Network Rail has completed one of the UK’s largest
desktop upgrade programmes, moving 17,500 users, in more than 460
locations to the latest versions of Microsoft Office applications
running on Windows XP/SP2.
The eight-month programme was completed with no down time to the
business, on time and under budget, the railway infrastructure
company said.
In addition, some 8,000 new PCs and laptops were distributed and
490 applications were tested and rolled out to users. This
represented a 50% cut in the number of applications on the Network
Rail desktop.
Joe Van Valkenburgh, director, information management said,
"This was a challenging programme. Others have failed to roll out
XP this year, but we found a way to do it by having the right team
and partners, with a clear objective, empowerment and proper
support. We are already seeing the benefits by way of a reduction
in the demand on our support teams”.
The successful company-wide XP implementation followed last
year's migration of 6,000 users, who joined Network Rail in 2004
when thousands of maintenance staff were brought into the Railtrack
fold, onto a new XP based infrastructure
Iain Coucher, deputy chief executive, said, “Network Rail cannot
be successful without becoming more IT literate, information
knowledge dependant and IT enabled on a massive scale. The success
of our IM team and its partners in tackling large scale IT
challenges helps our business move forward more smoothly and
efficiently. The XP roll-out was an exemplary project in this
respect”.
Network Rail used Siemens Business Services to build the new
desktops and laptops and handle disposals and asset control.
Hewlett Packard worked with Network Rail’s IT team and its
outsourcer Atos Origin to design the XP Professional and Office
build for the desktop.
Consultancy Afiniti provided communications and project
management support.