Fred . Olsen ’ s UK Group Head of IT , Damon Impett , tells us how the company is upgrading its internet services and investing to stay ahead of the game when it comes to cyber security
The job of an IT Director is hard enough at the best of times , especially when the organisation is working across a number of locations . But most will at least be able to rely on their points of interest being fixed . Not so at Fred . Olsen , where IT staff have to contend with offices that travel back and forth across the oceans .
The organisation has interests in a number of sectors including renewable energy , marine power , and wind technology . But it is with the company ’ s cruise business – offering travellers holidays at sea , from the snowy wilderness of the Arctic Circle to the white sand beaches of the Caribbean – where Damon Impett , Group Head of IT in the UK , and his team take on some of the toughest challenges .
One such example is the demands of cruise guests , who expect the same ultra-fast wifi speeds they enjoy at home to be replicated out at sea – and for free . That demand has seen Fred . Olsen invest in faster speeds on its ships with a view to implementing further improvements in the near future .
“ Three years ago we were operating on about 800Kbps , covering the guest wifi and corporate productivity ,” says Impett . “ We recently upgraded to 3Mbps , which included a significant upgrade to our ships . We had to carry out a retrofit to all of our ships to enable fully-pervasive wifi throughout , involving around 56 miles of cabling and hundreds of access points ( APs ).
“ While that upgrade was
34 August 2017