Smooth switch installation at Uxbridge High School

Uxbridge High School is an ambitious school with a happy atmosphere that strives to enrich individuals academically, socially, and emotionally. 

The School's motto is 'Proud to Make Success Happen' and it stems from values of positivity, respect, open-mindedness, uniqueness and determination. The School believes success can only come from close communication and collaboration between staff, students, parents and trustees.

In addition, The UHS Way is the School's mission to develop the whole student in a safe, inclusive and supportive environment. This framework forms the foundation of much of the School's thinking and nurtures student ambitions.

The UHS Way aims to provide exceptional learning experiences, cultivates excellence in each student, offers a safe and respectful community and prepares students for future opportunities as global citizens.

To get exceptional learning experiences, though, you need exceptional devices and support - which is why Uxbridge High School has "worked with Stone for many years." 

Stone branded kit proves reliable and cost-effective

Imran Akram is the ICT Network Manager and he and a colleague are responsible for the IT demands of 150 staff and 1400 students. They're a small team, but he says he can count on staff from Stone Group to support them when needed.

"The School has worked with Stone for many years," said Imran, "and we've always been more than satisfied with the equipment they provide - and just as importantly, the superior service. We've purchased hundreds of laptops and PCs and never had any reason to be unhappy. Stone really appreciates the demands on our time and budget – they understand the education system inside out."

Stone has worked with secondary schools across the UK for more than thirty years, and now offers a wide range of services to support tech teams in schools as they implement digital transformations - including offering Stone-branded hardware that combines high-end specifications with cost-effective pricing.

The Stone PC Lite is built to meet a school's specific requirements and this small form factor PC offers great versatility as it can sit horizontally or vertically. The Premium Stand provides a first-rate management solution with secure locking and cable tidying, too, for increased installation flexibility. On this occasion, the school's PCs run on Windows 10 Pro and Education with Microsoft Office 365 and use either Intel Core i5 or i7 processors - depending on what Imran needs for his staff.

"We tend to do our refreshes during the summer break," said Imran, "and although we still have a few legacy pieces of kit, most of our PCs and laptops are Stone. They really do the job, look great and, offer a five-year warranty which is important for us. Stone support services are outstanding, which is vital when you have a small IT team."

Stone recommends a cloud-based Cisco Meraki switch system

Imran enjoys a strong relationship with his Stone account manager, so she was happy to offer advice and support when the two discussed a network switch refresh. Imran said: "We were not with Stone when our old switches were installed, and the maintenance and repair calls were getting more frequent. We have 30 switches, so these issues were becoming more expensive and inconvenient - so it was time for a change."

Imran approached several providers for advice and quotes on new systems but became frustrated by how long the process took.

That wasn't the case with Stone. "I only had to mention it to my account manager, and she not only provided a fully costed replacement quote but sent a demo so my colleague and I could try the new system for ourselves. That's typical of the efficiency, professionalism, and service I expect from Stone."

Stone boasts a premier partnership with Cisco and recommended the Cisco Meraki cloud-managed switch system. It's a stackable L3-enterprise class access switch with four SFP+ uplinks and support for redundant power supplies for mission-critical environments. It offers layer 7 visibility, remote troubleshooting and can be managed from Meraki's intuitive dashboard - and it includes a rich feature set without additional cost and complexity.

Stone engineers excel during deployment

"We hadn't used a cloud-based system before but because Stone provided a demo we could see how the system would work for us," said Imran. "We could see how it worked with having to actually connect and it was a useful insight into a new cloud system."

Stone installed the new systems over two years during the summer holidays. On each occasion, Stone engineers took a couple of weeks to install the switches across the estate. Imran said: "The second installation was carried out at really short notice but Stone delivered to the same exacting standards on both occasions."

"Stone had all the kit delivered to the School ready for the installation. We have several buildings on site, so the engineers certainly got their steps in! We trusted them implicitly to get on with the job which meant we could get on with ours."

Each of the 30 switches had to be removed before the new switches were installed. In addition, the Stone engineers relabelled all the network cabinets and left cables neat and tidy. Imran was particularly impressed with the mapping and documentation provided by the engineers, describing it as "excellent."

"Stone's engineers had configured every single port on every single switch," he said. "Thanks to their colour-coding I can immediately see what each cable is for, so it's easy to spot anything if I ever have to troubleshoot - the engineers did a fabulous job."

During the installations, Imran explained that the engineers were always conscious of people working. "Although the School was closed, some staff members were still working. They knew their department could have had some downtime, but there was never an issue."

"One year the engineers did find a problem with the firewall on our telephone system, but Stone rose to the challenge and fixed it without any issue. Again, that's typical of Stone, who just get things done with minimum fuss."

New switches are like a breath of fresh air

Uxbridge High School now has a future-proofed Cisco Meraki switch system that'll last years - while saving the School time and money. 

"This is like a breath of fresh air compared to the previous system," said Imran. "We couldn't update it ourselves and had to call out a third party which was very expensive. Now, because we are cloud-based, we can log in from anywhere, make changes, and configure updates to run overnight. It's so easy to use and we didn't even need training."

An additional benefit to the School is the 10-year license and warranty. "This is another layer of peace of mind for me," said Imran. "If anything did go wrong, I could get a replacement from Stone the next day."

Imran says that Stone's advice and expertise have saved Uxbridge High School lots of time and money - and that the savings will continue. "I have already noticed a difference," he explained, "because Stone never lets me down."

Stone are a great team to have on your side. Uxbridge High School has always enjoyed a great relationship with Stone. Communication is really very good, and we never have to chase.