Imerja, working in partnership with lead supplier Virgin Media Business and infrastructure vendor Extreme Networks, has completed a major overhaul of the IT network at Fareham Borough Council.

The Hampshire council commissioned the work as part of its proactive strategy to redistribute savings made from areas such as IT to other community services, while reducing carbon emissions in line with its environmental strategy.

The new IP-based network is a more reliable and resilient system and provides an energy-efficient, scalable solution for the council. To ensure the new infrastructure remains effective, Imerja will provide full maintenance and support under its m|four services suite, delivered from its ISO27001 certified operations centres.

Ian Jackson, managing director at Imerja, said: “Local authorities are under increasing pressure to make substantial savings across all areas of public spending, while at the same time maintaining excellent levels of service to residents.

“It is not an easy task, but an improvement in IT is one measure that can help councils of all sizes meet the tough budgetary targets imposed by central government, without having to compromise on provision for the local community. More councils should follow Fareham’s lead and look towards their IT as a way of driving down costs and improving efficiencies.”

Fareham Borough Council’s Network Manager, Andrew Scribbans said: “The installation of the new network has helped us to dramatically improve services and reduce our operational costs, while the monitoring service means our in-house staff can focus on other areas of the organisation.

“Throughout the project, Imerja, Extreme Networks and Virgin Media Business demonstrated a clear understanding of our requirements, and provided us with the necessary expertise in implementing public sector infrastructures.”

Extreme Networks’ Regional Director for UK and Ireland, Gary Newbold said: “Many public sector organisations including schools, colleges and councils rely on Extreme Networks’ technology. Working with Imerja and Fareham Borough Council, we have once again demonstrated how it is possible to make dramatic improvements in service, whilst responding to the needs to reduce spending.”

This excerpt is from a recent press release detailing the work that Imerja is carrying out in partnership with Virgin Media Business.

Health and social care workers across Lancashire are to benefit from a new £9m high-speed network.

The project will include the delivery of a 10Gbit/s network with wireless, Local Area Network (LAN), voice, Remote Access Service (RAS) and mobile services connecting 11 hospitals, 85 health centres, clinics and surgeries, 33 mental health and social care departments, three prisons and 37 other NHS sites. The network will be supported by a single bespoke service desk, centralised with the aim of improving efficiencies, optimising online security and enhancing the patient experience.

Virgin Media Business will work in partnership with infrastructure and security firm Imerja to install the initial stage of the project, including the development and management of the service desk. The infrastructure should take around three years to fully install.

View the full post here.

[Report form Ian Jackson, Managing Director, on attending the recent launch of Virgin Media Business]

Wednesday evening saw the launch of Virgin Media Business at a glitzy event in London’s Kensington district – myself and Matt Johnson where two of around 350 specially invited customers and suppliers on the night to witness the launch of the latest Virgin business and be a part of what I believe is exciting news for the UK’s telecommunications industry.

Appropriately set in London’s Science Museum the evening started with a series of business presentations and Q&A session on the ntl:Telewest Business journey, their success and future products with a much greater focus on customer satisfaction underpinned by the Virgin values.

Arriving at the event after a parallel press conference, Sir Richard Branson himself addressed the audience with a special mention for RNLI [as a Virgin Media Business client supported by Imerja], recalling how they have pulled him out of the sea on a number of occasions, whilst VMB Managing Director Mark Heraghty spoke on the values of the brand. With the business end of the night out of the way we where entertained by X-Factor finalist’s Escala and British Indi band Scouting for Girls whilst stilt walking girls, magicians and Dan Dare style Cyber-men with TV Heads  mingled with the networking [excuse the pun] audience.

The night was a huge success; myself, Matt and fellow guests where extremely well looked after, the entertainment was excellent as was the venue. There was a buzz of excitement around the audience and positive anticipation about the future – a great start to what should be a refreshing and challenging brand within the sector.

As a strategic channel partner for Imerja the re-branding of ntl:Telewest Business is hugely important and excellently timed, the Virgin brand is sure to bring a new dynamism to the organisation and fuel further growth in a growing market. Working together we [Imerja and Virgin Media Business] have secured and manage a number of prestigious clients including the RNLI and Lancashire Health Care and will continue to build on this moving forward.

Read the VMG Press Release:

http://www.virginmediabusiness.co.uk/news__events/news/2010/virgin_media_business_launch.aspx

View the VMG Press Conference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCHxDStluVA