Integration and Upgrade

Integration and Upgrade

This week saw the start of a 3 month-long project to carry out the integration and upgrade of IT systems for the YMCA Black Country group (YMCABC).  YMCABC has 3 main IT problems:

1. There are 3 independent IT infrastructures and no common email address system as YMCABC is comprised of West Bromwich YMCA, Wolverhampton YMCA and First Base Walsall;
2. The group is geographically dispersed over the West Midlands which causes difficulty with sharing and access data, and means there is no common data storage facility;
3. The inherited IT infrastructures are aging which prevents the easy sharing of data and means that IT support costs are high.

The Planned Integration and Upgrade Solutions

Over the coming months we will carry out the following work:

• Provide fast broadband connections at all sites – this is important for all the following work;
• Implement a common Windows domain-based network to give secure and controlled access to the IT assets of the group;
• Provide email and calendaring services with cloud access;
• Upgrade or replace PCs with Windows 8.1 and Office 2013;
• Implement a private cloud based on SharePoint.