CASE STUDY
Can you tell us about your role at the company ?
I joined Trafford Council as Head of IT Operations to support the Chief Digital Officer in delivering the digital strategy and to develop our IT services we offer our customers . My role focuses on how we can improve the IT service within the council . The impact of the pandemic on how we deliver our frontline services has meant our staff are working in a different way at different times and some with new technology . We need to make our services accessible so we can support our staff in the way they are working today .
Why did you select BlueFort Security as the vendor ?
We had confidence and faith in the product – it had never let us down . We did have one or two teething problems , primarily around how the platform took the temporary licences , which we had for seven to 10 days until the licence key was released , but things started to settle down quickly . We ended up within about 10 days – three weeks having an average of around 1,500 people connecting through our VPN Pulse platform , with no issues at all from the outset . more than 1,000 devices , of which 950 were laptops or tablets . We were also able to source another 150 laptops and 100 Wi-Fi enabled desktops . With global supply chains impacted , the stock we had in place let us get around 300 devices out into the business quickly so we could support critical services . Then we started to see the demand on our Pulse VPN platform .
We were licensed for around 300 users but needed to deploy an ICE licence for short-term use of 50 – 60 days . This is designed for when serious things happen and was a good immediate fix , but it soon became apparent that we ’ d be working like this for a long period of time , so we needed a more permanent solution .
Did the implementation go ahead as planned and did you experience any downtime ?
Before the pandemic , on a typical day we ’ d have 100 – 150 staff accessing the Pulse VPN technology . This was predominantly staff at home , but we might have the occasional social worker out in the field connecting through Wi-Fi too . Staff were also only connecting for a short period of time while they were accessing emails or logging into parts of the system .
We had several options on the table but when you ’ re in a priority 1 situation , you need to move fast with a provider and proven product that ’ s stable , resilient and scalable . This was what we already had in place and it wasn ’ t the time to introduce unknowns . Other solutions may be proven , but we knew the Pulse platform and were already working closely with a partner we knew could deliver what we needed .
Was COVID-19 the sole initiator behind the need to digitally transform and how important is Digital Transformation for you ?
The modernisation programme that has been underway for some time is underpinned by the Chief Digital Officer ’ s digital strategy . This involves both modernising council services and giving residents in the borough digital channels to access council services . I know from my experience that aspirations to digitise and modernise services also mean you have to look at your workforce as well . When the pandemic came along , we set up various emergency groups . One was around the immediate needs of the council , but the teams were varied – encompassing everything from bin collections , to how the council was going to deliver critical services . IT was at the centre of this – identifying core critical services and what technology needed to be mobilised .
Our focus was to mobilise staff . We were already planning a Windows 10 upgrade and had an order of
When we realised we ’ d be working around this for a long time , we had two immediate priorities : getting hold of equipment so we could mobilise the workforce ; and scaling the Pulse VPN technology . Very quickly we started to see people accessing remotely from home and it getting to the point where we ’ d reached our capacity . We started communication with BlueFort Security to find out what our options were on increasing that capacity . Eventually , we took this right up to 2,100 but we were running on temporary licences for some time . This helped the mad rush of people connecting , but we needed a long-term solution quickly .
What are some of the key IT benefits that end-users are now experiencing ?
We had lots of people using laptops for the first time , so we ’ ve been able to give our staff some confidence in using the technology . During the month of April , all staff moved to home working wherever possible , so our focus was on mobilising staff . We were able to get devices into people ’ s homes and connect them through Pulse VPN so they could continue to provide those services . For those three to four weeks , it was about getting those critical services up and running . We can now get 2,100 people connected at any one time and see an average of 1,300 – 1,500 in any given day . We haven ’ t had a single blip since it ’ s gone live and have been in a position to support our council and critical council services – it ’ s one of the big success stories for us from a technology perspective . p
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