Challenge
Our client was spun off from its parent company and sold to a private equity firm. To minimize startup expense and time issues, the equity firm was searching for an IT partner that could build an entire IT infrastructure in a very short window of time. Starting from ground zero, this would include networking, voice, wireless, mobile phones, and helpdesk for all locations and remote employees.
Solution
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), the virtual CIO the client hired, contacted us with the caveat that a proposal needed to be turned around within one week to allow for a quick decision. Using resources across all company functions, the requirement was met. The solution offered hosting the network core— including voice—in a local data center, while utilizing our Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solution or Virtual Data Center (VDC) to run internal and external applications.
After submitting the bid, the project was verbally awarded two weeks later and the first implementation meeting was held the next day with PWC. To meet the aggressive timeline, the paperwork was signed a week later, and within two weeks, the initial design was completed and approved by the client. Equipment orders were placed and expedited. Four weeks later, the entire Infrastructure was in place and launched. The complete integrated solution consisted of:
- Desktops
– 250 laptops configured and delivered in the U.S., Canada, Italy, and France
– VPN connectivity - Servers
– Built in the Virtual Data Center (VDC) and included Exchange, AD, BES, SharePoint, File/Pring, Web AV, SQL, Cognos, BDC - Telephony
– Full Cisco Call Manager with Cluster Configuration residing in an enterprise-grade data center
– All handsets, associated equipment and mobile devices - Voice communications
– Local access lines, VoIP infrastructure, Long Distance Service, Audio Conferencing, Webex and Wireless - Infrastructure as a Service
– Virtual Data Center (VDC)
– Storage as a Service
– Backup (DR) as a Service - Helpdesk
– Tier 1 Desktop Support with foreign language support (GHDSi), Tier 1 Mobile Phone Support (IMI), Tier 2 and 3 Support – ENOC - Data connectivity services
– MPLS to Chicago (soon to Hamburg, Rome, and Paris), Metro Ethernet between HQ and our data center, Internet access with firewalls, cabling in HQ and remote office - Cisco
– Routers, Wireless, Call Manager, VPN, Firewall, WAN Accelerators - Services delivered
– Managed Services – Full management of servers, Cisco PBX and VoIP, WAN Monitoring and Management
– Professional Services
— Project-based – Design, Configuration, Implementation, Project Management
— Staff Augmentation – Project Manager, Break/Fix, Service Delivery Manager - Engineers deployed on the project
A project manager was deployed to ensure that everything was delivered, installed, and ready at launch. Multiple engineers certified at all levels—as well as security, wireless, and data center consultants and technicians—designed, configured, and implemented the solutions. Training packets were produced for employees and training was held on the new Cisco phones and mobile devices prior to the launch.
Results
Starting from ground zero and within seven weeks, we successfully built a fully operational, state-of-theart IT infrastructure, allowing the company to completely avoid the costly expense of a transitional service agreement (TSA). If a TSA had been in place, the parent company would have charged a premium price to provide IT services until the new company became independent with their own infrastructure. This saved the new spin-off thousands of dollars in IT related expenses.