As the state of the UK economy improves, many organisations will begin to look to their IT in the quest for a competitive edge. Over the past decade, and prior to the global recession, the investment banking sector looked to “more, faster, better” IT as a way to gain an advantage over the competition. Not any more. We look at how the playing field has changed for large organisations and some of the technologies being used to make the most of what you’ve got. (more…)
Archive for the ‘InfraSwitch’ Category
Oct
21
2009
Why the entertainment industry should care about PC-over-IP
by Amanda Dahl, Director at AWIC
What on earth is PC-over-IP (better known as PCOIP) and why should anyone in the creative industries care about it?
A new technology is now available that allows you to instantly share dailies in full HD, work with remote studios or work from home – while keeping your movies secure.
The technology has been available for a while which allows companies to centralise their desktop IT, removing the computers from under people’s desks and replacing them with an energy efficient, small, quiet box called a “thin client”. A thin client is basically a screen directly connected to the internet.
Oct
18
2009
IT challenges for the film/tv industry: a mobile workforce
by Amanda Dahl, Director at AWIC
The film and television industry has one of the most mobile workforces in the country.
There are around 400 ‘permanent’ (i.e. registered) companies in the UK film industry. This figure varies depending on the number of productions being worked on at any one time. Of the companies existing today, we can say approximately 43% are production, 13% are distribution and the remaining 44% are exhibition companies. (Source: Skillset)
In a survey of workers in the film/tv industry by Skillset, almost all (91%) of the sample were freelance; just under half (48%) of the survey sample had been employed on a fixed-term contract i.e. for a fixed number of hours, days or weeks, over one in five (22%) had an open-ended weekly contract and a further 9% had been employed as dailies. The remaining 9% were permanent employees. (Source: http://publications.skillset.org/index.php?id=9&page=10)
The transient and mobile nature of the work force in film and television means that production companies have challenges when it comes to providing IT for staff that’s only around for a few weeks or months at a time.
Oct
09
2009
4 reasons why thin clients make sense
by Amanda Dahl, Director at AWIC
Over the past 18 months, IT budgets have shrunk dramatically, meaning that most companies have shelved the idea of replacing old kit. But as the economy starts to pick up, many companies are opening up to the idea that now is a good time for a hardware refresh.
The average lifetime of a pc is 3 years. How old are your company’s computers? Are they ready for the scrap heap?
If so, do you really need to replace your traditional desktops with more of the same? What about the alternatives?
Have you considered the switch to thin client technology?
Aug
12
2009
Virtualisation: things to consider over a cappuccino
As more and more companies journey down the path to virtualisation, AWI takes a look at some of the best practices that could make the difference between a successful implementation and a more chaotic rollout.
Aug
07
2009
Why buy new hardware for virtualisation?
by Amanda Dahl, Director at AWIC
One of the advantages of virtualising your server estate is that VMware will run on a wide range of hardware, allowing you to recycle your older kit and make the most of the hardware you already own. This can be very useful if you are not in a position to make significant capital expenditures — something effecting many IT managers in the current economic climate.
Jul
20
2009
Tips for Choosing a Colocation Provider
Perhaps you have exceeded the amount of available space in your existing on-site data center. Maybe you’re looking for a secure, off-site disaster recovery solution. It could be that your company only has a small server estate which doesn’t justify the operational costs and headaches of maintaining an on-site data center. (more…)
