Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Our Lady of Fatima's Motherhood Delivers Worldwide Brotherhood
- Symbolic novel reimagines Fatima's influence in the lives of three men searching for meaning in baseball and beyond.
In celebration of Pope Francis' visit to Portugal on May 13 for the 100th Anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima, author Val Bonacci explores its mystery in FATIMA AND THE SONS OF ABRAHAM: reimagining the meaning behind Fatima's events through the journey of a Muslim, a Catholic, and a Jew in search of coexistence.
Paolo Giobatti is the first Major League Baseball star from the Italian League. He's nursing an ailing back along the shores of the Mediterranean when, thanks to modern technology, both he and his archrival Eli Kohn, witness a stunning moment at the hands of a Syrian refugee struggling for survival. Thus begins their journey from Italy's beaches and America's baseball diamonds, to the beating heart of Jerusalem. A culture clash ensues and the three do battle until the fearless heart of a woman named Fatima reshapes their destinies forever.
Bonacci, who once walked a provocative 20-year journey of her own as the vice president of marketing and broadcasting for the Cleveland Indians, recalls her moment of inspiration while visiting Italy in 2012.
"A young refugee was peddling jewelry along the beach. He was powerfully
built, yet moved with the grace of a pro athlete. I had a flashback to my
days as the General Manager of a team where half of the roster could not
speak English - just one of many challenges facing foreigners in a new
land," said Bonacci.
"I couldn't help wondering about the boy's hopes and dreams. If he'd been
born in the States, would he be a baseball star? I whispered a prayer for
him, and the rest nearby like him. It was the seed that would later
sprout into my novel."
FATIMA AND THE SONS OF ABRAHAM is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, along with Q&As, book club questions, and more at ValBonacci.com.
Bonacci is a former executive for the Cleveland Indians, where she spent 17 years with the franchise. She is a graduate of Ohio University's top ranked Sports Administration Masters Program where she received the Year 2000 Distinguished Alumnus award. She now resides in Scranton, Pennsylvania where she has been an adjunct professor at Keystone College and The University of Scranton since marrying her husband in 2004.
SOURCE Val Bonacci
CONTACT: Valerie Bonacci, author, P: (570) 591-1681, Email: Author@ValBonacci.com
Thursday, April 13, 2017
PGA Catalunya Resort’s Hotel Camiral joins The Leading Hotels of the World
Girona's only 5* hotel is the latest addition to the prestigious collection
PGA Catalunya Resort's five-star Hotel Camiral, located just outside Girona, has been accepted as the latest member of the esteemed The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd., a curated collection of independent and distinct luxury hotels.
The first element of a three-year, €53 million development plan, Hotel Camiral opened in 2016, endorsing the venue's commitment to becoming a world-leading lifestyle destination.
Set in the grounds of the 300-hectare European Tour Destination near Barcelona, the 145-room luxury hotel serves as an ideal base from which to savour PGA Catalunya Resort's first-class golfing facilities. These comprise the two award-winning championship courses, including Spain's number-one golf layout* – the critically acclaimed Stadium Course – as well as Europe's largest chipping and putting green, the Sergio Garcia Junior Golf Academy and the Dave Pelz Spanish Golf School.
To become a member of The Leading Hotels of The World's collection of more than 375 hotels in 75 countries, Hotel Camiral had to meet the highest standards with respect to accommodations, service, cuisine, employee behaviour and facilities. Only the world's most distinguished properties are admitted to The Leading Hotels of the World portfolio, ensuring a constant adherence to the organisation's standards of high quality.
"We are very pleased to welcome the Hotel Camiral at PGA Catalunya Resort to our collection of uncommon, independent luxury hotels," said Deniz Omurgonulsen, Vice President, Membership, The Leading Hotels of the World. "Less than an hour from the dynamic centre of Barcelona, the resort offers exceptional golf opportunities in an exquisitely beautiful countryside setting. It brings outstanding levels of luxury and relaxation, while, at the same time, introducing guests to the uniquely warm and embracing Catalan culture. This immersive atmosphere provides discerning, curious travellers with an enriching and distinctly local experience."
David Plana, CEO of PGA Catalunya Resort, added: "As Girona's only five-star hotel, we are very proud to have earned a place as a member of The Leading Hotels of the World and join such a prestigious group of unique and luxury hotels. We look forward to the journey ahead as part of this elite collection."
PGA Catalunya Resort was voted 2015 Golf Resort of the Year for Europe (IAGTO), while Golf World magazine placed the resort in the top three of their inaugural ranking of continental Europe's top resorts in 2016.
For further information or imagery on Hotel Camiral and/or PGA Catalunya Resort, please contact manuela@landmark-media.com
*As ranked by www.top100golfcourses.com
For more information visit: www.hotelcamiral.com and www.pgacatalunya.com
Sunday, April 09, 2017
Myanmar is known as the Golden Land
– and for good reason. Everywhere you look, you are greeted with golden sunsets, stupas and smiles. Rivers glisten like gold, their banks dotted with small villages filled with shining temples, and at sunset the sun's rays shimmer along the water's surface.
With the country now firmly in the global spotlight, demand for this charming destination has never been higher. And there is simply no better way to explore Myanmar's golden heart than a cruise along on its great rivers – the majestic Irrawaddy and its great tributary, the Chindwin.
Boutique luxury travel operator, Sanctuary Retreats, offers a range of cruise itineraries from three to eleven nights on both the Irrawaddy and Chindwin Rivers aboard its luxurious all-suite ship, Sanctuary Ananda. Cruises take guests in style on voyages of breath-taking beauty and discovery. Sail the Irrawaddy from Mandalay to Bagan and visit temples, pagodas, palaces and monasteries along the way. Or take a journey on the Chindwin and explore places travellers rarely see – through the jungles of the north, forgotten villages and ancient towns almost to the Indian border.
Beautiful and peaceful, with an ancient culture, wonderful monuments and friendly people, there is no doubt that the state-of-the-art Sanctuary Ananda offers up a truly remarkable and fascinating way to enjoy all that Myanmar has to offer.
Queensland's seriously ill children receive better health care
We know that it takes a village to raise a child, but it takes more than a village to support seriously ill children and their families, especially in rural and remote areas of Queensland.
Children with complex or chronic medical conditions are benefiting from Queensland's Connected Care Program leveraging Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Working with Microsoft partner Simient, they have established a single consolidated information system to ensure access to clinical real time information.
Ultimately the information systems are designed to transform the health care being delivered to children. By integrating Dynamics CRM with clinical information systems the child's health journey will be made more transparent.
For the children enrolled in the Connected Care Program and their families this has been a welcome improvement in their journey through the healthcare system.
Lady Cilento Children's Hospital embraces Dynamics 365
Each of the 1,070 children enrolled in Queensland's Connected Care Program has complex health needs.
For a child to be referred onto the program he or she must have a complex or chronic medical condition, and require access to three or more medical specialties – for example paediatrics, orthopaedics and rehabilitation clinics.
Families often live in a rural or remote area, distant from medical and health facilities. A child could require a medical aid – a feeding tube, a ventilator or tracheostomy tube, for example.
Some children and their families face even more challenges.
For one child living in the Torres Strait, a recent specialist visit meant a 17 hour journey which involved travelling across a creek, catching a bus, getting on a plane and finally arriving at hospital in Brisbane.
The complexity of ensuring children and their families are supported through a series of co-ordinated appointments and procedures is something that Shirley Thompson, Nurse Manager for The Connected Care and Nurse Navigator Program – Children's Health Queensland, understands only too well.
Based at Lady Cilento Children's Hospital, Queensland's dedicated quaternary hospital in South Brisbane, Thompson leads the program that supports children across Queensland, northern NSW, the Northern Territory and Torres Strait.
The program's intent is to ensure effective, streamlined case management for each child and their family by improving communication and linkages between healthcare providers in acute, community and primary sectors.
To achieve this aim, Thompson works with Connected Care Co-ordinators based right across Queensland, stretching from the Gold Coast to Mount Isa. The care co-ordinators manage access to healthcare providers and support services, and act as a single point of contact for families providing support and assistance.
In tandem with Connected Care co-ordinators, Nurse Navigators, also based at The Lady Cilento Children's Hospital work with families and hospital doctors to identify and monitor the healthcare requirements of children, develop tailored care plans and facilitate access to services.
In the past, the teams have relied heavily on Excel spreadsheets and Access databases. These however were ill-suited to the complex case management expectations of families and clinicians. Adding to the challenge is the fact that hospitals and medical specialists use different medical record systems which deliver a somewhat fragmented view of patients, particularly those with complex needs.
"It's hard to have access to clinical real time information," says Thompson.
Patient central
To address the issue Connected Care, working with Microsoft partner Simient, elected to establish a single consolidated information system based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM that could be used to share information about the children enrolled in the program. The core information contained in that system can be accessed by co-ordinators and Nurse Navigators in Thompson's team to ensure that the right care is delivered at the right time, ensuring that the child's comprehensive care plan is accessible by anyone with the appropriate authority.
"If the child suddenly arrives at a hospital then staff can access the care plan that details the child's healthcare needs," Thompson explains. It has also allowed care to be streamlined across Queensland with the Connected Care team able to hand patient care from one area to another knowing that the critical information is always available through the platform. It has also allowed the Connected Care co-ordinators to work as a cohesive team regardless of their location.
Importantly also if a team member is absent for any reason, "Anybody can step in to the co-ordinator role and know where the family is up to and what care needs to be completed," says Thompson.
The system is used from the time a child is first referred to and then enrolled in the program and assigned to a specific team. For example, a child living in the Darling Downs region would be assigned by the system to the Connected Care co-ordinator who would case manage the patient needs in Toowoomba, and would receive automated workflows associated with that child.
"They would see there was a new patient, do an intake and collect data about the child's admissions, trips to outpatients, or emergency presentations in the last 12 months," says Thompson.
The data is stored in Dynamics 365 and is used as a yardstick. It means that 12 months on the case manager is prompted to assess the difference that the Connected Care Program has made to the child's life.
The case manager also makes contact with the family, the child's GP and any other clinicians involved in their care, collects data for the CRM and ticks off on the workflow as steps are completed. Additional insights about the family and child – how the child is fed, if they are mobile, whether they attend school – can all be collected and better inform the care plan that is created for the child.
One of the key requirements for the platform was that it be intuitive.
"We are quite a dynamic and diverse team and have everyone from Gen Ys to Baby Boomers. Most took to the system very easily," Thompson says, adding that was important because, "We are clinicians not IT people".
Even remotely located co-ordinators quickly got on board with the system, recognising that the CRM delivered an efficient way to keep on top of caseloads.
Instead of complex and cumbersome spreadsheets, co-ordinators have clarity and support with workflows.
"This has added efficiency and stopped patients falling through the gaps – important things are getting done because of workflows flagging us to take action," says Thompson.
"For example we now have notification of surgeries. The appointment is made and pops up on the dashboard 14 days before the procedure, so that preparation work can be carried out to ensure the patient is ready and prepared for admission to hospital."
Information and insight
Besides providing a safety net for the children, Dynamics CRM means that Thompson and her team can generate reports quickly and efficiently. Checking that a patient care plan has been completed is done at the touch of a button – in the past it would have required hours of work poring over a spreadsheet.
The patient impact also extends beyond more streamlined care delivery.
In the last 12 months the Connected Care team has seen its case load double. Access to finer grained accurate information is leading to better informed discussions and decision making says Thompson.
"We can assess our effectiveness and the role we are playing in these families' lives. It helps us decide how we are going to run a case because it identifies when things are going well. It has changed the way I access information – there are some things I could never get before –now I have a wealth of information I can access easily."
Family support
Already Thompson says that the more comprehensive information available from the Dynamics CRM platform is helping to empower the broader healthcare and family community to care for children.
"We have a lot of children with cerebral palsy on the program. They are often fed through tubes, may be in a wheelchair, need orthopaedics and occupational therapy and three quarters of our children are across the State and not just in the vicinity of Lady Cilento.
"They live outside of the area and in some incredibly remote locations where there is no hospital anywhere near them. This is empowering the community to look after the children."
Streamlining care
Ultimately the information systems are being designed to transform the health care being delivered to children.
Thompson explains; "The more consolidated information you have, the easier it is to manage a family. Often one of the biggest frustrations they face is having to repeat their story over and over again".
"If we can have a nurse in Townsville who is able to pull information from the system on the family or provide information that we need, we will minimise the family's frustration and have access to up to date clinical information."
Integration with clinical systems will deliver additional benefits. While families can tell co-ordinators what has happened, they may struggle with the detail. By integrating Dynamics CRM with clinical information systems the child's health journey will be made more transparent.
Thompson also hopes that in time the CRM will be integrated with appointment booking systems to further streamline the care process.
Ultimately she believes the solution could streamline care across the State. We could share core information across the State to be a more cohesive service and improve the patient journey for children on our program".
For the children enrolled in the Connected Care Program and their families this has been a welcome improvement in their journey through the healthcare system.
Children with complex or chronic medical conditions are benefiting from Queensland's Connected Care Program leveraging Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Working with Microsoft partner Simient, they have established a single consolidated information system to ensure access to clinical real time information.
Ultimately the information systems are designed to transform the health care being delivered to children. By integrating Dynamics CRM with clinical information systems the child's health journey will be made more transparent.
For the children enrolled in the Connected Care Program and their families this has been a welcome improvement in their journey through the healthcare system.
Lady Cilento Children's Hospital embraces Dynamics 365
Each of the 1,070 children enrolled in Queensland's Connected Care Program has complex health needs.
For a child to be referred onto the program he or she must have a complex or chronic medical condition, and require access to three or more medical specialties – for example paediatrics, orthopaedics and rehabilitation clinics.
Families often live in a rural or remote area, distant from medical and health facilities. A child could require a medical aid – a feeding tube, a ventilator or tracheostomy tube, for example.
Some children and their families face even more challenges.
For one child living in the Torres Strait, a recent specialist visit meant a 17 hour journey which involved travelling across a creek, catching a bus, getting on a plane and finally arriving at hospital in Brisbane.
The complexity of ensuring children and their families are supported through a series of co-ordinated appointments and procedures is something that Shirley Thompson, Nurse Manager for The Connected Care and Nurse Navigator Program – Children's Health Queensland, understands only too well.
Based at Lady Cilento Children's Hospital, Queensland's dedicated quaternary hospital in South Brisbane, Thompson leads the program that supports children across Queensland, northern NSW, the Northern Territory and Torres Strait.
The program's intent is to ensure effective, streamlined case management for each child and their family by improving communication and linkages between healthcare providers in acute, community and primary sectors.
To achieve this aim, Thompson works with Connected Care Co-ordinators based right across Queensland, stretching from the Gold Coast to Mount Isa. The care co-ordinators manage access to healthcare providers and support services, and act as a single point of contact for families providing support and assistance.
In tandem with Connected Care co-ordinators, Nurse Navigators, also based at The Lady Cilento Children's Hospital work with families and hospital doctors to identify and monitor the healthcare requirements of children, develop tailored care plans and facilitate access to services.
In the past, the teams have relied heavily on Excel spreadsheets and Access databases. These however were ill-suited to the complex case management expectations of families and clinicians. Adding to the challenge is the fact that hospitals and medical specialists use different medical record systems which deliver a somewhat fragmented view of patients, particularly those with complex needs.
"It's hard to have access to clinical real time information," says Thompson.
Patient central
To address the issue Connected Care, working with Microsoft partner Simient, elected to establish a single consolidated information system based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM that could be used to share information about the children enrolled in the program. The core information contained in that system can be accessed by co-ordinators and Nurse Navigators in Thompson's team to ensure that the right care is delivered at the right time, ensuring that the child's comprehensive care plan is accessible by anyone with the appropriate authority.
"If the child suddenly arrives at a hospital then staff can access the care plan that details the child's healthcare needs," Thompson explains. It has also allowed care to be streamlined across Queensland with the Connected Care team able to hand patient care from one area to another knowing that the critical information is always available through the platform. It has also allowed the Connected Care co-ordinators to work as a cohesive team regardless of their location.
Importantly also if a team member is absent for any reason, "Anybody can step in to the co-ordinator role and know where the family is up to and what care needs to be completed," says Thompson.
The system is used from the time a child is first referred to and then enrolled in the program and assigned to a specific team. For example, a child living in the Darling Downs region would be assigned by the system to the Connected Care co-ordinator who would case manage the patient needs in Toowoomba, and would receive automated workflows associated with that child.
"They would see there was a new patient, do an intake and collect data about the child's admissions, trips to outpatients, or emergency presentations in the last 12 months," says Thompson.
The data is stored in Dynamics 365 and is used as a yardstick. It means that 12 months on the case manager is prompted to assess the difference that the Connected Care Program has made to the child's life.
The case manager also makes contact with the family, the child's GP and any other clinicians involved in their care, collects data for the CRM and ticks off on the workflow as steps are completed. Additional insights about the family and child – how the child is fed, if they are mobile, whether they attend school – can all be collected and better inform the care plan that is created for the child.
One of the key requirements for the platform was that it be intuitive.
"We are quite a dynamic and diverse team and have everyone from Gen Ys to Baby Boomers. Most took to the system very easily," Thompson says, adding that was important because, "We are clinicians not IT people".
Even remotely located co-ordinators quickly got on board with the system, recognising that the CRM delivered an efficient way to keep on top of caseloads.
Instead of complex and cumbersome spreadsheets, co-ordinators have clarity and support with workflows.
"This has added efficiency and stopped patients falling through the gaps – important things are getting done because of workflows flagging us to take action," says Thompson.
"For example we now have notification of surgeries. The appointment is made and pops up on the dashboard 14 days before the procedure, so that preparation work can be carried out to ensure the patient is ready and prepared for admission to hospital."
Information and insight
Besides providing a safety net for the children, Dynamics CRM means that Thompson and her team can generate reports quickly and efficiently. Checking that a patient care plan has been completed is done at the touch of a button – in the past it would have required hours of work poring over a spreadsheet.
The patient impact also extends beyond more streamlined care delivery.
In the last 12 months the Connected Care team has seen its case load double. Access to finer grained accurate information is leading to better informed discussions and decision making says Thompson.
"We can assess our effectiveness and the role we are playing in these families' lives. It helps us decide how we are going to run a case because it identifies when things are going well. It has changed the way I access information – there are some things I could never get before –now I have a wealth of information I can access easily."
Family support
Already Thompson says that the more comprehensive information available from the Dynamics CRM platform is helping to empower the broader healthcare and family community to care for children.
"We have a lot of children with cerebral palsy on the program. They are often fed through tubes, may be in a wheelchair, need orthopaedics and occupational therapy and three quarters of our children are across the State and not just in the vicinity of Lady Cilento.
"They live outside of the area and in some incredibly remote locations where there is no hospital anywhere near them. This is empowering the community to look after the children."
Streamlining care
Ultimately the information systems are being designed to transform the health care being delivered to children.
Thompson explains; "The more consolidated information you have, the easier it is to manage a family. Often one of the biggest frustrations they face is having to repeat their story over and over again".
"If we can have a nurse in Townsville who is able to pull information from the system on the family or provide information that we need, we will minimise the family's frustration and have access to up to date clinical information."
Integration with clinical systems will deliver additional benefits. While families can tell co-ordinators what has happened, they may struggle with the detail. By integrating Dynamics CRM with clinical information systems the child's health journey will be made more transparent.
Thompson also hopes that in time the CRM will be integrated with appointment booking systems to further streamline the care process.
Ultimately she believes the solution could streamline care across the State. We could share core information across the State to be a more cohesive service and improve the patient journey for children on our program".
For the children enrolled in the Connected Care Program and their families this has been a welcome improvement in their journey through the healthcare system.
tour India
All the colour, history, culture and cuisine of the country is included with visits to its vibrant bazaars, awe-inspiring monuments and famous landmarks. Customary A&K service and style is a given plus the unmatched hospitality of some of India's finest hotels and palaces. Guests can choose their own dates between April and September and will travel from Delhi to Agra, through the deserts of Rajasthan and into the state's most vibrant cities in air-conditioned comfort with expert guides on hand to bring the journey to life.
The Julia Creek Dirt n Dust Festival has come to a close for yet another year.
An 800m swim, 25km ride and 5km run is all it takes. It doesn't sound hard but the blistering outback heat and strong winds makes this Australia's toughest sprint tri. Swim through a murky creek, pedal against the roaring headwind, and run one of the hottest stretches of bitumen around. Then celebrate finishing at the horse races, enter fashions on the field, enjoy a country tastes luncheon, watch a PBR bull ride, enter Australia's Best Butt Competition, topped off with plenty of live music and a firework spectacular - this the 2017 Julia Creek Dirt n Dust Festival!
Highlights
The 23rd annual Julia Creek Dirt n Dust Festival was held this weekend, April 7-9
First time competitor Matt Hutchinson, was named winner of the South32 Julia Creek Triathlon - against 365 competitors
Emerald family "The Bennett's", made the event a family affair with father Lance placing third in the Senior Triathlon, mother Mace, placing 4th and four of their six children placed first in their age groups
Jockey Aaron Spradau, riding Anchor Chain, won the Artesian Express Race in what was a nail-biting photo finish
19 year old PBR rookie rider Aaron Kleier from Clermont was the overall PBR champion
Mount Isa's Rachel Thwaites, 24, and Gold Coast's Toby Wicks, 25, were crowned the winners of the 2017 Julia Creek Dirt n Dust Festival Donohues Best Butt Competition from more than 30 finalists from all over Australia
Local Julia Creek girl, Amanda Stevens won best dressed after racing with her sisters to campaign for "Fresh Water for Life" the Lincoln Cash Foundation
300+ volunteers helped make the event a success for another year
Saturday, April 08, 2017
Cody Simpson and the Australian Girls Choir
Making waves in the music industry with his videos receiving more than 150 million views on YouTube, the Australian singer will welcome Carnival Legend when it sails into Sydney with a one-off concert on top of the ship, against the backdrop of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Cody Simpson and the Australian Girls Choir
Zagame Autosport rookie Rising Star Shields
The Team BRM driver started from pole - with the grid determined by the second fastest qualifying times from Friday - and won by over two seconds ahead of teammate and CAMS Foundation Rising Star Cameron Shields.
"It was a very intense race. I just focussed on the start; getting a good jump and then focussing of the first couple of laps and trying to get that gap," Lawson said.
"I managed it, although towards the end there Cameron was closing on me fast. Really stoked with the result."
"I think that was the longest 20 laps of my life! I think the 20 laps races make it a lot more physical but i think tomorrow, if it rains, it'll take the pressure off a little bit."
Why Japan’s Cherry Blossoms Are Different This Year
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Bahamian beaches are the stuff of legend, and our guide will help you discover the best of them.
You Can Sleep in Banksy's Newest Masterpiece
Its location is as much of a statement as the art itself.
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Giving Back: Homestays around the World
The Best Dive Spots on the Planet
Four exclusive-use private islands
Luxury travel news, events, deals and stories by Luxury Travel magazine, Australia's only publication exclusively devoted to luxury travel.
Four of the world's most luxurious exclusive-use private islands
Ever dreamed of hiring out your own private island? Here are four of the most luxurious private island resorts, plus one Australian island that recently opened for exclusive-use stays.
Vic SES harnesses the Microsoft stack to better serve the community
Victoria State Emergency Service discovers far reaching flexibility through Microsoft Cloud
The most successful transformations can be the invisible ones; the ones where end users make the transition easily, accessing familiar applications that just work faster, smarter.
Invisible transformations also mean the well-oiled machinery of an organisation rolls on while the foundations for the future are put in place.
For Victoria's State Emergency Service any IT transformation needs to be seamless. The important work that its volunteers perform can't be interrupted.
So it was essential that the move to Microsoft Azure was almost invisible for the organisation's 5,000 volunteers – they were able to access familiar applications immediately, only now at anytime, anywhere, on any device. At the same time Vic SES is positioned to finesse its processes and systems for the future while reaping 20-25 per cent cost savings thanks to the cloud-led transformation.
Vic SES is a not-for-profit, volunteer-based emergency service. Its 5,000 volunteers operate out of 142 local units to help people facing floods, storms, earthquakes, landslides and road accidents across the State. When a major weather event occurs the organisation might receive several thousand calls for assistance each day. When an interstate issue arises Vic SES volunteers may fly in to offer additional support.
Andrew Ferrarese, the manager of information services at Vic SES explains; "Our role is to keep the community alerted, informed. Help them with keeping the water out of their homes, trees off their rooves, saving and looking after people generally." And given the nature of the task at hand those information systems and support need to be available to personnel 24×7 – disasters don't just strike 9-5.
The faster volunteers can access information, the faster they can complete callout requests, and the faster the community can get back on its feet.
Aiding the 5,000 volunteers are 180 SES staff who provide support and insights to people in the field. That requires the SES' information systems to be entirely reliable and always accessible.
In the past the organisation managed its own IT infrastructure, but Ferrarese recognised that by moving to a trusted public cloud he could support the organisation's current needs, but better position it for the future.
Working with Microsoft partner Data#3, Vic SES has migrated 90 per cent of its operational systems to the cloud with the remainder to follow shortly. Leveraging local Microsoft data centres which have been certified by the Australian Signals Directorate, delivers peace of mind about the resilience of the platform along with the security and privacy of data stored there, while latency and data sovereignty is no longer an issue.
"The key for me is that I have that comfort knowing that it's local, it's accessible, there's a business continuity component to it," says Ferrarese.
"What we've tried to do with this recent move is to just keep it as seamless as possible, so people still see their email and it looks the same, but it's on Office 365. We don't want to be seen as anything more than just providing the service…it's just something that has to work."
Ultimately he says SES workers need to communicate and to; "Access information and applications on the fly, in the field, wherever and whenever."
Enterprise architect, Paul Jones adds; "The business need is really around a dynamic organisation that has a lot of staff and volunteers out on the road attending to community needs when there's a disaster or a declared operation, so we need to be flexible enough to be able to drive a lot of those needs through remote working or a BYOD type of solution. That is key for everything that we look for in a platform like Azure or Office 365."
There have also been organisational benefits says Ferrarese; "We wanted something that was simple and easy to use and obviously cost was a key consideration. Azure provided that ability where we didn't need to worry about infrastructure or manage anything at a high cost and be worried about when it expires and licensing. We're getting a better service for less money."
About 20-25 per cent less money he says.
Crucially the cloud also acts as a foundation for the future. In the past SES staff needed a dedicated device and login to access the system. If they were in the field and attempted to log in from a Country Fire Association site or Department of Water and Environment office only limited access was possible.
Now the cloud and Office 365 allows anywhere anytime access. Any staff member, any volunteer with internet access and the appropriate authority will be able to access any application.
It also opens the door for additional productivity tools such as Skype for Business, OneDrive and Power BI which will further unlock the value in Vic SES' data, break down any lingering information silos, and ensure important insights are shared fast and well.
The most successful transformations can be the invisible ones; the ones where end users make the transition easily, accessing familiar applications that just work faster, smarter.
Invisible transformations also mean the well-oiled machinery of an organisation rolls on while the foundations for the future are put in place.
For Victoria's State Emergency Service any IT transformation needs to be seamless. The important work that its volunteers perform can't be interrupted.
So it was essential that the move to Microsoft Azure was almost invisible for the organisation's 5,000 volunteers – they were able to access familiar applications immediately, only now at anytime, anywhere, on any device. At the same time Vic SES is positioned to finesse its processes and systems for the future while reaping 20-25 per cent cost savings thanks to the cloud-led transformation.
Vic SES is a not-for-profit, volunteer-based emergency service. Its 5,000 volunteers operate out of 142 local units to help people facing floods, storms, earthquakes, landslides and road accidents across the State. When a major weather event occurs the organisation might receive several thousand calls for assistance each day. When an interstate issue arises Vic SES volunteers may fly in to offer additional support.
Andrew Ferrarese, the manager of information services at Vic SES explains; "Our role is to keep the community alerted, informed. Help them with keeping the water out of their homes, trees off their rooves, saving and looking after people generally." And given the nature of the task at hand those information systems and support need to be available to personnel 24×7 – disasters don't just strike 9-5.
The faster volunteers can access information, the faster they can complete callout requests, and the faster the community can get back on its feet.
Aiding the 5,000 volunteers are 180 SES staff who provide support and insights to people in the field. That requires the SES' information systems to be entirely reliable and always accessible.
In the past the organisation managed its own IT infrastructure, but Ferrarese recognised that by moving to a trusted public cloud he could support the organisation's current needs, but better position it for the future.
Working with Microsoft partner Data#3, Vic SES has migrated 90 per cent of its operational systems to the cloud with the remainder to follow shortly. Leveraging local Microsoft data centres which have been certified by the Australian Signals Directorate, delivers peace of mind about the resilience of the platform along with the security and privacy of data stored there, while latency and data sovereignty is no longer an issue.
"The key for me is that I have that comfort knowing that it's local, it's accessible, there's a business continuity component to it," says Ferrarese.
"What we've tried to do with this recent move is to just keep it as seamless as possible, so people still see their email and it looks the same, but it's on Office 365. We don't want to be seen as anything more than just providing the service…it's just something that has to work."
Ultimately he says SES workers need to communicate and to; "Access information and applications on the fly, in the field, wherever and whenever."
Enterprise architect, Paul Jones adds; "The business need is really around a dynamic organisation that has a lot of staff and volunteers out on the road attending to community needs when there's a disaster or a declared operation, so we need to be flexible enough to be able to drive a lot of those needs through remote working or a BYOD type of solution. That is key for everything that we look for in a platform like Azure or Office 365."
There have also been organisational benefits says Ferrarese; "We wanted something that was simple and easy to use and obviously cost was a key consideration. Azure provided that ability where we didn't need to worry about infrastructure or manage anything at a high cost and be worried about when it expires and licensing. We're getting a better service for less money."
About 20-25 per cent less money he says.
Crucially the cloud also acts as a foundation for the future. In the past SES staff needed a dedicated device and login to access the system. If they were in the field and attempted to log in from a Country Fire Association site or Department of Water and Environment office only limited access was possible.
Now the cloud and Office 365 allows anywhere anytime access. Any staff member, any volunteer with internet access and the appropriate authority will be able to access any application.
It also opens the door for additional productivity tools such as Skype for Business, OneDrive and Power BI which will further unlock the value in Vic SES' data, break down any lingering information silos, and ensure important insights are shared fast and well.
Taj announces Taj Swarna, Amritsar
Taj Swarna, Amritsar was officially announced, the group's first hotel in the city strategically located 30 minutes from the international airport, promising an urban sanctuary for residents as well as business and leisure travelers alike.
The hotel has a stunning contemporary design which reflects not just the traditional art and refinement of old spiritual Amritsar, but also the cutting-edge modernity of the new city with its contemporary art and clean lines.
The hotel has a stunning contemporary design which reflects not just the traditional art and refinement of old spiritual Amritsar, but also the cutting-edge modernity of the new city with its contemporary art and clean lines.
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