Case Study

The Challenge

The Higher Education customer asked Perform Partners to transform its legacy IT infrastructure, addressing the challenges posed by undocumented and outdated systems that were leading to uncontrollable downtime, long lead times for adding capability, and increasing exposure and vulnerability to external attacks.

The old systems obstructed operations, regular maintenance, and upgrades while lacking flexibility for meeting increasing demand. As the heart of the university ecosystem, their central IT capability played a crucial role in supporting all core business processes and hosting important student data. The legacy technology was a roadblock to future IT transformation and represented a major risk.

The Perform Way

The complexity of the outdated technology required a solution that would meet the requirements of improving security, system scalability, resiliency and enhancing performance. Public Cloud adoption was the most effective way to support the strategic intent within the given timeframes.

The direction was to transition directly to the Cloud and benefit from its speed, flexibility, capacity, resilience, and automation. The strategic approach:

• Conducted a comprehensive health check and technology audit to understand the existing landscape (As-Is state).
• Defined and agreed on clear objectives and responsibilities for all stakeholders involved.
• Developed a tailored and flexible migration strategy and project plan, considering the unique needs of each group.
• Facilitated change management efforts and led the transformation process.
• Addressed concerns and resistance to change, taking into account the cultural needs of the university community.
• Provided extensive training and upskilling programs to empower in-house teams and embed new ways of working.

Stakeholders

Our target audience for this transformation included students and senior faculty stakeholders. Here’s how we led key audience groups through the journey:

Leadership: We provided a comprehensive understanding of benefits, risks, and implications, enabling informed decisions and effective resource allocation.

Staff: We nurtured and empowered impacted people, ensuring they understood the strategy and benefits, and received the necessary training and support.

Students: Effective communication with students addressed concerns and disruptions, emphasising the transformation’s positive impact on their experience.

“The UK’s University of Sheffield worked with Perform Partners in migrating to AWS with a goal of gaining a more modern, faster-performing system for managing student needs.”

AWS