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Glen Howells Architects

About-Glen-Howells-Architects-Providing-a-leading-architectural-design-studio-with-a-launching-pad-for-effective-remote-collaboration

Providing a leading architectural design studio with a launching pad for effective remote collaboration

About Glen Howells Architects

Launching in 1990, Glenn Howells Architects is a leading UK architectural design studio, with a 140‐ strong creative team delivering innovative projects from offices in both London and Birmingham - all driven by the belief that our physical spaces can make a tangible difference in the lives of both individuals and communities.

Challenges

Like all companies within the architectural sector, Glenn Howells Architects depend on close collaboration between team members to deliver innovative designs that draw on the full scope of their creativity. While their legacy voice system, supplemented with multiple UC platforms, had proven adequate in this regard for some time, the onset of COVID‐19, and the resulting move to remote working, meant that the system was being utilised at a scale that had never been tried before. The system quickly revealed its limitations in this regard, having no softphone capabilities outside of the company VPN, and lacking the capacity to manage the number of team members now connecting to the corporate network via personal devices each day.

Having already established a strong working relationship with Exponential‐e over the years, they were selected as the technology partner to propose and deliver a solution in response to these challenges, ensuring the deployment would be achieved with minimal disruption and ensure the entire creative team could adapt to the new working model straight away.

Solution 

Following a detailed analysis of their requirements, budget, and existing infrastructure, Microsoft Teams Calling, delivered through an as-a-Service model, proved a perfect fit for Glen Howells Architects' immediate and long-term needs.

As a Cloud-based solution, TCaaS was deployed rapidly across their infrastructure, under the supervision of a dedicated project team, who remained in regular contact before and after the deployment process to ensure its success and ensure any concerns could be swiftly resolved.

The project team were very informative, efficient, and successfully delivered a working solution to the agreed timeline. As a client, I felt I had no complaints about the delivery of the solution and support providing during and after the implementation.

Dharminder Grewal, IT Manager - Glen Howells Architects. 

This hands-on support meant that uptake of the new solution across Glen Howells Architects' creative team was achieved extremely quickly, to the extent Teams became their default tool for remote collaboration between both colleagues and clients, completely replacing the previous, disparate selection of UC solutions.

The success of this deployment helped Glen Howells maintain their dynamic creative processes and customer engagement throughout the lockdowns of 2020, while simultaneously enhancing their future agility and scalability, and strengthening their working relationship with Exponential-e. Plans are already in place for further solutions to be integrated into Glen Howells Architects' IT infrastructure, in order to build on these successes.

Solution benefits

  • A smooth, stress-free transition to remote working for the entire creative team
  • A fully integrated approach to cross-site communication and collaboration, through a centralised UC platform
  • Disruption-free migration of legacy voice and UC system
  • Optimal scalability, agility, and cost control, thanks to a Cloud-based solution
  • A strong foundation for future development and upscaling 


An introduction to digital transformation across the AEC sector

01 A comprehensive guide to Exponential-e's portfolio of solutions and how they support the AEC sector's journey to full digital transformation

02 Proven strategies and processes, drawn directly from Exponential-e's experience with AEC leaders and numerous other sectors

03 Technology that drives future scalability, flexibility, and innovation, while allowing for full visibility and cost control

  4708 Hits

Conisbee

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Delivering high-performance connectivity and stress-free Cloud transformation for a leader in the UK's AEC sector 

About Conisbee

Operating from offices in London, Norwich, and Cambridge, Conisbee offers structural and civil engineering solutions that have supported the creation of numerous award-winning buildings – ranging from simple refurbishments to the most complex new builds – across the UK and internationally.

Challenges

Like other forward-thinking firms across the AEC sector, Conisbee have embraced the journey to the Cloud in order to optimise the overall flexibility, security, and resilience of their IT infrastructure. This journey took place in parallel with an expansion into a number of smaller regional offices, and the gradual phasing out of legacy systems, which presented additional challenges when it came to enabling seamless cross-site collaboration between teams and their clients, considering the scale and complexity of typical architectural models.

In order to manage these challenges and create an IT infrastructure that would support their ongoing growth and provide the ability to pivot in response to changes in the digital landscape, Conisbee selected Exponential-e as their Cloud and connectivity partner.

Solution 

Following an analysis of the existing legacy systems and the connectivity requirements for the new sites, end-of-life solutions were migrated to the Cloud, allowing for new cost savings and efficiencies. Furthermore, to provide a flexible platform for online communication and collaboration, Office 365 was implemented, putting a range of tools at teams' fingers through a single pane of glass. All this was underpinned by secure, high-performance connectivity, to guarantee consistency and availability for all business-critical applications.

The inherent flexibility of this new infrastructure was proven in the early months of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced firms across the country to begin working remotely, in line with social distancing regulations.
Conisbee's Cloud journey continues, with the support of their Exponential-e account team. This will support effective hybrid working in the post-COVID landscape, with staff able to communicate and collaborate remotely, in the office, or on the move, accessing the critical platforms they depend on through a range of devices, with zero compromises in terms of either security or performance.

In this way, Conisbee's partnership demonstrates the value a well-considered digital transformation strategy, supported by a trusted technology partner, can bring to the AEC sector as a whole, allowing for tangible cost savings, more flexible working, and the successful delivery of the most innovative, sustainable, and enjoyable buildings.

Solution benefits

  • An efficient, stress-free Cloud transformation process 
  • High-performance connectivity for sites across the UK 
  • Disruption-free migration of legacy systems 
  • Systems deployed to enable effective hybrid working 
  • A smooth transition to remote working in response to COVID-19


An introduction to digital transformation across the AEC sector

01  A comprehensive guide to Exponential-e's portfolio of solutions and how they support the AEC sector's journey to full digital transformation

02  Proven strategies and processes, drawn directly from Exponential-e's experience with AEC leaders and numerous other sectors

03  Technology that drives future scalability, flexibility, and innovation, while allowing for full visibility and cost control

  2334 Hits

The Careys Group

The-careys-Group-Data-and-email-system-moved-entirely-to-a-private-Cloud-and-Office-365-based-solution-with-0-distruption-to-the-business

Data and email system moved entirely to a private Cloud and Office 365 based solution with 0% disruption to the business.

About The Careys Group

The Carey Group, established in 1969, is a leading multidisciplined construction and resource recovery group, operating across the UK and Ireland. Careys deliver innovative, safe and sustainable solutions to the most complex challenges.

They are unique within the construction industry as they have in-house specialist capabilities in asbestos, demolition, civil engineering, dry lining, house building and resource recovery. Their combined service capabilities means they can deliver consolidated programmes with reduced project costs, consistency and effective management of construction risks.

Solution 

To fulfil The Carey Group's primary IT requirements Exponential-e was tasked to move their data across to a platform that used a combination of our private, secure Cloud platform and Microsoft Office 365. We were able complete the project in just 3 months whilst ensuring zero downtime during the transition period.

Our team of Professional services managers successfully completed the transition from start to finish, ensuring that everything went smoothly and impressing the Carey Group with their high levels of support and competence.

The fact that Exponential-e already supplied their 100GigE low latency WAN solution to Careys meant that they had the confidence in us to design and implement a robust technical solution that was aligned to their IT strategies.

Our solution was underpinned by our resilient Network - ensuring that Carey's had the best base from which to launch their Cloud and email platform.

By using an outsourced model managed by Exponential-e, Carey's made cost efficiencies as they eliminated the time internal IT staff traditionally spent managing their email systems.

The change from a capital expenditure to operating expenditure model has allowed Carey's to directly apportion a predictable monthly cost to the service.

Equally with the scalability of the solution, the cost of operations has decreased and the overall system is far more cost effective.

  • One of the primary benefits of the implementation of this solution is that it is cost effective and fits with the company's OPEX model.
  • The company has seen a reduction in the time their IT department needs to spend in managing their email system. Through the combination of our ongoing support and the use of Office 365, their email system will be fully managed and any patches or updates applied.
  • Inbox storage capacity increased across the company.
  • By using Exponential-e the movement of user data and the implementation of the new system were completed without any disruption to the business and took only 3 months to implement. This allowed the business to quickly move from one solution to another, without having to face any system downtime.
  • The storage capacity of their email system was increased through use of this new solution, which was a benefit for all employees within the company.

Solution benefits

  • Implementation of Office 365 and a secure, private Cloud solution throughout the company.
  • Scalable solution that is fully managed externally, allowing the IT department to focus their efforts elsewhere.
  • Inbox storage capacity increased across the company.
  • Integration with SharePoint and further Microsoft products now a possibility.
  • The CAPEX / OPEX benefits of a Cloud solution make operations cheaper.
  • 0% downtime for the business during implementation allowed Carey's to continue operating without disruption.
    Construction is a $10tn industry that currently spends less than 1% of its revenue on IT. Historically, R&D investment has been particularly low in the industry, but with AEC firms seeing how digitalisation is changing the way other industries operate, it's time for technological investment to take the lead.

    A technology-first approach enables firms to get past unique industry challenges and deliver high-quality work on time and to budget. So, what do we do about getting there? Download our Construction brochure to find out.

 Challenges

Faced with ageing internal email infrastructure that they were unable to fully manage and support, the Carey Group looked to find a solution that would allow them to move their data to a private Cloud platform whilst also utilising Microsoft Office 365. By outsourcing this service to Exponential-e they were able to ensure that they had a secure and resilient solution that was scalable and fully met their business needs.

The Carey Group's primary challenge was how to move their email data for their 1000+ users across to the new platform whilst ensuring the implementation was completed swiftly and smoothly to avoid business disruption, yet maintaining data integrity.

With their existing WAN provided by Exponential-e they looked to us to provide the professional services to make both a successful data transition and also ensure ongoing support for the day to-day management of the solution.

Exponential-e offered us a complete WAN solution that was technically superior to anything else we looked at, backed up by plain speaking people who have made the transition from a complicated in-house solution far easier than we ever envisaged.

Matt Coniam Head of ICT, The Careys Group.

An introduction to digital transformation across the AEC sector

01 A comprehensive guide to Exponential-e's portfolio of solutions and how they support the AEC sector's journey to full digital transformation

02 Proven strategies and processes, drawn directly from Exponential-e's experience with AEC leaders and numerous other sectors

03 Technology that drives future scalability, flexibility, and innovation, while allowing for full visibility and cost control

  7858 Hits