LSE outsources web hosting

Deal expected to ensure availability of the university's online setup

The LSE decided to move its web hosting to a third-party datacentre

The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) has outsourced its web site management in a move that will ensure round-the-clock web availability.

LSE's decision to move from its in-house arrangement to a third-party provider follows implementation of a new content management system and improvements to its web site.

“Like most universities we have managed and hosted our institutional web site in-house until now. However, we came to believe that the level of service we needed to ensure round-the-clock availability required management by an external supplier,” said Stephen Emmott, head of web services in LSE’s communications department.

“We wanted to make sure that if there were any on-site problems – if we had a power cut for instance – it wouldn't affect our web site's availability,” he said.

The phased migration to a hardware platform supporting the university’s web site on servers located away from LSE’s London campus started in the fourth quarter of 2008, with the entire operation going live on 28 November.

According to the institution, minimising disruption to its 400 web editors, or downtime to the 100,000 pages and 350 sub-sites, was a key concern throughout the migration process.

The service is being provided by iomart hosting.