Baggenstos

Customer profile

Reducing ICT costs, improving communication and collaboration and relieving the internal IT team were the main reasons for the outsourcing project from Witzig The Office Company AG. We were able to achieve these goals in around six months using a hybrid cloud solution, an optimization of site networking (WAN) and our Operation Care service model.

Witzig was founded in 1946 and has been operating under the brand Witzig The Office Company since 2007. Today, Witzig is represented at ten offices, two stationery shops, the BusinessPoint at Bern railway station and a logistics center in German-speaking Switzerland. The staff of around 200 develop holistic and innovative office concepts based around the professional office.

Martin Witzig, CEO, drew a thoroughly positive balance following the project's completion and the first months of Operation Care services.

"With this project, Baggenstos has taken our ICT an important step forward. We particularly appreciate how easily we can access our applications and data today from anywhere. Mobility is an absolute must these days. The new operating model has also proved very successful and creates completely new opportunities internally. The fact that we were also able to significantly reduce running costs is more than just a pleasant side effect."

Facts and figures

Starting point and objectives

Reduction of ICT costs, improvement of communication and collaboration, as well as relief of the internal IT team, were the main reasons for the outsourcing project of Witzig The Office Company AG

Solution

In the data center, we set up a new, central server infrastructure featuring these components:

• HP servers with 3PAR storage and HPE networking
• Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization
• Microsoft System Center for monitoring, system and client management
• Azure Backup with backup to the cloud

The UCC services (mail, collaboration and voice over IP telephony) previously hosted by a Swiss telecom provider were also replaced in Office 365 with Skype for Business. Thanks to licensing of the Cloud Solution Provider model (CSP), billing is now done per month and per user. The costs, therefore, can be adjusted at any time to changes in the number of users. The migration of data and applications to the new platform also took place without interrupting daily operations.

A significant cost reduction was achieved by networking the branches with our partner UPC Business.

The existing clients were redesigned by our Client Engineering Team with Windows 10, the Office 365 E3 Plan and the Enterprise Mobility & Security Suite. The restaging and rollout itself was performed by the Witzig IT Team. Thanks to DirectAccess, all users can now access the central company data and applications securely, at any time and from anywhere. Login to the company network is achieved using the cloud solution Azure AD Connect.

Results

After the migration to the new solution, operations are now carried out with our proven and flexible Operation Care Outsourcing. Witzig thus engages an external ICT department tailored to its needs at a fixed price. The services include:

• ICT strategy consulting at management level
• Monitoring, system maintenance and servicing
• Helpdesk and support
• Financing
• Data center and connectivity services

Witzig can now concentrate fully on the further development of ICT and the digitization of business processes instead of expending internal resources on operational and support tasks.

Challenges

Witzig's ICT infrastructure was getting on in years and its contract with the previous Unified Communication Provider (UCC) had expired at the end of 2016. Due to the termination of the UCC service and its WAN network, a tight schedule for the go-live of the new solution was given.

These steps therefore had to be implemented quickly and efficiently:

• Renewal and standardization of the client software (Windows 10 and Office 365)
• Migration from the existing platforms (own data center at Witzig and externally hosted UCC solution) to the new, hybrid infrastructure
• Replacement of the existing site network
• Transfer to the Operation Care service

Managed Service as a basis for future success

The infrastructure is operated under our Operation Care Managed Service. Our Operation Team takes care of daily functionality and provides rapid support in the event of a fault. Quality is guaranteed using industry-recognized best practices and clearly defined service levels (SLA). The permanently assigned Baggenstos Service Manager takes care of any escalations, ensures the ongoing optimization of support and operating processes, and also accompanies Witzig AG in the further development of its ICT infrastructure.

Many thanks for the fine collaboration

We at Baggenstos are pleased that we were able to implement the project within the tight schedule and that we can support and help the staff of Witzig in their daily tasks. We would like to thank the Witzig management and all the staff involved in the project for their trust and highly productive and open cooperation.

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