CASE STUDY
Rackspace and the British Heart Foundation
taking a staged approach across multiple
teams to ensure the transition was as
smooth as possible.
The modernised platform has provided the
foundation for our 2030 strategy. In the
past, there had been concerns over whether
certain campaigns would break the website.
However, after the move to Azure we ran a
campaign on dementia and although traffic
was significantly up, we didn’t encounter
any of the issues across the site that we
had in the past. The platform also remains
available every minute of the day, along with
customer support in case something goes
wrong outside of normal working hours.
We’ve also seen additional benefits in
recruitment, with an industry-leading
platform that makes it easier to attract
and retain the talent we need to make our
of how we achieve our objectives, we have
been able to adopt a different mindset
across the team and wider business –
something we have learnt from Rackspace’s
culture and how it delivers innovation.
Rackspace has and is continuing to operate
as an extension of the British Heart
Foundation team. The Professional Services
team provided us with advice, support and
guidance on the right ways to deploy the
cloud, transforming the role technology plays
in the organisation.
How has the system improved
efficiency for the end-user?
Not only have we benefited from
Rackspace’s technical expertise, we have
also learnt from its mission to always provide
a fanatical experience to its customers.
This has helped us achieve one of the key
goals of our IT transformation: delivering a
IN MOVING TO
MICROSOFT
AZURE WITH
RACKSPACE,
WE’VE
ESTABLISHED
A RELIABLE IT
ESTATE THAT
ENABLES US TO
ACHIEVE OUR
AMBITIOUS
GOALS.
carers or those affected by heart disease, for
example. Ultimately, this will ensure that all
our stakeholders are having a relevant and
useful experience.
How far has the system future-
proofed the organisation?
The migration was always about providing a
future-proofed platform to support our 2030
strategy and the reliable infrastructure has
opened up a number of new possibilities.
ambitions a reality. It’s the first time we’ve
had IT and digital working together, with
Rackspace leading the way, setting up all
sorts of possibilities for further business
benefits in the future.
How has the team adapted to a
different mindset and what does
this involve?
The role of technology and innovation across
the organisation is shifting to underpin our
business strategy. With our IT set-up moving
from being a service provider to a core part
www.intelligentcio.com
positive user experience for all stakeholders
– both those helping us reach our aim of
ending heartbreak by 2030 and those who
are benefiting from it.
One way that we’ve delivered on this goal
has been through our website, which has
improved the website availability and online
experience for volunteers and donors. It is
also something we are looking to develop
by further tailoring the user journey for
different stakeholders. We want to introduce
personalisation technology to provide
individualised content and information to
We’re going to be pushing a lot more traffic
through the website in the coming months
and years, and we’re reassured it will be able
to perform optimally. The new, expandable
platform is also helping us think of new ways
of helping patients via digital technologies,
using data analytics and patient insights.
While the new site is reliable and scalable, we
understand it is just the first step in keeping
on top of advances in technology. The user
experience is becoming increasingly digital
and we need to make sure we are using our
online presence to better engage with our
stakeholders, supporters and beneficiaries.
We’re looking at Platform-as-a-Service with
Rackspace, which will help us be more agile,
more scalable and more stable. It’s ongoing
and it’s the way we can best use technology
to reach our targets. n
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