Bridge Academy Trust has been a customer of M-Tech Systems for a number of years — we started by providing network support across several of the Trust's schools, and the relationship grew from there. As the Trust expanded and the dependency on centrally delivered digital services increased, the existing wide-area network architecture started to show its limits. The first transformation step was a managed MPLS platform; the next was a wholesale move to SD-WAN, shaped around the cloud-first direction the Trust is now taking.
The story of this case study is that journey — and what it means for a Trust whose sites range from urban centres to rural locations where carrier availability changes from one school to the next.
The challenge
- Context:
A growing Trust — more schools, more users, more dependence on the central digital platform
- Context:
Cloud and SaaS-led services — the network had to be shaped around traffic that no longer terminates inside the Trust's data centre
- Context:
Resilience across urban and rural sites — uptime expectations were the same everywhere; the carrier options weren't
- Goal:
Cost-effective connectivity — leased lines for every site would solve resilience and break the budget
- Goal:
Centralised security and network management — one pane of glass for the whole estate, not site-by-site administration
- Goal:
Reduced on-site infrastructure dependency — the long-term direction of travel was a serverless, cloud-first operating model
- Context:
Reliable rural connectivity — particular sites where the local carrier picture varies significantly and traditional MPLS choices were expensive or impractical
How the network evolved
The WAN transformation came in stages — each one solved the problem in front of it and set up the next.
Network support across the schools
The original engagement. M-Tech provided network support across several of the Trust's school sites — getting the day-to-day operating posture stable and building the working relationship that the later transformation programmes rested on.
Managed MPLS WAN
The first WAN transformation. A centrally managed MPLS platform delivered and supported by M-Tech across the Trust. Centralised connectivity, improved inter-site communication, single operational view of the network. A real step up for the time.
Fortinet SD-WAN — the cloud-shaped network
The next step. A wholesale move from MPLS to a Fortinet SD-WAN platform with centrally managed FortiGate firewall appliances at each school. Intelligent traffic management, application-aware routing, centralised policy and resilience by design — sized around traffic that now mostly heads to the cloud, not back to a central site.
Blended connectivity per site
Each school is connected on the option that fits — Ethernet leased lines where they're warranted, FTTP and SOGEA where they're sensible, additional resilient internet services where the site needs them. Rural schools in particular benefited from a connectivity model that didn't depend on a single expensive dedicated circuit to deliver resilient internet access.
In numbers
- 02 / 04Blended connectivity options used per site — leased line, FTTP, SOGEA, resilient internet0
- 03 / 04WAN generations — site-by-site → managed MPLS → Fortinet SD-WAN0
- 04 / 04Sites left on a single point of failure — resilience designed in everywhere0
What the new platform does
Resilience by design
Intelligent failover and traffic prioritisation across multiple connectivity types per site. Schools stay online when a circuit blips. The Trust doesn't choose between resilience and cost.
Cost-effective at scale
Blended connectivity options — leased lines, FTTP, SOGEA and resilient internet — picked per site, not imposed across the estate. Rural sites get sensible internet without the dedicated- leased-line bill.
Shaped for cloud and SaaS
SD-WAN routes traffic intelligently to where it's actually going — straight to the cloud, not back through the data centre. The network now matches the way modern education services actually run.
Centralised security and visibility
Centrally managed Fortinet across the estate — one pane of glass for security, policy, reporting and traffic visibility. Faster troubleshooting, easier audit conversations.
Easier school onboarding
Adding a new school to the platform is now a known piece of work — pick the connectivity option that fits the site, drop in a FortiGate, apply the policy. Scale without re-architecting.
A foundation for cloud-first
The platform underpins the Trust's wider direction of travel — fewer on-site servers, more cloud and managed services, a serverless operating model in reach.
Platform at a glance
- Trust scale
- Multi-academy, multi-site Trust — schools across urban and rural locations in the UK
- WAN platform
- Fortinet SD-WAN — centrally managed
- Edge devices
- FortiGate firewall appliances at every school site
- Connectivity options blended per site
- Ethernet leased lines, FTTP, SOGEA, additional resilient internet services
- Capabilities
- Intelligent failover, application-aware traffic prioritisation, centralised policy, integrated security, full visibility and reporting
- Operating model
- Fully managed by M-Tech Systems — design, deployment, ongoing operation, change control
- Adjacent services
- Hosted and cloud services from M-Tech as part of the wider cloud-first journey
- Direction of travel
- Cloud-first, serverless operating model; SaaS-led education platforms; reducing on-site infrastructure footprint
A long-term partnership, not a project
What started as network support across a handful of schools has become the connectivity platform underpinning the Trust's cloud-first journey. The SD-WAN platform gives Bridge Academy Trust the resilience, flexibility and cost shape needed to continue reducing on-site infrastructure and accelerate adoption of cloud-based services. M-Tech continues as the strategic technology partner alongside it — delivering both the connectivity and the wider managed cloud services that the next stage of the Trust's growth depends on.