The University of Bedfordshire is an internationally recognised and award-winning institution renowned for its commitment to providing quality education for over a century. With a rich heritage that spans more than 100 years, the university has established itself as a leader in the higher education sector, continually adapting to the evolving needs of students and industries.

Proudly featured in the Times Higher Education World University rankings, the University of Bedfordshire is among the top 300 universities in the world under 50 years old, according to the Young University rankings. This prestigious recognition emphasises the university’s dedication to innovation, academic excellence, and global impact.

The University of Bedfordshire faced a multifaceted digital challenge, requiring our comprehensive hosting and support services. The primary task was to migrate and manage four essential websites, including the University’s main site, the library service, and the event space site for Putteridge Bury. Their existing hosting solution on Azure was no longer effectively handling the seasonal fluctuations in web traffic, prompting the need for migration to AWS for its scalability and reliability.

The University required a smooth knowledge transfer process encompassing its organisational intricacies, code base, and future development roadmap. This entailed consistent support with AWS hosting, regular index updates, the ongoing upgrade of their Umbraco content management system (CMS), and staff training on the CMS.

Our initial priority was to onboard the university's websites into our systems, ensuring reliable hosting, support, and a clear path for future development.

Stage 1: Systems Access
To begin with, we secured access to the university’s hosting environment, code repositories, tag management and analytics systems, and administrative permissions for each site. We also reviewed relevant documentation, focusing particularly on non-standard integrations. Coordinating with the incumbent developers was crucial to understanding undocumented areas and identifying any known issues.

Stage 2: Setup
After familiarising ourselves with the university's code base, we went on to set up the AWS infrastructure and deployment pipelines. Regular deployments were scheduled to improve updates and operations.

Stage 3: Remedial Actions
Urgent issues affecting service reliability were tackled first, while lower-priority issues were added to the development backlog. 

To establish a strong partnership, we conducted introductory sessions to acquaint key team members and deepen our understanding of the university’s goals. Additionally, we provided orientation sessions to explain how our support services function.

The onboarding process enabled the University of Bedfordshire to build upon their digital presence utilising our hosting and support services.

Following the successful onboarding of the University of Bedfordshire’s websites, we maintain them with our hosting and support services. Our proactive approach ensures they stay ahead of the latest security updates, guaranteeing a secure online environment.

Critical Support
Our critical support services promise the University of Bedfordshire uninterrupted website availability, backed by our 99.9% uptime guarantee. This commitment ensures that their digital presence remains accessible to visitors at all times, fostering trust and reliability.

Reactive Support
In the event of any minor issues, our reactive support team swiftly resolves them, deploying fixes directly to the live website. This rapid response maintains the highest standards of performance and user experience.

Continual Enhancements
Beyond maintaining and protecting the sites, we provide continual enhancements, delivering strategic insights and ongoing monthly improvements to the university’s websites. Our collaborative approach ensures that their digital platforms evolve in alignment with their goals, providing an enriched online experience for their stakeholders.