SKA South Africa Goes Google with Postini & Google Apps
SKA (The Square Kilometer Array) is a South African Government funded science project that aims to build a next-generation radio telescope powerful enough to explore the edges of the universe.
The technology being developed for the SKA precursor telescope, the MeerKAT, is cutting-edge and the project is creating a large group of young scientists and engineers with world-class expertise in technology such as very fast computing and data transport, large networks of sensors and imaging algorithms.
The Challenge: Integration, Collaboration & Reliability
SKA SA’s growth required a re-evaluation and consolidation of IT infrastructure. Rather than rely on a number of different systems spread amongst several locations, it was felt that a consolidated and cloud-based solution was required to manage a robust back-up system and archive infrastructure along with all operational business requirements (email, documents, calendars and intranet).
Based in 3 locations with a relatively small IT Department and team members who travel frequently to very remote locations, a cost-effect solution that offered optimum functionality without the need for too much intervention was desired.
Furthermore, the focus of the SKA project is the construction of world-class telescopes that will advance science and technology worldwide and they needed an IT partner that would offer comprehensive support and peace of mind.
The Solution: Google Postini & Google Apps for Business
Partnering with Grove Group, Google’s only Google Apps Premier Enterprise Reseller in South Africa, SKA SA decided to move their communication and email archiving systems to Google’s Postini platform and their business operations platform to Google Apps for Business.
The Results: Impressive
The transition went well and the SKA team were impressed with the results. Both Google Postini and Google Apps is easy to run; there’s no fuss or need to constantly maintain or upgrade, and documentation is easily accessible.
Jasper Horrell, GM: Science Computing and Innovation at SKA SA says “the cloud-based system works well for us, especially for day-to-day operations. The benefits Google Apps tools bring are powerful in driving up productivity all-round.”
SKA SA feel their business is run more efficiently as staff members have the ability to communicate and collaborate more easily across locations (both office and remote locations) as Google Apps enables teams to communicate at any time, from anywhere and through any device. Groups and Calendars have been particularly successful and team members have found the Google sites easy to use, with document sharing as a very powerful collaboration tool. Meetings are run through Google docs with the potential to move most of their business process into Google docs.
Jasper Horrell continued, “The adoption of the solution within our organisation has been a game changer for us. The solution boosts productivity all-round and allows us to better focus on our core business: building the world’s best telescopes.”
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For more information about SKA SA’s choice to Go Google, view the full case study here.
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