HUTCHESONS’ GRAMMAR SCHOOL TURNS TO THE CLOUD WITH NASSTAR

Nasstar has successfully completed a major deployment of Cloud-based technology at Glasgow-based, 1300-student, co-educational school Hutchesons’ Grammar. One of the UK’s oldest schools, “Hutchie” is now using some of the newest Cloud technologies - including Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 - to enable pupils to access learning resources and engage with teachers beyond the classroom.

The deployment has seen a complete overhaul of Hutchesons’ on-premise technology. The existing SAN, servers and data storage systems have been replaced by Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365, with Windows 10 running on the school’s laptops. These are enabling the school to improve creativity, collaboration and communication in one secure environment, meaning that faculty members can work remotely and - most importantly - securely.

The move means that Hutchesons’ will adopt mobile working practices to allow its pupils to access learning resources and engage with teachers beyond the classroom. The digital strategy will see fixed PCs replaced with Windows 10 laptops for both teachers and pupils, with Cloud technology supporting this by providing 24/7 access to systems and data as well as enhancing security, scalability and resilience.

Hutchesons’ Grammar School now has a dynamic, secure and reliable environment on which it can deliver services to both students and staff. Office 365 has proven popular with pupils and teachers alike, with Teams, OneDrive and Forms offering closer communications and collaborations between students and staff. The school’s partial move to Azure also means that its infrastructure is now well-placed to offer better scalability and resilient security in the future as it continues its strategy of leveraging more Cloud-based services.

Jonathan Caddy, Head of Computing Services at Hutchesons’ Grammar School, said: “We were confident that Nasstar were the right choice due to their accreditations and expertise in delivering Microsoft solutions. I am pleased to say that we now have an infrastructure that is secure and robust, and that can scale easily as we expand. Additionally, Microsoft 365 has also allowed us to empower both staff and students with the latest technology, and thanks to EMS we know that data and devices are kept locked down to only the people that need access. I look forward to many more years of working with Nasstar.”