The challenge
The business is in growth mode and earlier in 2021 they acquired a new business which needed to be separated from the previous US based and owned company. They also needed our help to fully integrate that business into the existing Brown Brothers IT environment. This involved the migration of email and data as well as the deployment of a replacement network and computing equipment.
This project required us to work closely with remote teams in the US to complete the integration. The US based team had strict terms and conditions for this work as well as stringent security requirements. They required all computers and servers to be wiped before the transition and all data to be exported, validated, and released for migration within 24 hours after the cut over began.
This meant that there was a limited time frame to complete the work and as the new office was based in Hamilton, whilst iTops is based in Christchurch, our engineer had to fully complete the integration of the new site within the 3 days that they were onsite in Hamilton.
Our solution
During the planning phase of this project, we met with the US IT team to put together a plan for the migration of Microsoft OneDrive data. We also needed to export their emails to PST files, due to the security restraints. The next step was to register the domain name and provision Microsoft 365, including mailboxes, for the business and all users.
A temporary internet connection was installed until a permanent fibre connection could be added to the existing managed wide area network (WAN) was ready. We ordered all new network and computing hardware and pre-configured these in our office prior to shipping up to Hamilton for the onsite deployment.
Once onsite we completed the full re-imaging of the new laptops and setup the new user profiles. We also needed to set up a temporary VPN tunnel to the Brown Brothers WAN to allow access to the company network. Reconfiguration of the onsite IT equipment, installation of the new network equipment and decommissioning of the retired IT equipment was also required.
The final step in the completion of this project was to provide comprehensive user training for the new business unit as they weren’t familiar with the Brown Brothers IT Systems. Once this was completed, the new business unit was fully integrated into the Brown Brothers IT environment, smoothly, on time and within the agreed budget.
"iTops have been working with us, proving IT support and helping us manage our systems for the last eight years. They were able to help us integrate our newly acquired company in a very tight timeframe in part related to commercial sensitivity around the deal. We knew working with iTops that the job would get done to a high standard. We are as satisfied now with the IT services and expertise they offer as we were in our early years working together"
Lisa Stuthridge
Chief Information Officer at Brown Brothers
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