Keltec praised for response to fire-ravaged council

VAR earns plaudits for helping south Oxfordshire councils get back to business following January arson attack

The IT manager of two local councils whose headquarters were destroyed in an arson attack has praised the "outstanding response" of VAR partner Keltec.

The main office of the South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils had to be gutted in January after a member of the public drove his car into it and set it alight.

Keltec, which is now part of print and IT infrastructure VAR Annodata, had already signed a VDI contract with the councils but rolled it out immediately and ahead of schedule in the wake of the attack.

"Although we originally chose Keltec for their strong track record in the public sector, their outstanding response to our demanding situation has been invaluable to restoring our regular activities," said Simon Turner, IT manager for the councils.

"The staff at Keltec went out of their way to assist at a critical point in the councils' history, and quickly delivered a solution that has allowed the councils to continue to function in an especially difficult time."

Dave Kerner, head of professional services at Keltec, said: "It's very rare we are asked to introduce a solution within such a short window of time. However, given the council's situation, our engineers were dedicated to [providing] a quick and thorough installation.

"This took place considerably faster than manually setting up and provisioning over 200 traditional desktop computers ever could, and so served to significantly dampen the blow delivered by the fire. Seeing our work have a directly positive impact in those first difficult months for the councils has been fantastic, although now we are focused on ensuring the solution's long-term benefits are realised."