IT Infrastructure

The IT systems in place at Ben Hoare Bell are advanced for a business of our size, from advanced information systems ready to deal with the management of client details and case management to dedicated, powerful servers that provide services

such as email, antivirus protection and thin client sessions.

Each remote site has its own server that hosts printers and storage solutions. The stored data is transferred to another site overnight and backed up onto tape drives.

Staff at Ben Hoare Bell have the facility to get remote access to the servers through a Cisco certified VPN connection, from there they can access any files and join thin client sessions.

Placement Details

Job Description: IT Professional Support & Development

Location: Sunderland (Based), Southwick & Byker

Where I lived: Fenham, Newcastle

Travel Method: National Rail, Nexus Metro & Bus

Pay : £10,500

Holiday: 25 Days

Perks: Unlimited travel on Nexus Metro all year

David Cooper - 08002618 – Computer Science

About Ben Hoare Bell Solicitors

Ben Hoare Bell was established in 1978. We have grown considerably and enjoy a regional and national reputation in all of the fields in which we work.

We are one of the region’s largest providers of Legal Aid and we remain committed to providing specialist, but personal, advice across a range of social welfare law.

We were one of the first firms in the North East to be awarded the Legal Services Commission franchise for quality services in all our principal areas of practice.

A large proportion of our solicitors are accredited as members of specialist panels in their fields of work and our emphasis on continuing education helps to ensure

that we are able to bring up-to-date knowledge to all the areas in which we practice.

Duties of Placement

Helpdesk Support

•Providing advice to users through phone and email•Assisting with issues either in person or through a remote assistance program•Identify causes of problems, and try to create a solution, with help from outsourced IT companies on occasions

Development

•Assisting with improvements to case management software through the use of workflow editing and coding of Microsoft Office Word documents.•Analysis of current hardware. Providing upgrades to meet requirements.•Gaining knowledge of possible areas for development e.g. virtualisation

General

•Take part in meetings regarding IT•Purchasing of hardware and software•Liaising with external companies regarding IT support, inter-office links, telephone systems and telecommunication companies (mobile phone purchasing etc.)

Knowledge Gained

• Knowledge of server operating systems (2000 & 2003)

• Further knowledge into Windows XP, Vista and 7 operating systems.

• Server, desktop & laptop maintenance (software and hardware)

• How to use SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) reports to change a website’s ranking

• Use of business switches and firewalls

• Use of software to link Blackberry devices to the mail server

• Mainting and developing information system software

• Ethernet cable and socket wiring• IP telephone systems• Remote assistance software• VPN solutions

Nicola StevensComputer Science

Extra Perks:-Cummins Reward Gateway – A discount scheme for all UK employees. Offers discounts, cashback and discounted gift vouchers for 1000s of major retailers, online stores and supermarkets.-Opportunities to volunteer within the community – Can work with local charities, conduct mock interviews and give presentations at local schools and go recruitment fairs to represent the company. I spent a day with a charity who take groups out on barges along the canal.

Placement Company: Cummins Turbo Technologies LtdJob Title: IT Analyst Pay: £15,300 per annumHoliday: 26 days + bank holidays

Placement based in Huddersfield ,West Yorkshire.Lived in a student house which was a 25 minute walk away from work.

Cummins Turbo Technologies is a business unit of Cummins Inc., the largest independent maker ofdiesel engines and related products in the world with operations in more than 190 countries, employing 40,000 employees worldwide.

Main roles whilst on placement:-Change Control Assistant – Kept track of all the customisations for the Huddersfield and Aftermarket UK sites. Worked with the offshore development team to track where each customisation was in the development life cycle to then give regular updates to the business -Lotus Notes Coordinator – Similar to the role above. Was solely responsible for all customisations request to databases on the Lotus Notes system worldwide. This included working with business users to gather requirements and create requirement documents , then working closely with the development team to make sure they understood the requirement and track the progress of each item.-Worked on Global project – Was part of team for a high priority global project which was to create a forecasting tool. This included keeping track of all IT developments for the project, working with the developers to meet deadline. Performing testing on customisations before they were released to the business users for testing.-Creating monthly statistics – Gathered information on a monthly basis regarding the amount of changes done each month and how many Help Desk issues have been resolved. Created graphs which were used the IT Manager to present to the business.

Skills/Key Experiences:-Gained experience working within a major multinational company-Had a change to work with people of different functional areas, skills, expertise and experience. -Developed key skills needed when working – Communication, team work, organisation and confidence.-Had an insight to the opportunities and different roles available within a company and helped to decide on a career path I would like to follow

About AccentureAccenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 215,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.  Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.  The company generated net revenues of US$21.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2010.

 About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 215,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$21.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2010.

Reece LauComputer Science BSc

Job Description

During my placement i worked on the National Insurance Recording System version 2 (NIRS2). It is one of the largest databases in the world. My role was in Live Support, Data Services as part of the Data Integrity Team. My main responsibility is developing scripts to solve a given problem that will provide information to the business and accurately update, delete or insert data to uphold the integrity of the NIRS2 system.

Placement Details

Job Title: Analyst ProgrammerSalary: £12,000Holiday: 25 days per annumPerks: Gym Discounts Corporate Football Tickets Free Eye Tests Discount for various storesLocation: Longbenton, Newcastle

Accenture Core Values

•Stewardship

•Best People

•Client Value Creation

•One Global Network

•Respect for the Individual

•Integrity

New & Improved Skills

•SQL

•Unix

•Vi Text Editor

•Perl

•Problem Solving

Working Hours: (Mon – Thurs) 7:55am – 4:40pm(Friday)7:55am – 2:25pm

Salary: £12,808

Job Title: IT Architecture, Strategy & Planning

Location: Nissan Sunderland

Holiday Arrangements: 25 days holiday + bank holidays

Perks: Cooperate Discounts on Vehicles as well as other businesses. Nissan Select Benefits.

Danny Packer

Course: Computer Science (BSc)

http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/index.html

Who are Nissan and what do they do? Nissan are a multinational car maker whose headquarters are in Japan. They are one of the largest car manufactures in the world, they produce cars like the Nissan Qashqai, Juke, Note, X-Trail and Micra. They have recently launched the all electric car the Nissan Leaf The role of ‘IT Architecture, Strategy & Planning’ It’s a diverse and challenging role that exposes you to many interesting IT subjects; you will be part of an experienced team helping to deliver projects on time. You will play a vital role in the software development cycle in UAT and application benchmarking, creating scripts to be used in Stress Tester software. You will be using WebSphere IBM application server to administer Nissan’s server infrastructure, using AIX linux commands for certain functionalities. I had the opportunity to develop SharePoint sites for Nissan using ASP.NET via SharePoint Designer 2007, these projects were managed by me, and you really do feel part of an empowered working culture. You will play a pivotal role in the RFC (request for change system) acting as a change supervisor, this involves assessing new changes and gaining the required approvals. You will be involved in ad-hoc projects as when they arise. Communication A key area is the way in which Nissan communicate, with having such a huge and diverse multi cultural workforce you will gain a great understanding of how different working environments integrate effectively together. You will be using office communicator, arrange conference calls, use desktop sharing, as well as office based group meetings. New skills and knowledge

AIX Language for working on Virtual Servers SharePoint Designer 2007 ASP.NET WebSphere Application Server StressTester – load testing software Server Architecture

Greatest challenge and achievements My greatest challenge was dealing with many projects at once and how best to devote my time to these; whilst still meeting deadlines. My achievements are helping develop software for a multinational company that will be used for years to come; having spent time with seasoned experienced professionals and having Nissan on your CV. Nissan will make you a more confident team player and help you integrate into the IT world.

An example of Stress Tester data

Placement with: Nissan Motor ManufacturingIT Architecture, Strategy and Planning

Placement date:31/08/2010- 16/09/2011

Hewlett Packard

www.hp.comwww.hp.com

Lucy Dixon BSc (Hons) IT

Management for Business

13 Month 13 Month InternshipInternship

£14,000Newcastle-Upon-Tyne

25 Days HolidayFlexible Working Hours

Roles Roles

Alcatel Lucent PMO Administrator IT Support / Site Admin

The Alcatel Lucent PMO Admin role is a fast paced job, which requires the ability to manage on-going activities, as well as high priority requirements. As the PMO manages worldwide projects, this requires very good written skills, communication skills, and time management. Having the ability of learning very quickly, and to know when you should use your initiative is critical to success within this role.

As an onsite administrator you will be expected to ensure the site follows the HP and/or BSAS organization standards for handling local site services with an emphasis on I.T. support. Although technical knowledge of hardware/software is not a requirement, it would be beneficial. Excellent communication skills, ability to follow and enforce processes and be innovative in your thought process to be able to come up with solutions and suggestions for improvement on current processes. The ability to document process and procedures is also a must.

Throughout the 13 months, the roles will rotate giving you exposure to different areas in the work place – with the opportunities to experience other areas than the two described below.

Stuart Wilson BSc (Hons) Computing Studies

It’s your placement...It’s your placement...

Fears before starting placement… Fears before starting placement… ‘‘I’d be thrown into the work without support, or without knowing what I was doing’ I’d be thrown into the work without support, or without knowing what I was doing’ – This was the complete opposite, we had a 1 month hand over period, and had support throughout our whole time here. We had a work based manager, but also a ‘buddy’ who we could go to with any problems, worries or questions!

‘‘I wouldn’t be treated like a real employee, and be would be given the jobs nobody else wanted’ I wouldn’t be treated like a real employee, and be would be given the jobs nobody else wanted’ – I think this is something we all fear, but we have always been treated as any other employee would be, and also given work which any other full time employee would work on, which means we have a lot of responsibility, real work exposure and customers interaction.

HP Newcastle has numerous graduates who have experienced placements throughout their degree, therefore know that its our opportunity to gain experience and exposure – Which means we drive our placement, its up to us to grab opportunities, its up to us to speak up if we want to experience something new – if the work is available... You will get the chance!

Key Skills/Knowledge gained...Key Skills/Knowledge gained...

TIME MANAGEMENT

TEAM WORK (Office & Global)

ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATION SKILLSHP SOFTWARE

ITIL – INDUSTRY RECOGNISED QUALIFICATION

SAP

PROJECT MANAGEMENT