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South-east Kent
local authority,
Shepway district
council, was looking to
extend its IT network
beyond the civic
centre HQ when their
38-strong Housing
Management Unit,
Coast and Countryside
Housing Services,
moved to new office
premises nearby. With
thin client consultants
Insite, the council’s IT
management proposed
an 11 mbps wireless
link and thin client
architecture. The
result? Lower support
costs, better applications
performance,
robust security, yearon-
year cost savings
and higher levels of
user satisfaction.
Few councils win praise for their
forward thinking. But Shepway district
council based in Folkestone, Kent, can
count on praise from staff and
housing tenants alike, thanks to their
IT network foresight.
Late in 2001 the council’s Housing
Department Management Unit was
looking for a new home. The civic
centre in Folkestone’s Castle Hill
Avenue was at capacity and the
unit – one of Shepway’s busiest –
needed to move to a vacant location a
few minutes away.
But whether a few minutes or a few
hours, the need for access to and
integration with the council’s main
data centre and IT systems, demanded
a solution. The three options – a
wireless link, BT Megastream
connection or a LAN extension service
were all considered. Money, as
ever with a local authority, was a key
consideration, but not the only one.
‘A sensible capital cost, controlled
annual line-rental rate and enough
bandwidth to run some heavyweight
applications were key Housing
Management Unit priorities. We also
wanted a solution with long-term
capacity without the need to upgrade,’
explained information communications
and technology manager Steve Dean.
‘So, with consultants from IT specialist
Insite, we recommended an 11 mbps
wireless link and thin client
infrastructure.’
The whole concept of ‘thin client’- in
which Windows applications are
executed centrally on server farms,
with user PCs or terminals only
sending keystroke and mouse
movements and receiving changes in
display information was ideal for
Shepway. Data would continue to
reside on existing central servers, so
security was not an issue; keystroke
and display functionality require
minimal bandwidth so the 11 mbps
solution is effectively future-proof;
and the council’s existing PCs (or
low-cost Window-based terminals)
could easily operate even the most
feature-heavy software.
‘Thin client, using only modest-spec
PCs running Microsoft Office/Outlook
2000, Cedar e-Financials, Sx3 software
and SilverStream SilverJRunner
connected to a Hewlett-Packard
based server farm was the natural
choice. What is more, the potential
support cost savings over the years
added a further significant bonus,’
Steve Dean commented.
Thin client support costs are
dramatically reduced because applications
and data reside on a single,
centrally located server farm, making
desk-side engineering visits a thing of
the past. User problems and training,
software patches, new application
installations and data upgrades are all
handled centrally without the need to
replicate this for every user.
‘Although the system has only been
operating for three months, we
estimate that our Housing
Management Unit's IT support costs
will be significantly reduced,’ said
Shepway’s Steve Dean.
But like all projects, not everything runs smoothly. At the eleventh
hour of planning the project, relocation of the unit was delayed due
to protracted negotiations for the new office.
Insite had to re-schedule key
elements of the work at short notice.
As Insite’s James Barden explains,
the company was ready for this.
‘Being a smaller IT specialist with our
own, experienced staff, we can react
to client timescale changes more
flexibly. We also have a bespoke
project management methodology
that flexes with changing client
needs. Shepway were delayed
through no fault of their own and we
felt we needed to help out by re-working
the schedule.’
Barring the delayed move, the project
went according to plan and since its
completion, the new architecture has
proved robust and reliable. But those
aren’t the only benefits that have
emerged, as Shepway network services
manager, Steve Makin, explained.
‘As well as lower support savings, the
council can retain existing PCs for
longer – because high specifications
are no longer necessary. This will offer
substantial economies in capital
expenditure because even when they
do need replacing, we can replace
them with Windows-based terminals
at about half the cost of a standard
PC,’ said Steve Makin.
Housing Management Unit users,
managing a portfolio of about 3,750
homes and almost 5,000 tenants, and
receiving 1,500 enquiries a week,
have also noted an improvement in
the efficiency of their systems with
intranet applications actually running
faster. Staff can also log on from any
workstation and view their own data
and applications (which are centrallyheld
and not therefore restricted to
any one PC).
‘Thin client has already had a range of
benefits, and we are monitoring its
ongoing impact very closely with a
view to extending this architecture in
the foreseeable future,’ added Steve
Dean. ‘Our staff like it, and the anticipated
long-term cost savings will be
appreciated by everyone involved.’
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