Enhancing Educational Opportunities through Sustainable IT Solutions

Over the past three years, Blackfriars Settlement has embraced the utilization of InnoVent's 2nd Life range of refurbished computers to cater to their staff and support the IT courses offered to their students.

As part of the regular refresh strategy InnoVent proposes to clients, this year was the time for Blackfriars Settlement to upgrade their IT estate and they decided to continue with 2nd Life opting to upgrade their IT estate with newer models of the refurbished computers, based on the quality, reliability and cost-effectiveness experienced during the last 3 years.

A Technology Upgrade tailored for charities

As part of the scheduled IT refresh Blackfriars Settlement underwent a significant upgrade. The previous Mini desktop models with 4th generation processors were replaced with 54 HP 800 G4 Mini Desktops, which feature 8th generation processors. This upgrade not only provided enhanced processing power but also doubled the memory and storage capacity, allowing for smoother operation and improved overall performance.

Additionally, the previous operating system (Windows 10 Pro) was upgraded to Windows 11 Pro, empowering their staff and students to use the latest OS benefiting from its enhancements and added security.

A significant upgrade to the monitors was also needed. To meet this demand, InnoVent installed what was available from a previous donation to the charity and added our own contributions to complete the installation.

Predictability and Reliability as key factors

The decision to continue with 2nd Life was driven by Blackfriars Settlement's desire to offer their students a seamless and reliable learning experience. Liz Range, Director of Services at Blackfriars Settlement expressed,

"We have an IT suite and we deliver IT courses for our students, so it has been really important for us to have high-quality equipment. There is nothing worse than going to a class and experiencing technical difficulties that disrupt learning time".

Additionally, the predictability and cost-effectiveness offered by InnoVent played a significant role in Blackfriars Settlement's decision to continue the relationship:

"Working with InnoVent has been brilliant for us. It has delivered an element of predictability around the cost of IT and ensured that we can troubleshoot and solve problems quickly. We are able to budget much more easily knowing exactly what it will cost us for the coming years, with the assurance that our IT software and hardware will be kept up to date".

The Blackfriars Settlement experience with InnoVent exemplifies the positive impact of sustainable IT solutions in the charitable and educational sectors by achieving their goals and beneficially impacting the lives of those they serve.