Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Consultants and Education ICT Supplier Build World’s Largest Online Learning Space
Overview
Country or Region:Scotland
Industry:Professional services
Customer Profile
RM is a leading provider of information and communications technology (ICT) solutions in the education sector.
Business Situation
RM was charged with providing an online learning network for all primary and secondary schools in Scotland.
Solution
Partnering with Microsoft® Services and Learning and Teaching Scotland, RM delivered the largest Global Microsoft Office SharePoint® Portal Server 2003 project, with 1.5 million users.
Benefits
Worldwide recognition received
Teachers empowered
Students’ horizons widened
Proactive intervention reduces
Microsoft support makes project possible
/ “We had a high level of engagement with Microsoft throughout the project. Without that support, we wouldn’t have been able to guarantee the success of the project.”
James Morris, Operations Manager of the Glow Project, RM
When Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner RM won the contract to develop Glow—the world’s first national intranet for education which covers all primary and secondary schools in Scotland—it was the largest implementation of its kind with a potential audience of 1.5 million global users. In addition to serving nearly everyone in the Scottish education system, the application incorporates 56 different products. For guidance on Microsoft products , RM turned to Microsoft Services teams who provided advice and consultancy throughout the project. This included bidding on the project, planning, development, deployment and beyond. The solution, which was built for Learning and Teaching Scotland, has achieved worldwide recognition and supports greater teacher collaboration. Taking full advantage of Microsoft Office SharePoint® Portal Server 2003, it also widens student horizons and reduces downtime as the support team can fix issues proactively before they become a challenge.
Situation
Founded in 1973, RM has provided information and communications technology (ICT) software, services, and infrastructure to United Kingdom schools, colleges, and universities for over 30 years. In September 2005, RM won the tender to help the Scottish Executive, and Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) develop Glow, the world's first country-wide learning environment for the Scottish school system.
This includes 32 councils and other key educational stakeholders, 3,000 schools, 700,000 students, and 70,000 teachers and staff. In addition it encompasses teacher education institutes, the Scottish qualifications authority, and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in Scotland.
Together with parents, the total number of people associated with Scottish primary and secondary education exceeds 1.5 million. LTS serves the whole system, offering advice, resources, and staff development, which help teachers continue to provide world-class teaching and learning experiences.
Above all, LTS builds on Scotland’s history of well-developed public education and literacy that dates back to the 17th century. LTS is now charged with creating a culture of excellence that equips Scotland’s children and young people with the knowledge and skills needed in the 21st century.
To ensure the consistent use of technology and the appropriate delivery of teaching and learning tools, directors at LTS and the Scottish Executive partnered with RM to create a nationwide network that comprises a range of new communication and collaboration tools integrated into a cohesive, single sign-on system at every state school in the country. Laurie O'Donnell, Director of LTS, says: “We wanted our learners and teachers to have access to the very best 21st century tools and environment as a key part of building a world class education system for Scotland.”
Solution
To meet LTS ambitions, RM knew that it would have to create a unified IT structure as the foundation of the service.
After consulting with Microsoft® Services, RM submitted a tender to deliver the Glow project. In September 2005, RM won the contract and Microsoft Services continued to provide technical consultancy and assistance while RM negotiated the details of the contract.
Michael Vermeersch, Enterprise Strategy Consultant at Microsoft, says: “It was important to discuss, right from the beginning, how RM could manage the architecture to provide the right level of quality and service to the ultimate customer— the Scottish Executive.”
During this period Microsoft Services offered advice to RM as it did with LTS to define requirements. In particular, LTS wanted:
•A single sign-on authentication system
•A national directory of all users in the system
•A portal accessible from anywhere, at anytime
•Web hosting
•Video conferencing
•Chat rooms
•Discussion groups
•Instant Messaging
•A virtual learning environment
To provide these features, RM integrated 56 different products into the new system. At the heart of the system is Microsoft Office SharePoint® Portal Server 2003 a flexible and scalable environment which RM used to integrate the various services and developed a rich experience for a wide range of users with different technical skills. Users simply log on to Glow, and the applications they use become immediately available.
This was the largest SharePoint Portal Server 2003 project ever attempted so the support of Microsoft Services Premier Support team was vital. James Morris, Operations Manager for the Glow Project, RM, says: “We had a high level of engagement with Microsoft throughout the project. Without that support, we wouldn’t have been able to guarantee the success of the project.”
The IT Architecture and Planning (ITAP) team at Microsoft helped ensure that the technology would scale to such a wide audience. To test the single sign-on solution for scalability and performance, Vermeersch took eight developers from RM Engineering, including the Overall Solution Architect Jason Dixon, to the Microsoft Enterprise Engineering Centre in Washington, United States (U.S.). They spent eight days testing the performance and scalability of the technology. As the lead ITAP consultant on the project, Vermeersch coordinated all of the resources needed to run tests and introduced the team to the appropriate experts at Microsoft. This was a high-profile project supported by 20 to 30 experts covering the different technologies needed. This was only one aspect of the customised services available during the design phase, but it was important to the success of the system. “We’d never implemented a project of this size before, so it was important to build this service for RM,” says Vermeersch.
After the Microsoft Services team helped RM through the design phase of Glow, Buller Taylor, the Technical Account Manager (TAM) in the Microsoft Premier Support team outlined a service delivery plan for the project. This addressed operational processes and technology during implementation and beyond. Services included one-to-one consultation, workshops, and training.
After two years of development and testing, Glow went live on 21 September 2007, connecting a small selection of schools. As Glow has been rolled out across Scotland, 1,600 schools and 180,000 users were connected by September 2008. Rollout will continue into 2009 with the target of having all schools and users in the Scottish schools system provisioned. Microsoft Services is still engaged, with the Premier Support team recently completing an Operational Excellence Assessment focusing on five key areas:
•Service management:People and processes.
•Systems management:Monitoring and control of key systems components.
•Systems architecture:Development and implementation of systems architecture.
•Security:Ongoing security and risk management.
•Supporting environment—Managing complexity, diversity and support.
Benefits
With the Glow system, RM and the Scottish school system keep their place at the forefront of technology in education. This portal has been well received by students and teachers, with the average user logging on nine times a day. “No one has completed a national project like this yet,” says Morris. “Microsoft consultants have a breadth and depth of knowledge that was essential in delivering such a large installation. Their help has been extremely valuable to the success of the project.”
Scottish Schools and RM Receive Worldwide Recognition
Glow has attracted worldwide recognition. The George Lucas Foundation honoured LTS with the Global Six award and presented Glow to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions as an example of exemplary use of IT in education. Organisations which have asked for guidance and demonstrations of Glow include the Singapore Education Ministry, the State of Victoria Education Department in Australia, the South West Grid for learning in the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland C2K.
Glow has also raised the profile of RM. “We are now working to help deploy Glow with local authorities in Scotland, so that’s increased our visibility considerably,” says Morris. The Glow team was also invited to demonstrate the solution to one of the largest education conferences in the U.S.
Communication Empowers Teachers
Paradoxically, teaching can be a solitary profession. While teachers spend much of their time surrounded by students, they often have little interaction with peers. They have even less interaction with local education authorities and governmental organisations whose policies and decisions affect education.
Glow reduces this isolation by providing multiple ways in which teachers and administrators can communicate.
One of the most popular tools by far is the collaborative workspaces feature where teachers can build and participate in online collaborative workspaces. These are being used at all levels of teaching to extend learning beyond the classroom. Groups of teachers who have a special interest can easily communicate with each other, whatever their location . Now, teachers can instantly exchange ideas and share files such as lesson plans and administrative documents.
Teachers can also use these spaces to communicate with their local authority and national organisations such as the Scottish Qualification Authority and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education. Instead of waiting for information to trickle down through administrative channels, teachers can communicate directly, sending and receiving information from governing bodies. This is a great step forward from the traditional way of receiving information on educational policies.
Proactive Support Reduces Downtime
Microsoft has provided services over the entire lifecycle of the Glow project. This means that challenges are addressed early and any issues that come up are fixed before they become a problem. “The Microsoft Premier Support team is keen to work with customers proactively,” says Taylor. “By being proactive, customers can improve systems availability, reduce risk, and improve the productivity of support staff.”
This support, provided by the national helpdesk, ensures that the user experience remains consistent while the Glow National Helpdesk acknowledge and resolve issues with little or no user impact. Approximately 45 per cent of incidents are raised proactively.
Expertise and Support Make Large-Scale Project Possible
Microsoft Services increased the resources and knowledge available to RM, making the project possible. Microsoft provided different expertise for different parts of the project. Microsoft Services helped review the operational processes developed by the operational support team and has continued to provide support throughout deployment and beyond to ensure the ongoing success of the Glow project.
Microsoft Services
Microsoft Services helps customers and partners discover and implement high-value Microsoft solutions that generate rapid, meaningful, and measurable results. As the consulting, technical support, and customer service arm of the world’s leading software company, Microsoft Services enables the successful adoption, deployment, and use of Microsoft solutions and technologies for all customers, from the individual to the enterprise.
For more information about Microsoft Services, go to: