The Oxford Knowledge Company

Transition from Microsoft Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2003 to Microsoft Windows Server 2003

Oxford Capital Partners: funding revolutionary ventures in science and technology

When it comes to new business ideas and opportunities, money certainly talks.
But funding alone isn’t enough, however entrepreneurial the innovation.
Strategic support provided by experienced, proven and agile investors is equally imperative.

Investment

With a global portfolio spanning Information and Communication
Technology (ICT), clean technologies, life sciences and physical science sectors, award-winning Oxford Capital Partners (OCP) invests in high growth potential opportunities through all stages of development – from start-up to IPO (Initial Public Offering).
And, keenly aware of rapid growth, OCP recently made a sound investment of its own – it upgraded its overburdened IT network. OCP engaged its trusted provider, Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, The Oxford Knowledge Company, to design and implement its transition from a single Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) to a robust and resilient multi-server network.

Expansion

So, what factors called for such investment?
“It was a combination of rapid growth in business portfolio, employee headcount, and mandatory legislation,” says OCP’s co-founder and Investment Director David Mott. “Our network had become noticeably slow and sluggish because of increased user demand due to business and employee expansion. Consequently, extra capacity to sustain future growth, and secure data backup and robust replication between our main and secondary offices became increasingly critical.
“Equally, the Financial Services Association (FSA) which governs our industry dictates strict guidelines for IT provision. Failure to comply could have jeopardized business continuity and negatively impacted our client service levels. The Oxford Knowledge Company was well aware of these issues and proposed a comprehensive, feasible and flexible network solution for discussion.”

Best-fit

OCP Investment Analyst Lucy Dighton adds: “Initially, our system requirements were broad. The Oxford Knowledge Company worked with us to prioritise the elements and design the best-fit solution in terms of performance and cost-effectiveness.”

Transition

So what exactly did the server upgrade entail?
The Oxford Knowledge Company’s Senior Technology Consultant Matthew Banks explains: “To enhance performance and load-balance user demand across the network, we migrated the client’s existing single Small Business Server, including Microsoft Exchange Server, applications and data onto three new Windows 2003 servers situated in OCP’s main and secondary office locations.
“SonicWALL Unified Threat Management devices securely connect the two locations, and Symantec AntiVirus software protects against malware attack. Crucially, the server in the secondary office now incorporates a replica Active Directory – which replicates all the server attributes from the main office – allowing continuous working in the event of a disaster. And a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery solution configured with CA Brightstor ARCserve, further enhances system redundancy.”
Banks adds, “OCP’s multiple offices and upgraded server infrastructure enable their employees to work anywhere, at any time, maximising efficiency.”

Diligent

And during the transition, how was it for OCP? David Mott comments:
“The Oxford Knowledge Company diligently kept us aware of any impending system downtime so we could manage and forward-plan workload and client commitments.”
Lucy Dighton adds: “While at times we couldn’t access systems, we were never offline for more than an hour at a time and, because we were aware of this in advance, we were able to plan around it.”

Wellbeing

Following the upgrade, The Oxford Knowledge Company continues to preserve the wellbeing of OCP’s network. Lucy continues: “Whether they come on site or manage our network remotely, The Oxford Knowledge Company continues to deliver a responsive and reliable service.”
David Mott concludes: “Today, we have a powerful and resilient network, future-proofed with fail-safe protection against disasters for the next five years.”