Executive summary
Office moves and building changes are part and parcel of a
company’s evolution. Unless they are managed effectively, however,
they can cause major disruption to the business – and even damage
customer loyalty and the company’s brand.
Moving IT systems can be particularly high-risk, especially when
it involves core staff and the devices they use to access critical
applications. It is therefore essential that organisations ensure
they minimise the risks to the business, and limit system and staff
downtime.
When BT Wholesale embarked on not one but several moves as part
of its relocation to a new headquarters, it opted to work with IT
services provider Computacenter. By drawing on Computacenter’s best
practice and resources, BT Wholesale was not only able to minimise
risk and downtime, but also ensure the disposal of redundant
hardware was compliant with the WEEE Directive.
As a result of the new headquarters, BT Wholesale will be able
to reduce its operational costs, and improve the flexibility and
work/life balance of its staff.
Business description
Service provider for communication companies.
Business challenge
Ensure a move to new headquarters and office consolidation
programme did not impact business continuity.
Solution
Reduce risk and potential downtime by working with an
experienced partner.
Business benefits
Minimal disruption to the business and reduced operational costs
as a result of the office moves.
Services
Installation, fulfilment, asset disposal.
Timescale
The office moves were carried out over a seven-week period in
summer 2004.
Key partners
HP, Fujitsu Siemens Computers.
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications and
technology services and one of the largest private sector companies
in Europe. BT Wholesale is at the heart of the BT Group, providing
network services and solutions to communication companies.
As a result, BT Wholesale’s products and services form a vital
part of the UK’s communications infrastructure, with more than 300
million calls being made on its network everyday, plus 350 million
Internet connections every month. Until recently the staff and
equipment supporting this network were spread across London at a
number of offices, some of which were non-operational.
In early 2004, BT Wholesale decided to embark on a consolidation
programme for its London offices to help streamline its operational
costs and optimise its building space. At the same time the company
also needed to establish a new headquarters in the capital, which
presented the IT department with a significant challenge.
As Mark Gregory, BT Wholesale CIO Office - desktop strategy
manager, explains: “Not only did we need to find the resources to
transfer users from various offices across London to the new
headquarters, but we also had new equipment to deploy and legacy
devices to dispose of. We had learnt from previous projects that an
office move can be a considerable drain on IT resources, so
understood the importance and value of involving a specialist
partner at an early stage.”
Minimising risk
To help with the move to its new Faraday Road headquarters, BT
Wholesale turned to existing IT partner Computacenter, which has a
five-year desktop logistics agreement with the communications and
technology giant in the UK. “We were moving from a very traditional
building to one that supports hot-desking and wireless
environments, and therefore needed a partner with extensive
installation and integration expertise,” comments Mark. “The move
also involved a number of critical business departments, so it was
essential that we minimised both risk and downtime.”
To help ensure business continuity, the 400-plus moves and
installations were planned to happen every second day over a
seven-week period during the summer of 2004. Extensive scheduling
and project management were essential to the success of the
roll-out, as Gerry Birchall, managed refresh stage manager at
Computacenter, explains: “Managing the schedule of moves was
challenging, but by remaining flexible we were able to achieve the
service levels agreed with BT Wholesale, and minimise downtime and
disruption to the business.”
In addition to moving existing BT Wholesale hardware,
Computacenter also supplied and installed a range of new devices as
part of the project. This included more than 400 HP flat-screen
monitors; HP multi-function printers and laptops from Fujitsu
Siemens Computers – some of which Computacenter helped to configure
for use over a wireless LAN.
“We needed the integration of the new technology to be
seamless,” commented Mark. “We also had to ensure that any legacy
hardware was disposed of correctly under the WEEE Directive.
Computacenter was able to assist with both of these, which helped
free up our internal resources for more strategic activities.”
Reduced operational costs
More than 120 redundant devices were removed from offices across
London, and disposed of by Computacenter’s specialist subsidiary,
RDC. Computacenter also had to liaise with a number of other
service providers and suppliers as part of the project.
“Our new headquarters were previously used to house
telecommunications equipment, and date back to the 1890s,” comments
Mark. “As a result, there were a lot of contractors and companies
involved in making the building operational for a 21st century
business.”
Despite the complexity of the office move, the project was a
massive success, as Mark confirms: “Thanks to excellent planning,
we experienced no major problems, and the move has been recognised
as one of the best ever by the business. Computacenter provided a
very efficient and professional service, and responded quickly to
any changes.”
As a result of the office consolidation and move to new
headquarters, BT Wholesale has freed up five buildings, which will
be put to use by different areas of the business. This in turn has
helped to reduce operational costs.
Financial savings, however, are not the only benefit of the
project, as Mark explains: “Our headquarters are wireless-enabled,
and are designed to support remote and flexible working. This has
helped to not only improve employees’ work/life balance but also
our overall operational efficiency.”