By Heather Horn / 1 Oct 2019 / Topics: Microsoft 365 Software
Facts at a glance
Client industry:
Public utility provider
Size of company:
17,000 employees
Challenge:
The client needed help procuring the right products, planning an implementation strategy, and providing communications and support to end users.
Solution:
- Microsoft software migration services
- Managed service desk (temporary)
- Enterprise acceptance & adoption services
- Field support services
- Copilot service
Results:
- Improved service desk support
- Successfully migrated 8,543+ mail and fileshare accounts
- Migrated 8,545+ Skype user accounts with 100% success rate
- Migrated client from AirWatch to Microsoft Intune
Solution area:
Insight’s Connected Workforce solutions are a suite of end-user compute offerings designed to simplify IT management while improving connectivity and collaboration.
When one utility company faced a cloud migration conundrum, it knew it needed a knowledgeable partner to lead the way.
Knowing its Enterprise Agreement with Microsoft was swiftly coming to an end, the company needed to make some big decisions. Though the business’s previous agreement with Microsoft had been strictly on-premises, it now wanted to move to Office 365.
With Software as a Service (SaaS)-based cloud applications, the Microsoft Office 365 suite suite promised easier management and better collaboration for the company’s end users. However, the company had a very specific goal in mind that would shape the strategy of its migration.
Although innovation and cost reduction were major factors, the primary concern was to ensure a positive end-user experience. Above all else, the company wanted to deliver a simple platform that would be pleasant to use.
With the company’s migration goals laid out, its Microsoft representative suggested contacting Insight for guidance. Starting with a free assessment, we stepped in to evaluate its needs.
We analyzed the client’s infrastructure, financial objectives and enterprise readiness to see if Office 365 would be a good match. Our goal: to find out if the company could jump into the Office 365 collaboration environment in its current state. The answer: yes.
Trusting our initial assessments, the client invited Insight to act on its behalf and re-negotiate its Microsoft Enterprise Agreement. After thorough evaluation and research, we provided software advice and council on what should be included.
We devised a custom migration plan and worked in collaboration with Microsoft to deliver proofs of concept for the platform and user experience. Proofs of concept included specific use cases, testing and proposed pilot programs. The client decided to move forward with the proposal and signed its Enterprise Agreement renewal with Microsoft.
In order to help the client orchestrate a successful migration and see the true value of its purchase, we provided a dedicated project manager to ensure business priorities were being met.
Through our managed migration services, we helped the client initiate a comprehensive migration of all Exchange, SharePoint and Skype for Business accounts. In the first wave, we successfully migrated more than 8,543 mail and fileshare accounts and 8,545 Skype user accounts.
While we’re still in the middle of the project, we’re currently ahead of schedule, well within budget and on track to migrate over 15,000 mail and Skype accounts. Microsoft reports that the first wave of this transformational migration has resulted in the lowest mailbox failure rate its seen in the last seven years.
With user experience being the client’s biggest priority, we knew additional end-user support would be needed.
Since the client already managed its service desk internally, we suggested temporarily supplementing support with our managed services. We provided support for Office 365 specifically, handling user questions and migration-related issues from two weeks before the first migration until one month after the final migration.
We also worked with the client to devise a communication strategy that would encourage greater enterprise acceptance and platform adoption. The communications helped users understand when the migrations would happen, what the process would entail and where they could go for help.
Currently, the client reports that the user experience we’ve delivered for its service desk has been outstanding. When users call with a migration-related issue, their feedback on the experience has been overwhelmingly positive. The client receives twice daily progress reports listing all outstanding tickets.
With the first wave of migrations complete, the positive feedback from end users indicates a bright future ahead. The client has since bought into our Copilot service, which provides sustainable support services for 12 months following the completion of the migration.
