Pushing the boundaries of IT support at Trent Bridge in Nottingham
The balmy English Summer time. Picnic hampers rustle, hotdogs sizzle. Cold beers quench whilst prosecco bubbles. Coaches cajoling, players preparing, stewards shepherding as Members are mingling. Spectators savour moments as history unfolds. The runs, the boundaries, the catches, the wickets – the joy they all feel by being at the cricket.
IT Support by deeserve
What could possibly puncture the atmosphere…..
Imagine you’re patiently queuing to get in and your ticket doesn’t scan. Ordinarily a delay might not be a problem – but on a day when Stuart Broad takes the fastest Test five-wicket haul (19 deliveries) to put England on the brink of Ashes victory…
When it comes to scanning thousands people into the ground an ultra reliable network is must have – not a nice to have.
As a caterer you might be rubbing your hands as the queue for your home made balti grows faster than the Outlaws runs total. But if your contactless payment terminal falls off the network you’ll be waving all those customers goodbye.
Photographers and journalists need to upload their images and copy fast. Delay means their efforts are wasted as their news becomes anything but new.
The marketing team feeding the social networks need reliable connections around the ground and to the outside world. Delays and slow feeds mean Trent Bridge can’t amplify their story around the world.
So how do we ensure the positive atmosphere at Trent Bridge is maintained.
Behind it’s quirky exterior and historic charm lies an invisible lattice of high tech infrastructure and support. From booking your match ticket, to getting into the ground and buying your lunch – deeserve ensure that things just simply work.
And the same goes for those seeing the action from a slightly different perspective; the stewards, admin & marketing teams, players, coaches, catering suppliers, photographers, journalists, the media. All those things they take for granted, which always work – first time, every time – that’s deeserve.
But it doesn’t happen by chance.
IT Consultancy by deeserve
deeserve provide long term planning consultancy for all technical infrastructure across the stadium and offices. So all new additions and upgrades are part of a technical master plan.
Once projects are approved deeserve proceed with the detailed planning and implementation stages.
On a day to day level we look after all the hardware which can reduce productivity if not working properly. Mobiles, PC’s, laptops and printers are all covered by our help desk support package.
One laptop not behaving as it should will impact one person directly. Yet it’s the servers and networks which make up the technical backbone and directly effect everyone at Trent Bridge (and beyond).
All servers have been planned and configured in the correct way from the ground up. There are separate servers for different functions – email, domain name control and to cover the data storage for all internal functions such as accounts, HR, marketing and coaching. Robust back up systems and procedures are in place to keep this vital data safe in the event of fire or power cut.
deeserve have designed and installed over 10 different networks across Trent Bridge to enable the smooth running of various functions. So things like the tills around the ground, the ticketing systems (remember our delayed ticket scan scenario above) and the WiFi network. You may be familiar with the teenage angst which can ensue if WiFi is down – for a full stadium on an international match day – you can multiply that angst many times over if the WiFi doesn’t work.
Network Support by deeserve
For maximum security we’ve also built in multiple firewalls to ensure the system has optimum uptime and maximum performance.
Of course it’s one thing having a state of the art network within Trent Bridge – but we still need an efficient and reliable link to the outside world. So deeserve have provided 1Gb links with automatic failovers. To put that in some perspective – 1Gb = 1024Mb and the average UK domestic speed is 18.5Mb/s.
So with the system designed, specified and installed – Trent Bridge already have a technical framework which is head and shoulders above the average. But deeserve take it a step further with advanced 24/7 monitoring. This is crucial because it means that potential issues are pin-pointed early – long before they become problems. The monitoring is customised to the Trent Bridge system to ensure that all the right metrics are monitored 24/7 to protect all business functions.
This approach enables our engineers to be proactive rather than reactive and minimise downtime across the business. If any of the pre-set metrics trigger an alert there’s an engineer on the case immediately 24/7. So your servers and networks are safely protected – even while you sleep.
For Trent Bridge we’ve built a system which is scalable and adaptable to accommodate match day spikes in activity. Activity spikes are not uncommon in other sectors we work in so our engineers know exactly how to deal with it.
Trent Bridge is the world’s third-oldest Test ground – an eclectic mix of quaint and cutting-edge. With nearly two centuries of success behind it – with deeserve’s help – this historic venue is building a future that’s as rich, interesting and innovative as all that’s gone before it.
Howzat!
