Waterstons awarded major contract to manage University of Sunderland’s network

A North East business and IT consultancy has been awarded a major contract with the University of Sunderland.

Waterstons has been appointed managed services provider and will manage the university’s network services 24/7.

This includes day-to-day network running and things like Wi-Fi connectivity checks and network fault scanning.

The Durham-based company will also initiate a full redesign of the network in line with the university’s strategic plan, which will enhance the digital student offer.

David Conway, deputy technical director and head of IT at University of Sunderland, said: “Our Digital First Strategy and Digital Plan are underpinned by the development, maintenance and management of a core network which securely and reliably connects our students, staff and researchers with the services they require to collaborate and innovate.

“From high speed, high bandwidth and high density on campus network services to IoT, 5G and true mobility, this service is vital to the future of the University across all of our campuses and activities.

“The University has worked with Waterstons on a number of projects across many years and they have continually demonstrated their ability as trusted advisers as well as providing professional services on which we know we can rely.

“By further developing this relationship into a partnership, we are able to focus on developing the services to support our future, harnessing the experience and skills of Waterstons as a service provider integrated into our business and in the knowledge that we have a 24/365 wrap around service delivering access to support whenever it is needed.”

The three-year contract will see two Waterstons consultants based permanently at the University campus in Sunderland, with a wider team working at the company’s offices in Durham and Sydney, Australia.

Helen Fawcett, head of business consulting at Waterstons, said: “Waterstons has worked with University of Sunderland as a trusted adviser for a long time and this contract will no doubt strengthen our partnership.

“We have extensive expertise across a wide range of IT and business strategy disciplines and have worked on many higher education projects in our 25-year history.

“We are delighted to bring this knowledge and expertise to the University which will in turn benefit the students.”