Above & Beyond – Office Relocation.
Company Bio
Above and Beyond are a very active charity raising money and managing funds for Bristol’s city centre hospitals. With over 30+ devices being used daily on the network.
Overview
Due to ongoing expansion and the requirement for more space, Above and Beyond needed to relocate from their office before it burst at the seams. Identifying a suitable nearby site to accommodate the expansion, Above and Beyond came to us, as their IT Support provider, to plan and perform the technical aspects of the move.
Challenges
- Define requirements
- Initial target date uncertain
- Concept drawings only as reference
- Connect with relevant third-party providers
- Minimise downtime
- Implement the defined plan and perform a successful move
The Approach.
As the current IT provider for Above and Beyond, CAB IT Services had a very clear understanding of the requirements for the new premises. To add to our understanding, we discussed futures plans and timescales of growth to ensure we built in the required scalability.
By engaging with third party providers as early as possible to discuss likely timescales we were able to negotiate and coordinate various aspects of the move well in advance of firm timescales being announced. This enabled us to stay well ahead of all lead times allowing for flexibility where necessary.
Constant contact with Above and Beyond throughout ensured that we were in contact with Agents (managing the building works), removal company and Office Furniture providers.
Our goal… to keep as many aspects of the move within our control on moving day as possible.
The Solution.
The early engagement with Third Party providers enabled us to get through the 90-day lead time for Gigabit Fibre Internet installation. This allowed site surveys and required legal documentation (Wayleave) generation to be returned in suitable time frames. To keep costs to a minimum we managed to negotiate a service move from the old premises, saving the £1750 installation fee. The internet transfer went through successfully on moving day.
Working closely with the Agent managing the building elements of the move, we ensured they catered for the network infrastructure required. CAB IT Services provided marked up drawings showing the specifications for them to work from. On completion of works we attended site prior to moving day and ensured everything was as required. We had installed new active networking equipment to implement a fully managed network ready for the move and ordered all necessary equipment and cabling.
All user equipment was unplugged and packed in containers (provided by removal company) at the end of play on the day prior to the move. All labelled per user with the relevant desk number at the new premises.
Moving day started by CAB IT Services powering down and moving servers to the new premises while wireless networking equipment was also installed. The remainder of the move hinged on new desks being built and packed IT equipment arriving old office. The servers were down for only 50 minutes.
With equipment and desks not being available until 2:30 we commenced installing equipment to relevant desks as they became available. With three pairs of hands we installed the 30+ computers and printers with everything fully functional by 7:00pm.
With two members of staff on site for Go Live, we covered off any minor issues or adjustments required.
Telephones / VoIP
CAB IT Connect is a VoIP telephone system hosted within your own private cloud and designed to integrated.
Business Continuity
Recover critical data quickly Should you experience a server failure. Yhe SIRIS can have your Windows or Linux environment and data recreated in minutes from the local device or the Datto Cloud.
Office 365 / Cloud
Office 365 is a cloud-based service hosted by Microsoft that brings together familiar Microsoft Office desktop applications with business-class email, shared calendars, instant messaging (IM), video conferencing and file sharing.
Cyber Security
According to over 1,700 IT service providers, the lack of cybersecurity awareness amongst employees is a leading cause of a successful ransomware attack against an SMB.
Secure Destruction
Most businesses think GDPR only refers to personal data used for marketing and sales purposes, but…
The GDPR definition of data processing is wide, and a major part of the GDPR includes the erasure and destruction of personal data.
Procurement
Expert IT procurement plays an important role within the provision of IT services, especially as IT budgets are constantly under scrutiny and purchase decisions need to be justified.
Managed Networks
Modern offices seek a network infrastructure solution that intelligently combines voice and data networks. In order to optimize the performance of their converged network, it requires visibility, control and manageability…maximizing the productivity of users across the network.
Asset Management
As a key requirement of GDPR compliance for every business, it is important that the management of your IT Assets isn’t an admin task that is overlooked.
Web Design
We work with you to design and build a professional website that will truly represent your brand.
IT Support
We provide very flexible IT Support working effectively through one of our completely customised IT Support Packages.
Internet
Through a variety of connectivity partners CAB IT Services can offer a huge range of business connectivity services.
Wifi
Our Wi-Fi System is a scalable enterprise grade access point solution designed to be deployed and managed within any environment.
Network Infrastructure
In partnership with carefully selected third parties we provide network infrastructure data cabling installations in Bristol and throughout the South West.
