Sisters of St. Francis
Industry: Mission
Location: Oldenburg, Indiana
The Sisters of St. Francis, a Franciscan mission founded in 1885,
serves a diverse array of business, ministerial and educational
requirements. Its members serve in the areas of infant care, early
learning, campus ministry, library and media work, bereavement
facilitation, justice and peace ministry and education of all types:
special education; religious education; adult education; and
primary, high school, and college teaching and administration.
Mission Impossible?
At the Oldenburg campus of the Sisters of St. Francis,
many sisters and staff use a sizeable network of PCs.
In June 2002, realizing their operations were suffering numerous
problems due to inadequate or nonexistent technology, the sisters
were “desperate” for reliable IT support. The mission’s outdated
dial-up email accounts caused significant problems: slow,
unreliable service and, if accessed by multiple users, phone
lines were unavailable both in and out of the mission. Having
experienced unsatisfactory assistance in the past, they went
looking for a technology partner they could trust.
The sisters called PRO OnCall and, after an initial meeting,
asked them to complete a Network Analysis and status report on the entire network.
This Analysis also included recommendations for upgrades,
repairs and corrections necessary to provide a stable,
efficient network for both current and future requirements.
Putting Faith in a Technology Provider
Engineers immediately identified the primary reasons
for the mission’s communication and productivity problems:
an outdated network server and lack of e-mail server. In addition,
the mission was paying nearly $300 per month for unwieldy
dial-up e-mail access, while an underpowered network
server — combined with inefficient configuration and outdated
PCs — slowed all communications. Without a firewall,
virus scanning/repair software or a reliable backup solution,
the entire network was also highly vulnerable to hackers
and potentially unstable.
The mission agreed to implement the first-stage solutions
to mitigate their network problems:
- Add 256 MB of memory and a new hard drive
in the existing server
- Reconfigure the network to improve speed and performance
- Set up a SOHO firewall and install Corporate Edition Anti-Virus Corporate
to ensure security and stability
- Upgrade memory and install Microsoft Office software in PCs
The mission later followed PRO OnCall’s recommendation for a new
network server, and engineers installed a Windows server.
Building upon the goals established earlier — improving stability,
security and performance — PRO OnCall engineers also loaded backup
software, including a new tape drive, and created network
permissions to control access.
A Promise Fulfilled
For the Sisters of St. Francis, the result is a far more reliable,
more productive, user-friendly network — and a blueprint for
future IT requirements.
- The new Exchange Server and T-1 connection eliminated the
costs of several dedicated phone lines and an outsourced ISP
- Users now have instant email access from campus and remote
locations, and can collaborate on projects via a public drive
- The mission’s IT coordinator reports far fewer requests
for assistance, and the new server will allow the mission
to grow and expand the network
Having earned the Sisters’ trust with professional, cost-conscious
service, PRO OnCall now provides ongoing scheduled
support as an IT Partner, in addition to ongoing project work.