Industry: Engineering, Management, and Advisory | Organisation Size: 7,500+ employees
When Aurecon renovated their offices in Melbourne, reducing from five floors to three, they knew they had an opportunity to refresh their network to suit the new environment.
After assessing their needs, Aurecon went to market with a request for proposal (RFP). After a comprehensive review process, it was determined that Data#3 was best positioned to deliver their needs.
It is now a seamless experience for our teams to log in and stay connected. The network recognises all devices automatically, allowing our people to move effortlessly from one location to another while maintaining a consistent connection. The most important aspect is that it just works reliably.
David Basnayake – IT Domain Architect, Aurecon.
Aurecon is a design, engineering, and advisory company that works with clients to solve some of the world’s most complex challenges. With 11 countries and over 7,500 staff, Aurecon is known for bringing innovative ideas to life.
A combination of new technologies and navigating through a global pandemic led to hybrid work practices. Aurecon’s Melbourne office was reimagined to support this new work environment, and a new network was required as part of the refit.
While Aurecon has a reputation built on a track record of clever design and experienced execution, the organisation’s ability to adapt and change has also contributed heavily to its longevity. This ability to embrace change was evident as the world emerged from a global pandemic; rather than look back, Aurecon recognised the opportunity of changing work patterns. IT Domain Architect, David Basnayake, said that this led to redesigning the Melbourne office to suit a now hybrid workforce.
“The Melbourne office was one of the biggest Aurecon offices in Australia. As we were going through a refresh, we were reducing the office space as well, and we took that opportunity to refresh our ageing IT infrastructure.
“We reduced the number of floors we worked from thanks to post-COVID-19 work patterns. With the flexibility of hybrid work, we didn’t need five or six floors anymore. Our new office design is all hot desks, where we previously allocated specific spaces per user. Three floors are sufficient for our hybrid work pattern.”
With the new style of working, the old network had shown limitations. Developed over a time before work patterns changed, and when more workloads were on-premises, it was less suited to the increasingly mobile workforce. The platform was challenging to maintain, which meant that the busy IT team had to devote more resources than Aurecon IT would have liked to trouble-shoot the resulting issues.
“It was ageing infrastructure, which wasn’t realigned with our strategy for IT, and it reduced users’ ability to roam around. Our Wi-Fi was not good, with poor reception in meeting rooms, which often made meetings less productive.”
While it was undoubtedly time to move on from the ageing infrastructure, the Aurecon team knew from the start that it wanted to stick with the quality and consistency of a well-known vendor technology.
“We were a Cisco shop from the beginning. We looked at the market for what is available with other vendors – however, decided to stick with our existing roadmap and alignment with vendors. We asked for Cisco and Data#3’s assistance when it came to picking new models to suit our needs,” explained Basnayake.
As Cisco’s leading and best certified Australian partner, Data#3 was uniquely positioned to help. A design and implementation workshop was conducted to gather detailed business requirements and establish a migration approach that would fit with Aurecon’s office refit process.
“We had internally tried to figure out who would be delivering the network, and assessed if we could deliver it ourselves. We realised that the resources and skills needed were not available in the team, as we were building a team from the ground up at that time.
“At the start of the process, we requested a statement of work, and we based the scope, deliverables, and commercials on that; then the project team was established. Data#3 came up with the project manager and technical team, and we chose an internal team to work with them. The project manager then conducted a kick-off meeting, project plans were made, and we set the ball rolling,” explained Basnayake.
For Kumudu Paththinige, Aurecon’s Head of IT for Australia, the partnership with Data#3 was crucial in delivering the technical and networking improvements needed.
“The project successfully transformed the network connectivity in the office, addressing previous challenges and positioning us for future growth and technological advancements. The deployment of Wi-Fi 6 provided a significant upgrade to our office networks, offering faster speeds, better efficiencies, and an improved user experience for our staff,” explained Paththinige. “The enhanced performance, reliability, scalability, and security have improved operational efficiency and supported business continuity across our global operations.”
A more detailed migration was developed and presented to Aurecon, laying out the design for a Cisco wired and Wi-Fi network following Cisco’s best practice guidelines. Network devices were then staged at Data#3’s Melbourne office. For Aurecon, who were simultaneously managing a physical office fit-out, it was a busy and demanding time.
“The team interactions were good. We were able to openly discuss any escalations with our account manager and the team were very open.”
The team had chosen networking infrastructure specifically designed for a hybrid environment and given that “absolutely everything in the cloud” is dependent on reliable connectivity, Basnayake said that this has been a game-changer for their teams.
“Our core business is design engineering, not IT. What’s expected from IT is that it should just work, and that’s exactly what’s happening, it just works and meets perfectly with what the users need.”
For the IT team the difference has been keenly felt. Fewer problems and a more intuitive management platform mean they spend less time troubleshooting, with an environment that is fit for purpose. “When it comes to managing the network, it is easier. We don’t have a lot of calls about issues popping up, so it is easier than it was previously.”
From the beginning, the project team knew it would be a mistake to try to shoehorn ageing infrastructure into supporting new hybrid work practices. It was, he said, of utmost importance to give the workforce the best possible experience as people transitioned to a new way of working – and this has paid off.
“The new deployment addresses concerns about performance and about limited connectivity in meeting rooms. We have Wi-Fi throughout the office, people can roam around between meeting rooms and hot desks. We have a state-of-the-art building that is aligned to our strategy and our IT is no different.
“The new platform is also more secure than older equipment. Security is of course a high priority, and one of the key performance metrics we are always looking for.”
While normally Basnayake said that in IT, the “no news is good news” maxim bears weight, the network replacement has proved an exception to the rule. Comments from the Aurecon team have been positive.
“Our Heads of IT for Australia, Kumudu, said that he kept hearing about the performance in the Melbourne office being better than Adelaide, where we haven’t deployed the new network yet. Now the business is asking when the Adelaide network can be made similar to Melbourne’s. That tells you we have done a good job,” said Basnayake.
The enhanced performance, reliability, scalability, and security have improved operational efficiency and supported business continuity across our global operations.
Kumudu Paththinige – Head of IT, Aurecon.
When a workforce is undergoing profound change, the IT team plays a vital role in creating a good user experience. The network is central to this shift, providing the foundation and connectivity that can make or break productivity and morale.
“When it comes to the network, usually if you hear someone outside IT talking about it, that means problems – but in this case, people are asking for what was implemented in Melbourne to be implemented in other offices.”
Embarking on a comprehensive network overhaul such as this was something that required the right partner, not just in terms of technical capabilities but in experience and attitude, said Basnayake.
“We had very positive feedback about a previous Data#3 deployment in Sydney, so they were a trusted partner for us in this type of delivery.”
Ultimately, the highlight for Basnayake was playing a part in helping the business to make a significant change that was positive for users.
“There were challenges from our side such as building delays, but we were still able to deliver what we promised for the business. We have happy end users, the project was completed, and all objectives were reached,” concluded Basnayake.
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