First ever winner of ChampionIT announced

The first round is over and we have a winner!

Darren Ilston from Melbek Technology received 56.89% of the votes with an excellent solution. The judges were very keen on this entry due to the use of technology and the clear benefits that Darren's solution brought about.

NB. Note the use of the word "Linux" in the solution section. This competition is not just about Microsoft technology...yes we do know that you likely have mixed environments!

The Solution

In no more than 200 words, please describe your solution's innovative use of technology.

We consolidated a number of servers using Microsoft Virtual Server. These servers were being used for hosting ASP-driven websites.

We decided to move to Microsoft Virtual Server to make future maintenance and upgrades easier. We knew we would give more resilience to the platform and reduce our power consumption in the data centre which, in turn, reduces our carbon foot print.

We now enjoy more effective redundancy and hot standby servers for very little additional cost. And best of all, Microsoft Virtual Server is invisible to our customers.

In no more than 100 words, explain how your solution has changed the way you and/or your organisation do things?

Moving to Microsoft Virtual Server gives us a more redundant platform without increasing our licence costs. It's managed in the same way as a normal hardware server, so the learning curve is extremely quick.

We have reduced our energy consumption, reduced licence costs and have a more redundant network using Microsoft Virtual Server.

In no more than 100 words, what are your plans? How would you like to make your Champion IT solution even better?

We would like to run more Microsoft Virtual Servers to host Windows, Linux and FreeBSD servers.

Think you've got what it takes to be a winner? Why not nominate yourself in the next round. Nominations re-open on 11 February 2008.