Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club Swells Productivity with Microsoft 365 Efficiencies

Objective

The Surfers Paradise Surf Lifesaving Club (“SPSLC”) sought the replacement of an outdated email system to ease the administrative burden on staff and volunteers, support decision making and improve governance.

The Approach

The SPSLC functions primarily through fundraising and donations. Funds raised are funnelled almost exclusively towards beach safety and education, leaving little for technology investment. When the City of Gold Coast Council announced a COVID-related grant scheme, the SPSLC seized the opportunity to utilise the funds for much-needed IT improvements, and approached Data#3 for help.

IT Outcome

Business Outcome

“Microsoft 365 users save an average of 4 hours per week from improved collaboration and information sharing1.”

The Background

The SPSLC, situated on one of the world’s most famous beaches, is a Queensland icon. Founded in the 1920s, the club has saved countless lives as well as trained generations of surf lifesavers. For locals and visitors alike, the SPSLC makes beach days special.

Managed by a volunteer committee and supported by a small staff, the SPSLC is a non-profit that relies on fundraising to continue its vital work. Technology investment had taken a back seat, resulting in users often resorting to using their personal email accounts to act on behalf of the club, with minimal governance.

The Challenge

The SPSLC is at the heart of the Gold Coast community. However, like surf lifesaving organisations around the country, it depends primarily on fundraising efforts. This means that every dollar possible is put towards saving lives. Club President Trevor Hendy AM, six-time Australian Ironman champion, said there is seldom anything spare for technology upgrades.

“Surf Life Saving clubs, like many volunteer organisations, survive on the donations and grants of government and corporate benefactors and individual donations. Unfortunately, technology has not been given a high priority. We are one of the busiest beaches in Queensland, and funds go towards lifesaving equipment instead of technology upgrades,” said Hendy.

“Little of our technology had changed in a decade. It was time to move out of the dark ages.”

Emails were especially problematic. The club’s committee and small staff were dependent on an old legacy system that could only be maintained by a single user. Users lacked confidence in the security of the club email system, and found it inconvenient to use.

“Increasingly, committee members were using their personal email, or even accounts related to their ‘day jobs’, rather than the official club accounts,” Hendy said.

Compounding the challenge, committee members are voted into their positions annually, and when members departed, there was little continuity. Those appointed could not see information created by their predecessors and would spend a lot of time trying to get up to speed.

“We had no historic email content about what was sent or received by the committee’s predecessors because the email systems were archaic. It was a fundamental thing that I wanted to change, so that an incoming committee member can see what was sent and find important club information without a wild goose chase,” explained Hendy.

The existing fragmented approach meant that information sharing was minimal, which created a governance headache. When a committee member needed to find documents, it was not an easy prospect.

“We were using some aspects of Google Drive for club information, but I could never get access or get it to work for me. Most of our data was stored on a computer in the surf club office, and only admin had access, so I would have to either ask them or go in on the weekend if I wanted to find a file,” said Hendy.

“At one point, the club treasurer even had to resort to asking an external auditor for past financial information.”

IT Outcome

The club determined that Microsoft 365 would solve its email and file sharing challenges. The product could easily handle the club’s information storage and email needs and support a far greater level of security and collaboration. However, with little available financial resources, there was still the matter of securing funding.

“We started the process about 12 months ago and reached out to Data#3’s licensing business, as we had heard that Microsoft offers special pricing for non-profits. They talked us through the license options, but the committee members lacked the focus and funding to progress the conversation further. Then we learned of technology grants that the City of Gold Coast was offering, and successfully applied for a $5,000 grant,” recounted Hendy.

Given that the club also needed new laptops in order to capitalise on Microsoft 365, as well as expertise to make the transition, the grant alone would not be enough. The SPSLC went back to Data#3 for further advice.

“Data#3 connected us with one of their solutions architects and offered to help us as part of their social responsibility program. Finally, we were able to progress!” said Hendy.

Heidi Mangan, Organisational Development Specialist for Data#3 commented “Data#3 is committed to supporting the communities in which we operate. Our corporate social responsibility program provides an avenue where our people have an opportunity to give back and assist those in need through contributing their time, skills and technical expertise.

Surfers Lifesaving is an incredible foundation who literally provide lifesaving support! Data#3 takes great pleasure in supporting them so they can continue to deliver their vital services to the community.”

Data#3’s solutions architect provided the SPSLC treasurer with a demo Microsoft 365 tenancy to provide hands-on experience, to manage daily club needs following the transition. Data#3 then worked closely with the club to determine the most suitable configuration options, and provided a final design. All email and domain services were migrated to Microsoft 365.

“The Data#3 solutions architect is a great bloke, always available and approachable, and he had the expertise we needed to move forward. He was happy to answer all our questions to get us to where we wanted to be. Overall, Data#3 was supportive, and we are deeply grateful for their services throughout this project,” commented Hendy.

As part of the design, Microsoft Teams was deployed to provide a more secure document management and collaboration platform. Hendy said this enables the committee to work together far more effectively.

“Now, we have a setup that uses Teams to support real-time decision making. We don’t expect our volunteers to attend meetings more frequently than every three weeks, but this can really slow down decision-making. Using Teams as part of our process, we don’t have to wait for the next meeting to decide an issue. We have much stronger governance and accountability.”

“Microsoft 365 will make it significantly easier for us to find information and confidently manage audits.”

Trevor Hendy AM, Club President for the Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club

Business Outcome

The biggest beneficiary of the technology update is the club’s volunteer committee, who are now able to access information without the challenges experienced in the past.

“Previously, it could be hard to retain volunteers, as many ended up spending two or three hours daily on administration. This technology change makes things significantly easier because of the central storage of information. We all have access to what has happened in the past, without guessing or asking multiple people for help,” explained Hendy.

Although largely run by volunteers, the SPSLC is now able to present a more professional image. The staff and committee members can send emails using their official SPSLC accounts, and if one person leaves, their information does not leave with them. As a non-profit the club is regularly audited, and the vastly improved access to information removes a significant amount of stress from the auditing process.

“Microsoft 365 will make it significantly easier for us to find information and confidently manage audits. Previously we have lost crucial audit information when we realised it was only available on a volunteers’ personal laptop who had sadly passed away. On another occasion, we were unable to find details of a leasing agreement, which wasn’t a good look in an audit. Now that we are using Teams and OneDrive to structure where information is kept, we are much better prepared,” said Hendy.

Familiarity with the new tools varied among the SPSLC team, and Data#3 provided support to key users when the system went live. This additional support enabled the more technically proficient committee members and staff to coach others as they made the transition.

“We went live in November 2020, and the committee has been learning the ropes of the new system. The initial feedback has been hugely positive, even as we are still learning. We focused on emails and common file storage at first, and then we intend to access a greater number of the Microsoft 365 benefits,” described Hendy.

“Surfers Lifesaving is an incredible foundation who literally provide lifesaving support! Data#3 takes great pleasure in supporting them so they can continue to deliver their vital services to the community.”

Heidi Mangan, Organisational Development Specialist for Data#3 Limited

Conclusion

With a reduction in time spent on cumbersome administration, the SPSLC committee is better positioned to focus on its fundraising efforts and service delivery. As club President, Hendy has overall responsibility, strong governance is an especially important requirement.

“Before, the club didn’t have strong IT policies, so people could act on our behalf as they chose. Now, we have an audit trail of everything that happens in the club, and there is a greater sense of accountability. The hard work of our committee members won’t be lost when they move on, and we will be prepared for audits when they occur,” outlined Hendy.

“The Data#3 team was very human, very easy to deal with, and provided plenty of information. The support of the City of Gold Coast Council and Data#3 will help us to give our best to our Gold Coast community and get on with the business of saving lives.”

1. Forrester Consulting, (April, 2019). Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Teams. [Online] Available at: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/04/Total-Economic-Impact-Microsoft-Teams.pdf

Uniting Vic.Tas Gains 24/7 Performance with Citrix on Azure Managed Service from Data#3

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Objective

Uniting’s mission is to provide care and support for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of local communities across Victoria and Tasmania. Facing resiliency issues associated with aging and disparate technology platforms, Uniting wanted to build an environment capable of delivering broad services to their 7000+ workforce of staff and volunteers located across 300 sites, who were working both onsite and remotely. It was imperative that the chosen provider had the 24/7/365 service capabilities to outsource support of Citrix on Microsoft Azure (“Azure”), and the ability to deliver agreed service levels from within Australia.

Approach

To ensure the best outcome was achieved, Uniting embarked on a competitive tender process. After ranking responses on a range of factors including expertise, value for money, proposal and cultural fit, the team at Uniting determined that Data#3 was best positioned to provide the technical capability and support skills they needed.

IT Outcome

Business Outcome

Data#3’s staff have been highly professional at all times, are motivated to deliver positive outcomes for our staff and clients, and have taken feedback on board to continue to develop the relationship and address any issues. This real partnership – something increasingly rare with major vendors – has been critical to our continued success.

Chris PivecChief Information Officer, Uniting Vic.Tas

The Background

Uniting Vic.Tas is the community services arm of the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania.  It delivers a broad range of services in the areas of child and family services, mental health, emergency relief, homelessness and housing, financial wellbeing, alcohol and other drugs, disability, early learning and employment. Uniting also provides Lifeline services in Melbourne and Ballarat, community meals programs in Prahran, Ballarat and Hobart and asylum seeker and refugee support services in metropolitan and regional Victoria. It works with people of all ages and all stages of life to empower them to live their best life.

Technology plays an increasingly important role in providing Uniting’s services, operating at 300 sites, providing a number of services, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A complex network (after a 2017 merger of 24 founding members) and aging technology platforms led to resiliency issues, in turn increasing the demand for support. Uniting recognised that change was needed, to ensure that applications and technology could support their high standards of care into the future.

By 2023, 50% of enterprises will utilise a cloud managed service provider to run some portion of their hyperscale cloud deployments, up from less than 20% in 20181.

The Challenge

Throughout the Uniting organisation, every action is taken with service in mind. This is especially felt within the ICT team, where aligning technology means enabling frontline staff to spend less time on administrative tasks and more time giving vulnerable young people access to online learning or saving costs best spent on extra comforts for the elderly. For Chief Information Officer Chris Pivec, the focus on enabling business outcomes is essential.

“With every decision, we must always consider the impact on our organisation and its ability to deliver services to the community. We see technology as an enabler for our people and those we serve.”

“Our staff would undoubtedly prefer to spend their time interacting with the community, and not dealing with administration duties slowed by performance challenges,” said Pivec.

As Uniting’s services are in demand and the organisation seeks to assist vulnerable groups within the community, Pivec was also conscious of the limitations of the existing platform and the need to control cost.

“Our legacy platforms had a limited scale capability, and it was clear that we needed to transition to an environment that offered us flexibility and room to scale as our needs grow and change. We knew that Windows 10 IOT combined with Citrix would be a game changer for us.”

This expansion potential was needed more than ever as Uniting sought to expand its new IT offering into its remote offices and progressively consolidate applications and replace the technology across 300 sites. With this in mind, Pivec initiated a competitive tender process to source an Australian-based partner with significant proof of customer satisfaction levels and the ability to meet Uniting’s needs.

After reviewing Uniting’s requirements, Data#3 recommended a Citrix solution deployed in Microsoft Azure (“Azure”). While the Azure platform is managed by Uniting’s in-house IT team, they are able to leave the Citrix environment to be managed 24/7/365 by Data#3’s highly skilled Managed Services team. This solution requires trust and co-operation, with Data#3’s managed services specialists becoming a part of Uniting’s extended IT team.

“It has been a great team effort. There are very few partners who can operate at the level of Data#3 and service such a large Azure/Citrix deployment as ours (scaled to 2,000 concurrent users with rollout to serve staff across 300 sites in Victoria and Tasmania),” explained Pivec.

Having this centralised application delivery, deployed securely and efficiently within the public cloud, allows Uniting the flexibility to adapt and rapidly scale to changing needs to best deliver community services. With the solution deployed across two separate Azure regions, Uniting now has confidence that they have a very high level of resilience.

Uniting works in a rapidly changing business landscape, and the Data#3 managed services offering is designed to keep pace. The solution was tailored to work not only with the existing fat client laptop environment, a heterogenic home IT environment, but also with a new fleet of Windows 10 IOT thin clients. The new solution enabled staff to work securely from any location, both on-site and remotely, and worked seamlessly in conjunction with Uniting’s new Software Defined Network (SDN).

“We are a dynamic organisation, so we needed to be agile and ready to adjust very quickly as work demands and expectations change. The managed Citrix on Azure solution achieves on that goal,” commented Pivec.

“It is easy to administer and allows us to support delivery of new services rapidly.”

Reducing the dependency on legacy platforms and handing support for the Citrix environment to Data#3 frees the Uniting team to focus on rolling out new technologies to its 300 sites. Working again with Data#3, Uniting is currently deploying an Internet Kiosk solution so that clients and visitors can access the internet. In many vulnerable groups, internet access cannot be taken for granted, and the kiosks will help clients connect with family, friends, and employment and education opportunities.

“It is well established that social connectedness is a major contributor to wellbeing, especially among the disadvantaged.  We know the role of technology is now critical for most adults and kids, and this is even more so during the various lockdowns the country has experienced from March of this year,” explained Pivec.

The ability to quickly adjust was promptly put to the test, with Uniting’s IT team experiencing increased work-from-home requests prompted by COVID-19. Something that would have been extremely challenging (an overnight request for 3000+ staff to work from home) when working with a legacy environment was readily accommodated. The ability to align with business needs supported Pivec’s pursuit of technology that enables the business.

“In my experience, Data#3 is currently a leader in Victoria in these types of managed services,” stated Pivec.

“Their understanding of our organisation has played a key role in aligning technology to our business needs.”

By ensuring increased performance, a fast response time for priority incidents, and ITIL maturity for support processes, the Data#3 Managed Services team has been able to help Uniting to achieve a high level of user satisfaction. However, the outcome has been about more than technical expertise.

“Data#3’s staff have been highly professional at all times, are motivated to deliver positive outcomes for our staff and clients, and have taken feedback on board to continue to develop the relationship and address any issues,” commented Pivec.

Efficiency has also been enabled: where managing legacy infrastructure had become increasingly resource-intensive and had the potential to increase risk, the new Citrix solution running on an Azure platform allows for stability, as well as predictable and easily managed costs. Finding a partner that took the time to understand Uniting was key to developing a cost-effective solution.

“This real partnership – something increasingly rare with major vendors – has been critical to our continued success” outlined Pivec.

Conclusion

In intensely challenging times for the Community Services industry, the need for dependable and agile IT has never been more critical. “While the need for technical excellence is a given, it is people that count the most,” said Pivec.

“Data#3 has provided Managed Services support for our Azure-hosted Citrix environment for almost 2 years.  They have demonstrated a very high level of professionalism and diligence and have continued to mature their level of technical expertise along with our changing needs.”

For Uniting, an important element of the partnership is knowing that Data#3 is located within Australia, with locally-based specialists available to provide support around the clock.

“Data#3 is fully ‘on-shored’ and offers a range of innovative p1/p2 services, such as a ‘tech bridge’ for critical issue management, which we value highly. Overlaying this, their CEO, account management teams, and service delivery managers are highly experienced professionals who practice modern ‘soft sales’ and understand business critical service in an enterprise environment,” said Pivec.

Ultimately, the highlight of any technology solution is in knowing that Uniting is equipping itself to continue its dedicated mission to support vulnerable communities into the future.

“By introducing the managed services from Data#3, we were able to deliver to critical deadlines at scale and work more efficiently to meet the needs of our users, who can in turn better serve the needs of our clients,” concluded Pivec.

Download Customer Story Realise true cloud potential with Azure

Microsoft as a Service supports non-profit organisation in move to cloud

Objective

With a core responsibility in supporting not-for-profit organisations, the company needed to improve flexibility and mobility by moving from a physical data centre with managed support, to a public cloud-based service.

Approach

The company issued a request for quote tender to potential suppliers, with the received submissions assessed against detailed criteria. It was judged that a Microsoft solution would best suit the company’s needs, and Data#3 was engaged to assist with architectural elements and project delivery.

IT Outcomes

  • Infrastructure as a Service (“IaaS”) platform built in Microsoft Azure
  • Desktop as a Service (“DaaS”) replaced existing infrastructure
  • Migration to Office 365 for messaging and collaboration

Business Outcomes

  • IT staff are free to work on projects to benefit staff and community
  • Improved collaboration and productivity with Office 365
  • Reduced organisational expenditure
  • Removed dependency on external agencies for IT assistance

“Here at Data#3, we know it is important to find a partner that is the right fit for your organisation, we want to understand the reasons and history behind your desired outcome, so we can help you succeed on your technology journey.”

Carlos Gouveia, General Manager for Victoria & Tasmania, Data#3 Limited

The Background

The customer organisation helps support Australian not-for-profit organisations in their mission to provide ongoing support to the people and communities of which they service. Although small in size, the company must maintain a high level of security and accountability and adhere to very modest budgets.

The Challenge

Due to the size of the existing managed service, it was difficult to deploy new services. The existing IMiS platform was unsuitable to grow with the company, and IT staff spent a lot of time managing infrastructure. With budgetary constraints, it was vital that the company’s IT team made every cent count, making the cost and distraction of physical data centres hard to bear.

“It can be difficult when there is a lot of overhead tied up in physical data centres. The requirements for constant funds, plus the time and effort needed to resize virtual machines and upgrade hardware can be detrimental to business if not facilitated correctly,” said Data#3 General Manager for Victoria and Tasmania, Carlos Gouveia.

The secure gateway provides additional help, but stretching the budget to do more is an ongoing quest.

“We knew they were focussed on always giving the communities they serve the best value for money,” said Gouveia.

Delivering a service was becoming more difficult, but there were some positives.

“Being a smaller company can often mean there are fewer legacy systems to work with,” said Gouveia.

“That gave them the opportunity to be more agile, and it was decided to make the most of the opportunity by seeking an outcome that was both sustainable and scalable.”

IT Outcomes

Moving from on-premises to cloud is no small task, but due to government funding processes, the project had to be achieved very quickly, with just a four –month window from start to finish.
“Data#3 worked to an aggressive schedule, with clear communication essential to ensuring the success of the project,” said Gouveia.

That communication included working with a variety of technology providers; Data#3 and Microsoft were both able to draw on existing relationships to assist in keeping the project on track.
“Across the project, there was a lot of collaboration, we worked with a lot of third-party vendors in terms of network infrastructure,” said Gouveia.

“Our collaboration was built on communicating early, with a mechanism in place to deal with any challenges. Data#3 and Microsoft worked really well together and with the company’s team.”

An entirely cloud-based remodelled service and capabilities platform has been built, using Microsoft Azure as a platform. Office 365 enables a collaborative working environment, with integrated office tools and communication. This is complemented by Microsoft’s System Centre Configuration Manager (SCCM), meaning that staff can work securely from anywhere, on their own choice of device.

“We partnered with Microsoft to create a solution that successfully met the company’s requirements, and could support their size,” said Gouveia.

“As a result, the company can now deploy infrastructure as required and demonstrate a proof of concept in our development environment that we can tag and cost individually.”

For government organisations, there are stringent rules in place about the location of data and approved cloud services. Microsoft Azure is an accredited data centre that ensures compliance with regulation.

The partnership between the Data#3 and Microsoft team made the requirements easier to navigate and empowered staff to have confidence that the modern technology meets their requirements.”

Business Outcome

For users, the adjustment to Office 365 was ‘a big shift’, but most staff were quick to make the most of the new environment.

“Like any change in technology, a change in how the company operated was needed, but the more that staff worked with the new technology, the more they could see the benefits,” said Gouveia.

The most notable gains for individual users are the ability to work in a familiar online environment, with necessary files and resources available securely on any device. The IT department’s planning and support has minimised adjustment challenges and, freed from managing infrastructure, they have been able to actively tackle projects that make the company more efficient.

Financial benefits were also quickly realised. For a small company that must achieve big results, the pay-as-you-go option made sense.

“Since the new environment was deployed, the company only pays when the environment is used and operational, meaning they have seen significant savings early on,” said Gouveia.

There has been some culture shock for the company, with the ease of use a contrast to the previous on-premises model. The company has also had to adjust to a different funding model for its IT consumption.

“Many organisations are structured around projects, development and system lifecycles. When the company made a shift from CAPEX to OPEX, their smaller size meant they were able to achieve success a lot sooner than other organisations,” said Gouveia.

By 2023, 50% of enterprises will utilise a cloud managed service provider to run some portion of their hyperscale cloud deployments, up from less than 20% in 2018.1

Conclusion

For others considering a similar project, a well-defined vision and well-managed communication are the elements that give the best chance of success.

“You must have a clear idea of what your end state will be as an organisation, what your future operational model would ideally be, and how much tolerance you have there.”

“Without that clarity, compromises made after the fact can cause rework and additional cost.”

The experience for the company was positive, and as such, Data#3 was enlisted to manage their workloads for the next three years, as well as provide assistance on future projects.

“Here at Data#3, we know it is important to find a partner that is the right fit for your organisation, we want to understand the reasons and history behind your desired outcome, so we can help you succeed on your technology journey.”

1. Gartner (2018), Public Cloud Infrastructure Operations and Management Is a Shared Responsibility Model [Online] https://blogs.gartner.com/rene-buest/2018/12/14/publiccloud-infrastructure-operations-and-management-is-a-shared-responsibility-model/

Ready for School: Melbourne City Mission leverages innovative technology to help prepare at-risk students for future employment

Objective

To deploy a technology update that better integrates the business and provides tools to give students the best future prospects.

Approach

Using consultants from Data#3’s wholly owned subsidiary, Business Aspect, a five-year strategic plan was devised to deliver the technology outcome that best advantaged students and staff. A key element was the inclusion of Data#3 services to consolidate the technology into a single, collaborative user environment.

IT Outcome

  • Office 365 Education tenant sharing a single Active Directory forest with another Office 365 tenant
  • Customised Azure Active Directory Connect deployment
  • Devices joined to Azure Active Directory via Autopilot with mobile device management via Intune

Business Outcome

  • Hurdles impacting student engagement overcome through simplified processes
  • Students have access to modern tools that will help them transition into the workforce
  • Staff and teachers can work more productively in the updated environment.

“Many students haven’t had a great experience with education, and we want to redefine success for them. We have made a modern Microsoft environment that will prepare our young people for 21st Century workplaces.”

Tim Knowles, Principal at The Hester Hornbrook Academy, Melbourne City Mission

The Background

For many at-risk young people, engaging with traditional schooling is problematic. For those struggling with social factors, including homelessness and young parenthood, Melbourne City Mission’s (“The Mission”) education branch, The Academy, offers the flexibility and inclusiveness that makes education possible.

The entire organisation, from teachers and management to the IT team, is focused on removing obstacles to education. A dated and inefficient IT environment meant that collaboration was limited. For students to do their best work, modernisation was needed.

The Challenge

Outdated technology was restricting development activities and affecting classroom productivity. Accessing the right systems could be time-consuming for teachers, and there was little opportunity for collaboration. Many students didn’t have access to suitable devices or internet access at home, restricting homework activities. Taking their cue from teaching staff, the IT team knew they needed a solution to give students the best outcome.

However, there was only a brief window of opportunity; the project had to be completed within six months, ready for the new school year.

“Delays would mean disruption for the students, which could affect their engagement,” said Melbourne City Mission’s ICT Service Delivery Manager, Damith Ratnayake.

“The school didn’t have its own technology platform, and the Mission used traditional configurations. If the Active Directory was just replicated, it would have meant an expensive overhead, but the Data#3 solution was designed to give us a single, consolidated service to manage,” said Ratnayake.

Any technology choice could have a significant impact on students’ future employment prospects in an increasingly digitised world.

“More than 70% of workplaces use a Windows operating environment, and we had to consider students’ employment prospects when determining what technology we would use,” said Ratnayake.

“To engage them we have to be really relevant in today’s technology.”

With an expected growth from 200 students currently to an anticipated 1,000 in five years, scalability was essential. Availability of in-house resources was also a stretch, so any solution must be easily managed.

“We are not a technology shop, we don’t have time to keep ahead of technology. We need a partner that is just going to come in and deliver.”

IT Outcomes

To address the Mission’s unique circumstances, Data#3 implemented a unique solution that integrated two separate Microsoft Exchange tenancies into a single user environment. By enabling the Office 365 Education tenant of the Academy to share a single Active Directory forest with the Mission, the way was paved for greater collaboration.

Using a customised Azure Active Directory Connect deployment, subsets of users were synchronised as either ‘user’ or ‘contact’ in each tenant. This measure meant that both the Mission and the Academy were afforded a global address list (GAL). Students were then synchronised using Microsoft School Data Sync (SDS) via Microsoft Flow, an Office 365 automation tool, using a CSV file exported from the original class lists maintained in Excel.

A key element of the project was employing Windows Autopilot to join machines to Azure Active Directory, using their hardware ID. In conjunction with Microsoft Intune, which provides cloud-based device management, the Mission can remotely apply custom operating system images to the devices, so that students can simply log in and get to work.

“We wanted to use the latest technology, but not many people in the market have deployed Intune and Autopilot in this way before. Data#3 was the only company to offer that capability and skillset,” said Ratnayake.

Automation of Office 365 tasks is performed using Azure Automation, making for minimal intervention. The strain placed on IT staff by the older, manual system has been removed. The team is free to focus on the next phase of the Mission’s technology overhaul, and explore the benefits of the platform as a service (PaaS) now in place.

“We are excited because the foundation has been set to run more core systems and technologies that are needed in modern classrooms,” said Ratnayake.

Business Outcome

For students, the new school year has commenced with technology now acting as a positive influence. Access to the latest technology has been well-received and adds to the sense of positivity the school strives for throughout its efforts. Echoing the school’s focus, the new environment presents youngsters and their teachers with the fewest technical hurdles possible.

“We don’t want students to worry about setting up their email and so on. They put in their credentials, Microsoft Education and Autopilot does the rest,” said Ratnayake.

Tim Knowles, Principal at The Hester Hornbrook Academy, Melbourne City Mission, is already seeing a difference in classrooms.

“The kids will now hold video conferences using Microsoft Team, collaborate using OneNote, create slides in PowerPoint, all the best tools for business; we are taking away that level of disadvantage, and giving our students what others in any world-class school would have,” said Knowles.

“They come in the door, they’re handed a ThinkPad that is ready-charged, loaded with a fantastic suite of apps, and all of their learning is done online.”

The reach of the new environment extends far beyond the Academy’s doors.

“Young people can now access their learning from any location, any connected device, even if they just have a smartphone with public wi-fi, they can login like they were in the classroom,” said Knowles.

The outcome has been designed to operate with limited overheads and without the need for specialist in-house skills. While Ratnayake said any project will hit a few bumps, his past experience of partnering with Data#3 filled him with confidence. Data#3’s technical strength and proven reliability made them the partner of choice. This paid off when engineers identified and quickly closed a potential security issue, thanks to ready access to SharePoint experts.

“There were no significant challenges because of the level of skill of the Data#3 engineers. In fact, the steering committee was surprised at the limited number of issues we faced in so significant a project,” said Ratnayake.

Conclusion

Looking back, the Mission’s team credits much of its success to the early involvement of the Data#3’s highly skilled consultants. This allowed them clarity of purpose from the beginning, something vital when working to a tight deadline.

“The strategy investment from Business Aspect at the start paid for itself; we had a plan for an architecture, and we chose the right partner for the technology piece,” said Ratnayake.

“We’ve done what we said we were going to do, utilising the latest technology available.”

It is the human aspect of the project that has given the team at Melbourne City Mission the greatest satisfaction, though, and the knowledge that careful investment has allowed them to help more students to reach their potential.

“Many students haven’t had a great experience with education, and we want to redefine success for them. We have made a modern Microsoft environment that will prepare our young people for 21st Century workplaces,” said Knowles.