Pictured: Daniel Kickham, Datapac and David McLoughlin, Wexford Festival Trust

State of the Art ICT Solution for Wexford Festival Opera

Established in 1951, the Wexford Festival Opera has always played a central role in the arts in Ireland and in the international world of opera. It has achieved astonishing success from very small and humble beginnings. Through the demonstration of passion, innovation and a willingness to explore neglected operatic territories, the Festival has been subject to critical acclaim worldwide and has gained a loyal following. With the establishment in 2008 of the world’s first ever custom-built, multipurpose opera house – the Wexford Opera House; it was befitting of the Wexford Opera Trust to implement a state-of-the-art IT networking environment and infrastructure there.

The Aim
“We wanted to modernise our outdated IT infrastructure,” explains David McLoughlin, Chief Executive, Wexford Festival Trust. “By means of a new IT infrastructure, it was our aim to create an IT platform that would be flexible as well as adjustable to all areas of the theatre and allow us to communicate electronically regardless of time, place and device.”

The Solution
Datapac as the chosen technology solutions provider to the Trust, designed the solution which incorporates the following: Cisco Call Manager Solution providing voice platform along with WLAN controller & WLAN

• Microsoft RMS point-of-sale software
• IBM point-of-sale hardware
• Cisco ASA firewall
• Hewlett Packard (HP) PCs & printers
• HP & Symantec back-up solution

Improved Communication
The backbone of the solution is the Cisco switched network along with a wireless LAN controller; it allows everyone access to the web wirelessly around the building, while enforcing policies across all access points. Sixty full-colour display IP phones have been implemented to allow staff and visitors to communicate efficiently.

Improved Infrastructure
Microsoft RMS and IBM point-of-sale hardware allows the smooth running of the Opera House’ bars and cafes. This provides detailed information on quantities in stock and re-order points for each item on the system. It also details the generated daily sales as well as sales and profit analysis including margin reports. New hardware was installed also.

Improved Security & Support
Due to the increased amounts of data being processed, an enterprise class Cisco ASA firewall was implemented to protect the system from intrusion as well as a HP and Symantec backup solution.

“The Trust have found the easy access to information, improved functionality and faster processing of data has reduced the time spent on the system,” explains David. “We now have a fully integrated solution from one IT provider,” concludes David. “We wanted the most reliable, reputable technology on which to build a future proofed solution. Datapac really knows about integrated solutions – we were impressed with their speed of response, flexibility and their abundance of business expertise. We now have a solution that is scalable, robust and flexible that will support our future plans.”