CSA Waverley Launches First Ever VM Test-Drive Roadshow
Health sector IT specialist, CSA Waverley, is using a uniquely mobile HP Blade server and VMware suite to take free of charge virtualisation test-drives to the desks of NHS IT professionals nation-wide.

The company aims to help NHS organisations realise more efficient delivery of services by speeding up understanding and deployment of virtualisation.

The move follows a survey that found 70% of IT managers understand virtualisation yet nearly 60% said they haven’t tried or implemented it. The company sites a lack of practical understanding and hands on experience versas theory as well as departmental budget constraints as the main barriers to adoption.

Jon Leary, a CSA Waverley Consultant, said: “The business benefits of virtualisation are well documented, from reducing power and cooling costs to freeing up floor space and reducing C02 emissions for green compliance.

“However, adoption of this new technology is particularly slow amongst NHS organisations and our ongoing 25 year relationship with the NHS has yielded considerable knowledge when it comes to matching appropriate solutions to complex environments.

“Our mission is to stimulate and quicken the adoption of virtualisation technology and techniques to better place organisations to exceed their service delivery expectations.”

The virtualisation roadshow is free of charge and consists of a mobile demo infrastructure including HP Blade servers plus VMWare and 1TB of SAN.

A team of technical coaches will teach recipients physical to virtual migration as well as skills to build, test and deploy virtual servers over one day. An introduction to Virtual Desktop will also be offered.

If appropriate the team will also talk end users through migrating their own low risk back office applications. An extended evaluation period of up to 10 days is also on offer, so users can test their new skills on the virtual environment without any risk or cost.

CSA Waverley has helped organisations like Leeds Partnership Foundation Trust virtualise a physical server estate by 75%, saving time and money, adding value to the agility and continuity of the organisation’s IT infrastructure.

Russell Hornshaw, Desktop & Applications Manager, explains: “Virtualization has challenged the way we think about how our services are delivered to the business. It has enabled us to be more agile in our approach moving from a physical model to ITIL principles of service delivery focusing on business functionality tied to service and operational level needs.” Organisations wishing to sign-up to the roadshow should contact CSA Waverley on 01628 851044. Organisations wishing to sign-up to the roadshow should register online here or contact CSA Waverley on 01628 851044.