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Craven College Invests £1.5m With Apogee To Modernise Its IT Offering To Students And Staff

Photo by Philipp Katzenberger on Unsplash

Craven College has partnered with leading managed workplace services (MWS) provider, Apogee Corporation, to undertake a £1.5m IT refresh. By upgrading its existing devices, the college has transformed its IT offering and successfully boosted student and staff satisfaction rates in IT equipment to 91%.

The project involved a complete overhaul of Craven College’s IT estate, including over 900 desktop positions being upgraded for its growing student base. Apogee also provided new laptops for all members of staff, further supporting the delivery of high-quality digital learning.

Since the deployment of the new equipment, the college’s IT department has experienced an 85% reduction in helpdesk incidents. Apogee continues to manage all technology through a simple point of contact, backed up by their industry-leading Care Packs, enabling college staff to focus on driving student success.

Adrian Lawson, Head of Information Technology at Craven College, said:
“We couldn’t have delivered this ambitious project without Apogee. We’ve only got a small IT team, so we were really grateful to Apogee for coming in and installing all the devices, doing much of the leg work and taking the pressure off my team. We were looking for the very best of breed of technology and from the start Apogee’s offering was far superior to the other tenders we received. Students and staff are delighted with the quality of the new equipment, and Apogee’s ongoing service delivery means that high levels of performance are guaranteed as student numbers grow.”

A provider of vocational qualifications for 3,700 students across North and West Yorkshire, Craven College approached Apogee when it became clear that its current ageing IT estate was no longer fit for purpose. With some machines taking up to 20 minutes to load each morning, poor performances and inefficiencies were resulting in low student satisfaction and an overstretched IT helpdesk. The move to remote teaching and learning during the pandemic further highlighted the need for updated technology.

The college was an existing client of Apogee for its Managed Print Services (MPS) prior to the project and turned to the Managed Service Provider (MSP) for its Managed IT Services (MITS) to provide not only the latest and most reliable equipment, but also the services to ensure that the technology consistently supported student engagement, participation, and performance.

Paul Rylands, VP of Managed IT Services (MITS) at Apogee, commented:
“We are extremely pleased to be helping Craven College bring technology to the forefront of teaching and learning. As the college continues to invest in the development of their students, lecturers, and administrative staff, Apogee will continue to ensure they have not just the equipment, but the excellence of service required to enable them to focus on their educational goals.”

Aurelio Maruggi, Chief Executive Officer at Apogee, explains:
"As we continue to reposition Apogee Corporation as a Managed Services Provider (MSP), we are delighted that Craven College has chosen us for both their Managed Print and IT Services.

"The journey started with Managed Print Services (MPS), and after experiencing the quality of service delivered by our deployment services team, the college felt confident enough to entrust us with their Managed IT Services (MITS). This led to one of Apogee’s largest deployments of Managed Workplace Services (MWS) to date, and testifies the strength of the expanded portfolio that we are now offering to our customers.”