LIFTING THE CURTAIN

Today, it’s easy for Darren and his team to create and configure new virtual machines — and add them to Node4’s managed backup environment. “Before the new solution was in place, we were limited by space and server performance,” relates Darren. “It meant that creating new virtual machines was difficult and time-consuming. This was very stressful for us as we always had to be mindful of meeting the SLAs for third-party ticket sales contracts.” 

He continues: “Node4 also fixed the home-working component for us with the new VMware Horizon VDI system. It saves us so much time and makes our lives far easier. If a colleague has any IT issues, we close down their VM and spin up a new one. Plus, we can manage everything through a remote portal and don’t even need to be on-site. As a result, it’s easy for staff to split their time between working in the office and from home — something we couldn’t have countenanced a few years ago.” 

“Node4’s solution is perfect for an organisation like ours,” Darren notes. “We’re a small IT team with no plans to expand our headcount in the near future. But we’re far more efficient these days and can consistently deliver for our colleagues. In addition, the entire solution is PCI-compliant, which is key for us as a ticket agent that processes thousands of debit and credit card transactions each year.” 

Looking to the future, Darren and his team foresee continuing The Lowry’s digital transformation project, with Node4 playing a central role as IT partner, mentor and consultant. “We can see some interesting and exciting possibilities for further IT developments, including the increased use of Microsoft Azure and data analytics functionality.” He concludes, “Our work with Node4 will continue to help our organisation develop as a centre of creative excellence that the local community and visitors to the area can enjoy for many years to come.”