware and software costs.

Following the installation of the new Wi-Fi system, the Wi-Fi speeds and stability were drastically improved throughout the building in addition to being able to manage each Access Point should any issues arise, or any changes need to be made. By improving the Wi-Fi speeds and stability, workflows have improved due to fewer interruptions, which were a result of poor network connectivity and slow load speeds. The newly installed wireless network is also more secure.

Our efforts to enhance the business’s security through email filtering, anti-virus software, and Full Disk Encryption has meant that the confidential data UMSC possess and process is now protected, future-proofing the client against costly data breaches.

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