Current IT Estate

As a growing business this new role as head of IT will have full responsibility for the IT strategy, roadmap and budget.

Overview of the current IT estate:

• The standard software stack is conventional – all employees and contractors have Windows installs, O365 licenses, email (handled and archived by Mimecast) and use Teams. Additionally, employees will use additional software tools relevant to their skillset and job function. There are a handful of Linux machines either running Ubuntu or Debian – where individual users have these, they are in addition to their Windows machines.
• Employees are issued with a laptop by default – typically i5 as basic, i7 for firmware, i7+dedicated graphics for CAD. Most desks have USB-C/Thunderbolt docks and dual monitors.
• CML provides three tiers of data on-site through a physical file server with a combination of external SAN and NAS drives:
• 13TB Read-write with mission-critical data recovery, currently near capacity (99% full)
• 8TB Read-write with limited redundancy (98% full) .  Limited redundancy means 50% likelihood of data recovery within one week in the event of equipment failure at CML.
• 17TB archival (60% full) - read-only with mission-critical data recovery
• Backup of the on-site main read-write mission-critical drive is provided by a Unitrends appliance. Archive resilience is provided by duplication of data to AWS Glacier.
• There are around 15 shared access (RDP) machines for high-value node-locked license software or otherwise requiring a high standard of performance (e.g. MATLAB and ANSYS)
• Around 1TB of information in company-wide SharePoint, in addition to various data stored in personal OneDrive accounts
• Some CML-specific software on local virtual servers, some hosted on GitHub. Both systems have CI frameworks.
• CML has previously achieved CyberEssentials certification, but no other relevant standards (e.g. CyberEssentials Plus, ISO 27001, ISO 22301)
• CML has a single fibre connection to the internet, 400Mbps dedicated, provided by BridgeFibre

Only headquarters employees have access to local network resources, so cloud resources are useful means for sharing information with staff outside the UK.