Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd use desktop computers to provide them with
the flexibility and independence necessary for the demands of their
business
The Sir Robert McAlpine Group has played a major part in some of
the most significant British constructions this century. With
projects ranging from Wembley Stadium to the foundations and
substructure for London's tallest building, the Canary Wharf Tower,
the organisation encompasses 13 associated companies and thousands
of workers. Current projects include the Millennium Dome in
Greenwich and the Jubilee underground railway line extension.
Primarily a UK-based organisation, the group employs over five
hundred Gateway desktop PCs in their regional and on-site offices
that are connected to a WAN via ISDN. These computers assist in a
variety of tasks from quantity surveying, design and engineering to
costing and administrative work.PCs are apportioned according to
the requirements of individual departments, with the high
performance machines starting off in the more processor-intensive
departments such as CAD. As they get older and become less able to
cope with the constantly increasing needs of high-end design
software, they filter down to other departments that require less
power. This resource management strategy has resulted in the group
still being able to deploy 10 year old 386 computers in terminal
emulation roles.One of Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd's primary
requirements for its IT infrastructure is flexibility. With
temporary offices being set up at each new project site, it is
imperative that the IT department can get the required computers
set up at short notice. Using desktops means that work can begin
on-site before any network connections are in place if necessary -
something that wouldn't be possible if they were using a
thin-client solution.Technical support manager, Neil Davey
explains: "We have to be reactive as we often have to work to tight
time scales in order to get a new site up and running. Deploying
pre-configured desktops, either standalone or on a LAN, gives our
sites and regional offices the capability to function in an
independent environment [which is] not totally reliant on services
provided by head office."Thin Client technology, such as CITRIX, is
getting much better and we are looking seriously at the potential
use within our industry. But there are still expensive bandwidth
issues to deal with to really allow this technology to take
off."Using desktops means that although the sites can function
independently, they can be connected via ISDN to the group's WAN
once the necessary links are established. Such an infrastructure
requires efficient maintenance and management to ensure that it
performs to its full capability. The Sir Robert McAlpine group
employs a policy of broad-term centralisation in managing its PC
resources. As and when required (usually at the end of a project),
computers are returned to a central location operated by an
external company. Here they can receive the necessary hardware and
software upgrades to ensure they fulfill their allotted roles
efficiently.Their choice of vendor had to complement this
lifespan-maximising policy. After-sales support and build quality
are always going to be influential when buying hardware and Davey
was particularly impressed by the fact that Gateway used reliable
components from well-known manufacturers within their desktop
machines. PC vendors must be able to speedily adapt to a constantly
changing market and also be adaptable to their customers' needs.
Davey felt that Gateway had fulfilled these criteria admirably for
Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd.