Idox
Where past meets present - the journey to a hosted environment for Historic Environment Records
Where past meets present - the journey to a hosted environment for Historic Environment Records
Details:
- Company: Idox
- Client: Humber Historic Environment Record (HER)
- Year: 2023 - 2024
- Region: England
- Product: Geospatial Consultancy, Training and Support, Geospatial Software
Service areas:
- Geographical information systems (GIS) and mapping
- Planning and urban design services
- Artificial intelligence (AI) and software solutions
Introduction
The HER for the East Riding of Yorkshire County Council and Hull City Council areas is managed by Humber HER. The HER includes over 20,000 archaeological and historic sites dating from the prehistoric period through to the 20th century, including the Hull City Walls, Hull Citadel, historic military defences, and maritime and industrial heritage.
Since 1998, Humber’s heritage information has been recorded digitally in a data management and GIS platform from Exegesis, an Idox Company. This well-established and trusted system is known as HBSMR (Historic Buildings, Sites and Monuments Record), and is the market-leading solution for HERs in the UK.
Since 1998, Humber’s heritage information has been recorded digitally in a data management and GIS platform from Exegesis, an Idox Company. This well-established and trusted system is known as HBSMR (Historic Buildings, Sites and Monuments Record), and is the market-leading solution for HERs in the UK.
Challenges
Performance: as a result of poor network performance, the team was experiencing long load and data retrieval times.
Support arrangements: lack of in-house IT support locally for resolving technical issues meant lengthy periods without access to HBSMR. Remote support was not easy due to infrastructure limitations.
Access: there were limitations in accessing data and systems via the in-house/on-premise infrastructure. The team needed a system to allow them to work remotely.
Support arrangements: lack of in-house IT support locally for resolving technical issues meant lengthy periods without access to HBSMR. Remote support was not easy due to infrastructure limitations.
Access: there were limitations in accessing data and systems via the in-house/on-premise infrastructure. The team needed a system to allow them to work remotely.
Solutions
A migration project was initiated in December 2023 to transition Humber HER from an on-premise HBSMR environment to a thin-client-hosted Idox environment.
The specialist heritage team at Exegesis provided a range of professional services during the migration process to support Humber’s migration. This included project planning, system development, UAT to go-live, system training, ongoing technical support, and the management of application upgrades.
The specialist heritage team at Exegesis provided a range of professional services during the migration process to support Humber’s migration. This included project planning, system development, UAT to go-live, system training, ongoing technical support, and the management of application upgrades.
Results
Humber HER estimates it has increased productivity by 50%, and system usability by 80-90%. Operational efficiencies include:
Faster support responses from Exegesis as the HBSMR application and database are instantly accessible.
Improved performance with the application and database hosted together on high-performance, high-availability infrastructure.
Speedier system upgrades as the latest versions of the system can be rolled out without delay – minimising downtime and disruptions.
Increased protection and security compared to the former on-premise solution, resulting in improved resilience and disaster recovery.
Improved workflows for data sharing and exchange such as publishing secure WMS, WFS, and web views.
Reduced ICT costs and resources since hosting removes the need for on-premise ICT infrastructure and local ICT support.
The system can be accessed anytime and anywhere – even out in the field.
Faster support responses from Exegesis as the HBSMR application and database are instantly accessible.
Improved performance with the application and database hosted together on high-performance, high-availability infrastructure.
Speedier system upgrades as the latest versions of the system can be rolled out without delay – minimising downtime and disruptions.
Increased protection and security compared to the former on-premise solution, resulting in improved resilience and disaster recovery.
Improved workflows for data sharing and exchange such as publishing secure WMS, WFS, and web views.
Reduced ICT costs and resources since hosting removes the need for on-premise ICT infrastructure and local ICT support.
The system can be accessed anytime and anywhere – even out in the field.
This solution has truly revolutionised our operations, shaping our present and future endeavours
Vicky Bowns
Senior Historic Environment Record Officer, Humber HER
