Penrith City Council wanted to ensure it was ready to seize the opportunity of Microsoft 365 (M365) Copilot while avoiding unnecessary risk.
The council wanted to plan effectively for adoption of a key emerging technology and partnered with Data#3 as a trusted partner with direct experience using M365 Copilot.
We have gathered insightful information about the potential benefits of AI, which will help us enhance the services we provide to the local community.
Jane Howard – Chief Information Officer, Penrith City Council.
Nestled between Sydney and the Blue Mountains, Penrith City Council is responsible for an area characterised by spectacular natural beauty and a buzzing arts, culture, and entertainment scene. The council supports a diverse community, providing a range of services that makes Penrith a great place to live and visit.
The council wanted to assess the potential of Microsoft 365 (M365) Copilot as a key emerging new technology to enable greater efficiency and service delivery. It was important to understand potential value as well as any risk involved.
The arrival of the highly anticipated M365 Copilot technology is set to revolutionise workplaces, putting enterprise-level artificial intelligence (AI) in the hands of employees. For Penrith City Council, Chief Information Officer, Jane Howard, it was important to understand how best council could leverage the advantages while ensuring proper data governance in this evolving landscape.
“Since this is a new and evolving technology, it’s still quite immature. As local government, we need to see tangible benefits from purchasing licenses by having the software demonstrate clear advantages.”
“There has been a lot of media around generative AI, and people have questioned how will it fit from an organisational perspective? Will it replace me in my role? Where does it fit into day-to-day operations and how it fits in the organisation and adding value means we need to understand the overall business case.”
In an organisation that provides such a broad range of services, ranging from libraries and recreation to waste management and building permits, it is unsurprising that staff roles are diverse. It made sense to Howard that approaching the introduction of Copilot would require a deep dive into the different ways employees’ roles could benefit.
“There are many types of workers in local government, and not everyone sits in front of a PC all day. We have children’s services, waste management, and people hard at work maintaining our outdoor areas. We have to know where it is showing value, because it might not be useful for everyone, and we need to invest where people will make use of this and benefit.”
M365 Copilot uses the Semantic index, which indexes every file that a user has access to in M365 the results available for Copilot to query. If a user unknowingly has access to sensitive information, Copilot may return a result that leverages that information, inadvertently raising risk.
If users are unaware of the implications of the sensitive nature of their results, they may inadvertently share further. It is, then, essential that organisations review their data governance situation to ensure permissions are correct and to prevent over-sharing.
“In local government, while some of our information is available publicly, we do have much data, like any organisation, that we must keep safe. We also need to keep our employees safe and not expose them to a situation where they have access to information that they shouldn’t.”
While managing risks is vital, the potential for boosted efficiency is significant. Any technology that enables staff to stretch the budget further represents the chance to enhance services and do more for the local population.
“Our other challenge is taking full advantage of the opportunity. We want to make use of new tools and technologies that could help us be more efficient, and focus on adding value for customers without spending that does not add value. We have to make sure the decision is right.”
One challenge of a very new technology is finding help from a partner with first-hand experience. Penrith City Council chose to seek guidance from Data#3, who have hands-on proficiency thanks to being one of the rare few organisations in Australia to take part in the Copilot for M365 Early Access Program (EAP).
“We were looking at our data and making sure we understood its location and accessibility, and wanted to engage with an organisation that could help. Data#3 have had experience with Copilot themselves, so they can share their own experiences with us.”
Focusing on the areas of information governance, organisational change management, and platform, Data#3’s M365 Copilot Readiness Assessment helps businesses understand their current situation and prepare their people and data to get the most from Copilot.
The Data#3 team conducted analysis of Penrith City Council’s M365 tenant, giving the council valuable insights into their data-sharing practices, and recommending best-practice steps to mitigate risk. Experts connected directly to the council’s M365 tenant to perform a technical analysis and led a series of six workshops, then created a readiness report, roadmap, and recommended next steps.
“The Project team is a collaboration between the ICT and the Information Management teams who are leading this initiative; and participated in the Data#3 Readiness Assessment. They thought it was really well structured. The flow from where we started at introduction to where we ended up; with a final report – took us on a journey that gave us a good grounding and an understanding of what Copilot is, what we could do in the organisation, and how to prepare for our pilot program. We’re very happy with how the workshops were presented and we gained valuable knowledge throughout.”
“Each workshop covered different aspects, an introduction, the technology architecture, our data assessment and a key workshop ensuring we understood any potential issues around sensitive data. We looked at the results around data accessibility permissions, then the users themselves, assigning different ‘personas’ around the potential way Copilot could be used. Other workshops also covered how the tool operates, opportunities around use cases, how this technology would be implemented in our environment and the configuration we would need to do.”
While the council runs a tight ship in terms of data governance, they said that due diligence is especially important when introducing generative AI. While they were pleased that the workshops did not uncover any major surprises, it was good to go into the pilot program with greater certainty.
“Our Information Management team is very astute at protecting our data assets, and we are mindful of how data is stored and structured. The workshop was useful in making us even more aware of what data we should mark sensitive.”
“Because ICT are new to the technology ourselves, working with an experienced team was helpful. We have used free tools like ChatGPT but we were interested to see how Copilot would work in our organisation with our data to give the most value. We also purchased a few licences in advance of our pilot, so the Project Team can see how it could work.”
It has been a fascinating experience for the Project Team, who have been keen to put Copilot through its paces. They said it has been “very interesting” to see how people respond when getting a glimpse of this future.
“We had a large meeting of around 30 people in a hybrid format, and there was an executive assistant in the room taking minutes. After the meeting, I demonstrated to her the minutes and action items Copilot had produced. Her feedback was literally ‘Wow’. This new technology will definitely provide some real advantages for some of our personas!”
“Years ago, we used to take shorthand, then secretaries typed minutes, then we had dictation machines, then PCs, so roles will change, this is just another evolution of the way we work – as Microsoft calls it, a modern workplace.”
They said that the value of effective change management cannot be underestimated. The workshop approach helped with practical recommendations that aligned well with the council’s way of working. The group went out to ask Heads of Department to nominate team members to be involved in the pilot and said that they were “very excited” at the opportunity.
“One of the suggestions of the Readiness Assessment is to set up a Centre of Excellence, with the pilot group engaged in identifying opportunities, sharing ideas, and reporting back on things that didn’t work or worked well. They will become Copilot champions throughout the organisation if and when we decide to move this forward in the organisation.”
“Data#3 will play a part in that team, in that when we need something escalated, they can assist us with advice. We can also channel new M365 functionality around modern workplaces into that group.”
Do the Readiness Assessment and look at the underlying architecture: this will help you to understand what it means to your organisation.
Jane Howard – Chief Information Officer, Penrith City Council.
The introduction of Copilot represents an extraordinary opportunity to work more efficiently and, in the case of Penrith City Council, to enable employee focus on providing the exceptional services the community needs.
“Penrith is a growing council, with a population expected to grow 31% by 2036. Therefore we have to look at the ways we work and make ourselves more efficient.”
“It is not just about growth of resident numbers; we have the new Nancy Bird Airport in construction close by, and the Penrith area is a great destination to visit, we’re on the river and close to the mountains, so we will be welcoming more guests, too. We’re looking at ways to work smarter and more efficiently to give everyone the best we have to offer.”
After working through this initial phase, Howard’s advice is that organisations seek experienced help to embark on structured planning.
“Do the Readiness Assessment and look at the underlying architecture: this will help you to understand what it means to your organisation. If you just deployed the licences, it would be quite lacking. You need to build the hype internally, balance what is in the media, too, and set a perspective for your organisation. People will be innovative when they have the tools available.”
“Also to mention that we have been supported by Microsoft, and we were able to use our Technology Innovation Fund via Data#3. Between our vendor partner Data#3, Microsoft, and our own internal learnings, the Readiness Assessment has been a success.”
Is your organisation ready to deploy Copilot for M365? Do you fully understand how turning on AI technology like this will impact your M365 environment? We’re here to help you prepare for Copilot for M365 deployment through interactive workshops and data-driven insights.
Contact our team of specialists to get your team ready for Copilot.
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In cyber security, change is constant, but some challenges remain stubbornly familiar. Do you remember the Anna Kournikova virus from over two decades ago? It spread rapidly by tricking users into opening a seemingly harmless email attachment. Fast forward to today, and it’s no surprise that email remains the number one attack vector. The only difference is that the stakes are higher, and as technology evolves, the threats grow more sophisticated.
In our latest Security Minutes video series, with Mimecast, Data#3’s National Practice Manager for Security, Richard Dornhart, and Mimecast’s Senior Sales Engineer, Matt Youman, discuss the critical challenges organisations face and how they can stay ahead. From polished phishing attacks to overlooked attack vectors such as collaboration tools, here are the key insights you can’t afford to miss.
Cyber criminals are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) tools to revolutionise their tactics. In the first episode, Youman highlights the rapid rise of AI-driven phishing attacks:
With tools capable of learning, adapting, and automating attacks at scale, organisations can no longer rely on traditional defences alone.
While cyber criminals use AI to evade detection, it’s imperative to remember that AI is also a powerful ally for defenders. Youman explores how Mimecast uses natural language processing and social graphing to identify behavioural patterns to help you catch threats that static tools miss.
When Youman reviewed 2,000 emails that bypassed standard security tools, the results were staggering: payroll switch scams and other business email compromise threats had slipped through unnoticed.
Relying on static rules and limited keyword scans is no longer enough. Utilising AI-driven solutions can help you think like attackers, making it easier for your organisation to fight back
It’s not just email. Collaboration tools, essential to everyday business operations, are also becoming an increasingly popular target for attackers. Yet they’re often overlooked in security strategies. Youman shares how Mimecast addresses this blind spot by integrating collaboration platforms into its centralised security solution, enhancing visibility and simplifying management.
Are your collaboration tools secure? If not, attackers may already be exploiting the gap.
Even with advanced technology, people remain the final safeguard. Roles such as those in C-suite, IT, HR, and finance are prime targets due to their access to sensitive data. Youman emphasises that understanding and addressing human risk is vital to any security strategy.
Did you know that Mimecast’s 30-day Email Threat Scanner not only uncovers risks but also identifies patterns of human error? Making it a great tool for helping you tailor training to individual roles.
When was the last time you tested your human defences?
No single tool or strategy can eliminate cyber risk. Reflecting on recent incidents, Youman highlights the critical need to look beyond email when protecting your organisation from cyber criminals.
That’s why Data#3 and Mimecast advocate for a defence-in-depth approach. By layering advanced detection, automation, and human-centric strategies, organisations can:
The final episode showcases Mimecast’s Email Threat Scanner in action. This free tool provides a powerful way to uncover email-borne risks that have bypassed your existing defences. With access to the Mimecast console, you can:
With everything we’ve learned so far, it’s easy to see that the evolving cyber threat landscape requires more than just traditional security measures. The rise of AI-driven attacks, sophisticated phishing campaigns and overlooked vulnerabilities in collaboration tools reveal critical security blind spots that many organisations still miss. Relying solely on static defences alone is no longer enough to stay ahead of cyber criminals.
A comprehensive, defence-in-depth approach is necessary to safeguard your organisation against emerging threats. Don’t delay, each day leaves your organisation open to more attacks. With Data#3 and Mimecast, you’ll take proactive steps to identify and address potential risks that will help protect your organisation.
Mimecast’s Email Threat Scanner Report will give you actionable insights into your current security posture, helping you stay one step ahead of cyber criminals. Don’t leave your organisation’s security to chance—ensure you’re fully prepared for the threats ahead.
Contact your Data#3 Security Specialist today to request your Email Threat Scanner Report and uncover hidden threats before they become a problem.
This isn’t another “what is zero-trust” article – I think we can all agree that we’ve moved beyond that as we know it isn’t a product, it’s not a replacement for firewalls or VPNs, and it’s not something you do and then move on.
However, it is essential and appears in some form on virtually every government department’s cybersecurity strategic plan. Some departments and agencies have made progress and implemented elements of the zero-trust model within their environment, but not at a broad enough level to provide the promised levels of protection. Hence, despite the plan, they’re still vulnerable to a cyber-attack.
If zero trust is essential and part of a plan, why are government departments and agencies struggling to implement it? This post will explore that question.
The imperative to adopt zero-trust security has never been clearer for government departments and agencies. In an era of remote work, cloud-based services, and increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, zero-trust is an additional, identity-based layer that reduces the reliance on increasingly ineffective perimeter defences.
Driven by mandates from federal, state, and local authorities (such as the new Cyber Security Bill 2024), and the recognition that a new security model is needed, government entities are eager to embrace the principles – but reality on the ground tells a different story. Despite the strategic importance of zero trust, many government entities are struggling to turn that vision into tangible action for a number of reasons.
As a result, many government organisations find themselves stuck in a paradoxical situation. They know zero trust is where we all need to be, but the path remains elusive. Instead of bold action, their security roadmaps remain tactical and address the next pressing need rather than being a strategic, long-term plan that is continuously checked and aligned to.
In a recent discussion with a financial industry CISO, they revealed that these pitfalls are all too common. Despite an acknowledgement of the need for zero trust in their cybersecurity plan, and a multi-million dollar investment, they also:
Breaking free of this paradox requires a fundamental shift in mindset and approach. Rather than viewing zero trust as a product- or tool-based, all-or-nothing proposition, government agencies must embrace a more strategic, process-driven incremental path forward. They can chart a course towards zero trust success by focusing on their most critical assets, prioritising use cases, and partnering with experienced advisors who take this process-driven approach.
Without trivialising the difficulties of implementing zero trust, there are some principles to consider:
While tools and solutions are a component of the zero-trust model, they too often become the focus of government security teams looking for tangible ways to move forward. While tools can provide valuable data points, implementing zero trust effectively requires a more holistic, process-driven approach. Simply relying on a tool to assess one’s zero-trust posture is insufficient.
That’s why working with experienced advisors like Data#3 and Business Aspect, who can guide you through a comprehensive readiness assessment and the development of a practical zero-trust roadmap, is critical. This process-oriented approach, rather than a tool-centric one, can ensure that government entities have a clear understanding of their current state, their priorities, and the steps needed to achieve their zero trust goals.
This includes:
The final factor is understanding the vendor landscape. Vendor solutions are a critical implementation component, and aligning the right vendor solution is easier for a partner like Data#3, with its extensive vendor relationships and accreditations.
For example, government entities that have made significant investments in Cisco networking could use Data#3’s 25+ year relationship with Cisco to access their extensive security portfolio and zero-trust capabilities.
Implementing zero trust is a marathon, not a sprint. Government entities can chart a course toward a more secure, adaptable, and future-proof security architecture by taking a phased, strategic approach—identifying critical assets, assessing current capabilities, and partnering with experienced advisors. If you would like to discuss further please reach out to me using the contact button below or contact your account manager.
Data#3, in partnership with Cisco, will be hosting Security Resilience Assessment Workshops in 2025. These workshops will guide you through a self-assessment of your security posture using the updated CISA Zero Trust Model.
Register your details below to receive an invitation.
The Department for Education wanted to achieve a smooth transition to a new managed service provider that would offer greater transparency and a true partnership.
The Department for Education chose Data#3 as their managed service provider (MSP) through a competitive tender program. Established systems and customer references played a key role in the decision.
The highlight was the proactiveness of Data#3, the way they went about the engagement was positive and professional, and the process they used was highly effective.
Simon Chapman – Assistant Director, Digital Architecture and Operations, Department for Education South Australia
The South Australian Department for Education (The Department) provides education, training and child development services to support children, young people and families as they reach their learning goals.
The Department was nearing the end of its contract with an existing Managed Services Provider (MSP) and sought a future partnership that would serve it well through an exciting phase of transformation in education services.
In a state that spans vibrant cities as well as rural and remote communities, striving for excellence in education is both challenging and rewarding. Innovative use of technology is seen as a tremendous opportunity by the Department. The busy in-house team is passionate about raising the bar of technology in the education sector, something Assistant Director, Digital Architecture and Operations, Simon Chapman said he could “talk about all day.”
To dedicate efforts into providing the best services within the Department and to schools, the team depended on a managed service provider. When that contract neared its conclusion, it was seen as an opportunity for progress.
“We were looking for someone we could have a long-term strategic relationship with. We were keen to find value-adds that a service provider could bring to education to support modern learning,” said Chapman.
“Government is complex, and every agency is different, with unique processes around each area. There is a phase of building up knowledge and understanding the environment of the customer for a managed service provider. We needed those dedicated resources who would understand us and the way we work.”
Any change to existing managed service arrangements needed to be handled with care, in order to avoid any disruption to the Department’s vital work. With this in mind, Chapman scrutinised the approach to transition in each tender response.
“We were on a previous whole of government arrangement with a different provider and we needed to know that there was a plan in place that could make that happen smoothly,” said Chapman.
To verify suitability and experience, the Department for Education team did its homework, diligently following up references to get a sense of how well potential partners would mesh with the in-house team. Chapman was keenly aware that there could be no loss of focus on the important work of supporting South Australia’s school communities.
“Our approach was that we needed this to be a partnership to truly achieve a successful transition. We knew we needed dedicated resources and a proven process.”
Beyond the immediate challenge of transitioning between providers, the Department saw any managed services agreement as an opportunity to access a broader knowledge base, with an opportunity to free the busy in-house team from day-to-day activities. Overall efficiency gains, increased insight, and improved resolution times were also high on the wish list.
“We identified that there was room to streamline the support process and get a clearer view.”
After careful consideration against each required criteria, the South Australia Department for Education selected Data#3 as its new managed services partner. This signalled the start of an in-depth planning phase to ensure a smooth transition.
“We had weekly meetings and then, as we got closer, daily stand-up meetings between Education and Data#3’s specialised team. Each week we had progress reports from the project manager, so we knew what activities had been completed and what was coming up. This all followed our overarching plan and agreed milestones,” described Chapman.
Some aspects of the transition merited a more in-depth look, with the Department for Education team keen to make the most of a wealth of enhanced systems and services available to them. Chapman said that this proactive approach served the Department well as it strove to get maximum return on its managed services investment.
“We conducted workshops focused on discovery and explored various value-added services. One example of added value was the integration of our service desk tool, ‘ServiceNow’, with the systems of Data#3. Any requests logged in our tool became accessible to the Data#3 team through their own ServiceNow system, which saved our teams a significant amount of time as we were able to manage everything without leaving our own systems.”
The integration was about more than saving on administration effort. It also gave the Department real-time visibility of every ticket in progress or completed. Every action and comment from Data#3 engineers can be seen b y the Department’s team, who can also add their own updates. This gives a better sense of teamwork between the organisations as they collaborate towards shared goals.
“Having that visibility really improved the efficiency, and reduced resolution times to get incidents resolved,” explained Chapman.
“We get monthly reports from our Data#3 customer success manager, and that tracks the number of tickets, what’s outstanding, and whether any SLAs have been breached depending on the severity of the ticket. We’re seeing trends and we’re not seeing a spike in any type of tickets, there’s a consistent downward trend with improvement on how long each takes to resolve.”
In any transition of this magnitude and complexity, Chapman said that it is realistic to expect a few technical challenges to work through but thanks to experienced project managers both in-house and with Data#3, the project progressed smoothly.
“Anything that cropped up was dealt with on a case-by-case basis. There were some issues with discovering all assets in discovery, but we were able to mitigate that; we had an issues register to track issues and were able to put an action plan in place. Meaning there were no showstoppers, and that was incredibly important to us.”
Chapman credited staffing and processes with helping to make the transition and ongoing management a success. He pointed out that, given every government agency operates differently, consistency of resources makes all the difference.
“We all have different processes around each area, so it takes time building up knowledge to understand the environment of each customer. We like that Data#3 brings subject matter experts to each account, rather than just a pool of Data#3 resources, so we get specialised engineers who are familiar with the education sector and environment. We’re not just getting generic resources and having that first level dedicated resourcing to our account has helped familiarise them with our environment, they are not having to relearn for every request,” stated Chapman.
“There’s a learning curve and rather than having to refer to the documentation every time, we have those dedicated resources who know education, with backups when they are not available. It improves our resolution times when they don’t have to relearn our environment.”
They understand our business and help us be more adaptive to change. They are service delivery focused and have the experience as a managed service partner for a large, complex environment. The local staff are very good at building relationships and communicating to keep us in the loop.
Simon Chapman – Assistant Director, Digital Architecture and Operations, Department for Education South Australia
While there are certainly many managed services options on the market, they are far from all the same. In particular, the people, processes, and systems can vary considerably. For the Department, finding the right fit has had a clear effect on reducing resolution times, but the impact goes beyond that simple measurement.
“We’ve got someone who is a genuine close partner rather than a general managed services provider, they want to see us succeed and set about making that happen. We have a partner at a strategic level.”
“They understand our business and help us be more adaptive to change. They are service delivery focused and have the experience as a managed service partner for a large, complex environment. The local staff are very good at building relationships and communicating to keep us in the loop.”
The integration between Department for Education and Data#3 systems has served to give Chapman greater insight into his environment, and his team has been quick to put that intelligence to good use.
“We have more transparency around ticketing systems and a level of visibility we have never had before due to the monitoring tools used. We can see a greater level of improved service overall. We are also more forward looking. We can make continuous improvements and use the information for road-mapping; it helps us see what the future looks like and where we can save costs or improve efficiency,” outlined Chapman.
“In terms of ongoing costs, we’re in a much better position. They’re quite flexible about onboarding new services, around billing and invoicing.”
For other organisations looking at transitioning to a new managed services provider smoothly, Chapman’s advice is that it pays to allocate the right resources, who can focus fully on the task.
“As a project, don’t try to do it on top of the day job. Dedicate resourcing both internally and within the provider so that you get all the prerequisites and planning done and nothing is left to chance. Work with somebody who has experience and has done multiple transitions before, so you have the comfort that they know what they are doing and have the right expertise. Do talk to their other customers – we did reference checks, who reflected positive experiences of their transitions.”
Ultimately, given the importance of technology within most organisations, the role of the managed service provider is key to progress. Along with expertise, finding a strong cultural fit is worth the effort. “I think the highlight was the proactiveness of Data#3, the way they went about the engagement was positive and professional, and the process they used was highly effective. They had a collaborative approach. I was really impressed by the partnership between the Department and Data#3 to get a positive outcome: we don’t see them as a simple managed services provider, but as a strategic partner, and that is the key that has set them apart,” concluded Chapman.
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The company is one of a handful of suppliers that government agencies can contract to supply computing and mobile devices.
“Since the inception of our WA office in 2007, we’ve gone from strength-to-strength. This is the first time that Data#3 has been selected to sit on this panel in WA and it’s a clear indication of our significant local growth, investment and expert capability,” said Kingsley McGarrigle, State General Manager for WA at Data#3.
Data#3 offers end-to-end hardware and IT procurement services. From procurement and configuration through to installation and disposal, Data#3’s flexible and simple model allows agencies to bundle multiple vendor products to maximise the value of their investment.
For this State Government contract, Data#3 offers device hardware across a number of categories to public sector agencies, as well as ancillary services such as installation and disposal.
“Our key differentiator is our approach. It reduces complexity and adds value by minimising total cost of ownership over the life of devices, accessories and mobile assets. Our local team of specialists are dedicated to ensuring the WA Government achieves their business objectives and we look forward to working with them as part of this panel,” said McGarrigle.
“We also plan to continue to place further significant investment locally to facilitate the growing demand for warehousing, configuration and integration services. Our aim is to further strengthen the supply chain so that WA businesses, government entities and corporate organisations can reduce costs while increasing efficiency,” concluded McGarrigle.
Laurence Baynham, Data#3 Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, commented, “We have an established history of successfully working with the public sector both nationally and locally in WA. We’re excited to not only be appointed to the panel, but to continue in assisting the State Government of Western Australia to deliver their digital future.”
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The department wanted to get a clear view of all Cisco devices in use across their environment from a single point, and log support requests efficiently.
Merging multiple IT environments into a single department was a lengthy and complex process. Some of the team members responsible for the transition had encountered Data#3’s Lifecycle 360 platform before, and knew that this would make it easier to manage both their Cisco and other device licensing and maintenance needs.
Before, we were using spreadsheets, and we would spend weeks at a time just to find specific information about our licenses. Now everything is in one portal.
Rabin Bhusal – Network Administrator for the Department of Communities
In 2017, it was announced that the Disability Services Commission, Department of Child Protection and Family Support, and the Department Housing (including Housing Authority) and Department of Local Government and Communities would merge to become the Department of Communities Western Australia. The newly created state government organisation took on responsibility for providing essential support services for many of Western Australia’s most vulnerable citizens.
Bringing together multiple organisations is not a simple process, and detailed plans were prepared. Staff, systems, and processes were brought together in a new head office located in Fremantle.
Given the overlap between the services of the merged government departments, an opportunity was identified to provide a better aligned service to the community. For individuals and families needing to access services, the benefits of dealing with a single agency instead of multiple contacts were clear. Still, bringing together the separate organisations was by no means simple, said Network Administrator, Rabin Bhusal.
“Four or five services merged in 2017 to become the Department of Communities, including areas like social housing and child protection. We had three distinct Cisco device deployments, so we were managing different hardware licenses and maintenance contracts with a number of different partners. Each department also had its own processes to manage the hardware.”
Due to strict government record-keeping requirements, prior to the merger, Bhusal’s department had been spending a large amount of time tracking and managing their hardware, licensing and maintenance via spreadsheets.
“We have to ensure everything we have is asset managed, and we must keep records for seven years after we dispose of it, so we need to be accurate,” explained Bhusal.
This was time-consuming, and gave a limited understanding of the Cisco environment, lifecycle, and end of support dates. Multiplying that effort by a number of departments would have stretched resources already busy working to bring together these diverse environments.
Fortunately, Bhusal was introduced to Data#3’s Lifecycle 360 platform just at the right time as keeping track of assets and their required licenses and maintenance was just one aspect of a very busy period for the newly formed Department of Communities. Preventing it from becoming unwieldy, while ensuring all responsibilities were met, would give staff more time to focus on other tasks.
“It was a long process that progressed over a couple of years. We had to bring all our tasks together, and it was like we were creating a brand-new domain. We were deploying new laptops, migrating servers to a single community, even our finance teams had to become one. Every change could have a wider impact, so we had to always plan and consider the effect on cyber security, for example,” outlined Bhusal.
“We knew transitioning to a new solution was a big task. Our teams perform very important work, and its our top priority to make sure they were supported fully.”
Tracking support requests was another “very challenging” area; with separate processes for each of the original departments, tracking issues through to their resolution was far from simple. If an issue was logged by one person, the rest of the team had no way of tracking progress.
“If someone was away, that could slow down our progress, and we wanted to ensure we could improve our efficiency,” said Bhusal.
The Department of Communities leveraged Data#3’s Lifecycle 360, a platform designed to help organisations simplify infrastructure maintenance and contract management across multiple vendors. The platform enables real time visibility and rich insights, so that users can get a clear picture of their situation in moments. It helps to avoid over or under licensing, and plan infrastructure requirements throughout the lifecycle of each device.
“We always had Data#3 as our partner for Cisco device maintenance in my original department, and the discussion started there. We had already started using Lifecycle 360 when our merge happened, and luckily as we made the transition, I had the task of looking after our main contracts and knew how the Data#3 portal could make it easier. I recommended we add the hardware from each of the agencies, so we would have a single source of truth about everything we manage,” explained Bhusal.
“If all our devices from the merged agencies were not visible in a single portal, it would have been very hard for one person to manage.”
While the Department of Communities uses Lifecycle 360 to stay up-to-date about devices from multiple vendors, including its firewalls, the additional functionality for Cisco devices is especially valuable. The platform links directly into Cisco’s own support system, so cases can be logged directly from Lifecycle 360, saving time typically spent on initial triaging processes and getting the case directly to the right Cisco experts. The logged case can then be tracked by anyone in Bhusal’s team with assigned permissions to access the portal. He can view the overall situation, or drill down into individual device status, at any time.
“When logging support requests, for example if a power supply failed, we can log a case from the portal. Everything is logged in a single place; we can see the full history of the device and the ticket. Before, we would have to spend time checking which partner was supporting the product, and then check case updates from email, which means we may not always have the full record in one place. The whole team has access and can see the progress of each ticket, and if the person who logged the issue is on leave, we can still see what is happening, so someone doesn’t have to take time out to follow up,” outlined Bhusal.
In an incredibly busy time for the IT team, efficiency gains helped to keep on track with the complex merger process. Lifecycle 360 has, said Bhusal, saved considerable skilled time.
“Before, when we were doing spreadsheets, we would spend weeks of time just to look for information about licensing. If our renewal period was in February, we would spend much of January working out which devices needed maintenance, and which didn’t. Now that everything is in one portal, we can immediately find out what licenses need renewing and what needs support.”
The advantage of Lifecycle 360 made it easy to choose Data#3 as our Cisco maintenance partner, but Bhusal said that was not the only factor.
When we get three quotes for orders above a certain value, Data#3 is always very competitive, and in government we must always demonstrate good value. They are also extremely quick to respond, our account manager is very helpful, and the support is exceptional; when we need anything they get back to us quickly.
Rabin Bhusal – Network Administrator for the Department of Communities
For any organisation embarking on a merger, whether government or corporate, Bhusal emphasised that it is essential to go in prepared for a lengthy process.
“Every agency has different requirements, understands a different system, and has different challenges. It is important to plan from the ground. In our case, we started with moving laptops across, because only then could we move the core systems, for example – there must be a logical, planned process. Starting from the wrong point could cause big problems,” said Bhusal.
“Ultimately, each of the departments coming together performs very important work, and we had to make sure that they could support the community throughout.”
Ensuring that your hardware, maintenance and subscriptions are supported and secure can be a full-time job. Data#3’s Lifecycle 360 (previously known as The Data#3 Hub) gives you visibility and control throughout the asset lifecycle, so you’ll never lose hardware, miss an upgrade or let a support contract lapse again.
Lifecycle 360, from Data#3: Your Infrastructure Insight.
The $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf Brisbane integrated resort development will be delivered by Destination Brisbane Consortium – a joint venture led by The Star Entertainment Group and Hong Kong-based partners Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium.
“Queen’s Wharf Brisbane is the most iconic project in Queensland and will transform the city of Brisbane. Data#3 is proud to combine the great skills of our people with world class digital technology to provide the platform for future digital transformation initiatives. For Queen’s Wharf Brisbane customers, businesses, and residents, a seamless digital experience is now a necessity,” said Laurence Baynham, Data#3 Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director.
Bringing together consulting, technical expertise, industry partnerships, and market-leading technology from Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) company, and Cisco, Data#3 is uniquely equipped to help customers to achieve their business objectives.
Data#3 State General Manager for Queensland, Ray Merlano, commented, “It’s a privilege to be part of a project that will contribute to the creation of a world class resort. We look forward to working with Queen’s Wharf Brisbane in delivering the digital future and to boost the Queensland economy.”
The development will see Brisbane’s CBD transformed with four new luxury hotels, more than 50 new bars and restaurants, the equivalent of 12 football fields of public space, a panoramic Sky Deck positioned more than 100m above ground, revitalised heritage buildings, high-end and new retail offerings, entertainment facilities including a ballroom and moonlight cinema, a new pedestrian bridge connecting to South Bank, up to 2,000 residential apartments, and a new world-class casino to replace the existing Treasury casino.
Data#3 a HPE Plaitnum Partner and was recently named the 2021 HPE GreenLake Partner of the Year, Aruba National Partner of the Year and Aruba As a Service Partner of the Year.
Data#3’s Cisco expertise has also been recognised by Cisco over many years, through its Gold Partner Status, Cisco Master Specialisation and recent 2021 awards: Global Software Partner of the Year, ANZ Partner of the Year and APJC Security Partner of the Year.
The Department for Education (“the department”) provides a range of integrated education, training, health and child development services to benefit children, young people and families. It works to improve children’s and young people’s education, safety and developmental outcomes from birth through their transition to adulthood.
Over the last number of years, there has been an uplift in the technology provided by the department to support its core business in teaching and learning and progress its ambition to build a world-class public education in South Australia.
To bolster these efforts, the department submitted a request for tender for the management of its server infrastructure under the Managed Platform Services (MPS) panel, on which Data#3 sits. The company was selected as the provider of choice due to not only Data#3’s expertise and service capability, but it’s ability to tailor SLAs and KPIs that are directly linked to the department’s business objectives.
Scott Bayliss, Chief Information Officer at the Department for Education, South Australia, said, “High quality digital capabilities are essential to what we’re trying to achieve in public education. In the last 3 years we have connected all our schools with fast, reliable internet. Alongside that we’re working to ensure that the digital technology and services that support our system and schools can meet the demands of 21st century education. The agreement with Data#3 is the next step in the ongoing modernisation of our ICT and helps us to ensure our students are given every opportunity to learn and thrive.”
Data#3 Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Laurence Baynham, commented, “We have a long-standing history of helping the Australian Government to effectively leverage technology solutions and services for advantage. The team at Data#3 look forward to working with the Department for Education on their digital transformation journey.”
Data#3 General Manager for South Australia, Michael de Broughe, commented, “Managing that pace of digital disruption, while driving genuine transformation, can be a challenge. Data#3’s Managed Services will assist the Department for Education to enable greater agility, improved service levels and reduced costs. Ultimately, allowing the department to focus on what is essential to differentiation and transformation. We’re excited to play our part in South Australia to support the Department for Education in its provision of world-class public education.”
From IT Managed Support to Cloud Managed Services, Data#3’s Managed Services gives access to the expertise required to monitor, manage, and keep systems running, leaving organisations free to focus on its customers.
Underpinned by service level agreements tailored to the business, Data#3’s support team leverages a deep understanding of the technology infrastructure to proactively avoid service interruptions.
Data#3 covers multiple support services for customers, both nationally and internationally. These services are delivered primarily by its remote 24/7 operations facility.
The right digital tools connect and support employees, wherever they are, to encourage productivity, engagement, and collaboration.
Together with Microsoft, Data#3 presented a virtual event, where modern workplace specialists showed customers how Surface for Business devices and Microsoft 365 address today’s technology challenges, providing an integrated hardware and software experience.
Discover the benefits of modern management solutions from Microsoft and Data#3, in a session tailored to State and Local Government.
To learn more about The Microsoft Surface Family with Data#3, please speak to your Data#3 Account Manager or submit your enquiry online today.
The right digital tools connect and support employees, wherever they are, to encourage productivity, engagement, and collaboration.
Together with Microsoft, Data#3 presented a virtual event, where modern workplace specialists showed customers how Surface for Business devices and Microsoft 365 address today’s technology challenges, providing an integrated hardware and software experience.
Discover the benefits of modern management solutions from Microsoft and Data#3, in a session tailored to Federal Government.
To learn more about The Microsoft Surface Family with Data#3, please speak to your Data#3 Account Manager or submit your enquiry online today.