Scotland’s first prep school seals deal with IT solutions provider

Multi-platform IT solutions provider Opal has bolstered its position in the education market by adding the oldest independent boarding and day prep school in Scotland to its client list.

Founded in 1873, Cargilfield School was the first prep school to be established in Scotland and currently caters for more than 300 children aged 3-13 years. The organisation had previously experienced major problems with its IT infrastructure and turned to Opal in a bid to find a robust long-term solution.

Opal created a multi-site server virtual environment to protect the school against loss of data and downtime. The work included a comprehensive disaster recovery system for Cargilfield's main school building, the installation of a 40Gb fibre optic cable with ultra-fast Wi-Fi and a secure cloud-based back-up solution to protect critical school data.

Andrew Metcalfe of Opal IT (left) with Ross Murdoch of Cargilfield.

The deal is the latest win for Opal in the education sector, where it already works with several high-profile state and independent schools across the UK.

Ross Murdoch, deputy head at Cargilfield School, said: "Previously we had a three-year contract with another provider but we weren't satisfied because we were finding glitches and problems with the network on a regular basis. We decided we'd look for another provider because we knew we needed someone with experience in installing an infrastructure that would allow children and staff to use our newly integrated iPads.

"Thanks to Opal, we now have a more reliable and robust network that's scalable and can evolve with the development of our school."

Opal provides a wide variety of services and specialises in the creation, integration and maintenance of Apple and Windows environments. An Authorised Apple Premium service provider, JAMF Pro Integrator, approved Microsoft partner and a part of the Apple Consultants Network, the Newcastle-headquartered company works with local, national and international companies and its biggest client has more than 50 sites globaly and 25,000 employees worldwide.

Andrew Metcalfe, managing director of Opal, said: "We're delighted to be helping a long-standing and respected institution in Cargilfield School. We've built a disaster recovery solution, robust network and introduced mobile device management solutions that allows the school to monitor, manage and maintain iPads, both on and offsite.

"Having worked with many education providers, we have a excellent understanding of their increasing reliance on and adoption of technology to improve the learning experience for students but additionally, enabling staff to focus on teaching and not IT issues."