Case Study on London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

The Customer

Founded 125 years ago in 1899, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a unique network of specialist centres, units, and partners worldwide. Staff and students collaborate to create a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable world for everyone, driven by the belief that our shared future depends on our shared health.

The Challenge

LSHTM’s locations in Gambia and Uganda faced significant challenges with their separate NAV systems:

• Performance Issues: Both NAVs were slowing down progressively.
• High Maintenance Costs: Increasing expenses were required to maintain the servers.
• Report Generation Problems: End users encountered numerous issues while producing reports.
• Large Database Sizes: The database sizes were substantial:
  • Uganda: 632.33 GB
  • Gambia: 304.95 GB
• User Access Issues: Due to the slowness and high number of users, 200 users could only effectively access some NAV reports.

The Solution

To address these challenges, Mercurius merged the separate NAV databases into a single Business Central environment:

• Database Optimisation: The total database size was reduced to 141.04 GB in Business Central.
• SaaS Migration: Both locations were moved to Business Central on SaaS, eliminating the need for additional infrastructure.
• Improved Performance: Business Central on SaaS offered faster performance than NAV, allowing users to use all functionalities effectively.

The Benefits

The transition to Business Central provided several advantages:

• Unified System: With a single environment for Uganda and Gambia, management found it easier to track both locations under one system.
• Enhanced Efficiency: The reduction in database size by 8-fold resulted in faster report generation.
• No Additional Infrastructure Costs: The move to SaaS meant no need for extra infrastructure.
• Simplified User Management: Managing licenses became more straightforward, facilitating the addition and removal of users.
• Improved Functionalities: HR, payroll, and workflow enhancements allowed LSHTM to use the system more effectively than in NAV.
• Increased Security: LSHTM were able to improve security by implementing Single Sign on and Multi-factor authentication for all users by moving to Business Central.

Through these improvements, LSHTM has streamlined its operations and positioned itself to support better its mission of fostering global health and sustainability.