Charity overhauls IT infrastructure

Young Enterprise relies on donated systems to run web site

National education charity Young Enterprise has installed a new IT architecture to support its web site and provide a basis for growth, streamlined administration and improved access to information.

The voluntary organisation, which encourages young people to participate in business, needed to replace an aging system that was struggling to cope with rapid growth - membership has increased tenfold from 39,907 students in 1995.

The charity is now using a donated Oracle/Dell architecture consisting of an Oracle 10g database, Oracle Fusion middleware and Dell servers to support its web site.

The infrastructure enabled Young Enterprise to re-launch its web site in September providing a user interface for 320,000 students, 200 field staff and 3,500 participating businesses throughout the UK.

The upgrade has ensured the organisation is in a position to achieve its target of recruiting one million student members by 2010, and is permitting new functions such as the ability to register class programmes online.

Graham Plater, IT manager at Young Enterprise, said: ‘Several years ago we processed paper registrations which had to be manually entered into the system. We deployed online registration, but it meant our back-office systems were not working as they should be. We altered the system through various bolt-ons which were done on an ad-hoc basis. We needed a system that worked altogether.’

‘The new Oracle/Dell architecture means we now have a single interface for administration. Online management of information means that staff members can log onto the web site and get up-to-date information,’ he said.

All information generated by the web site will be consolidated in a single Oracle database and ID management tools in the Oracle Fusion middleware will give field staff secure access to information throughout the web site.

‘Members can log in to the site and look at information specific to them and we now have the potential to give more control to members to edit their own data,’ said Plater.

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