THE CLIENT
Established more than 55 years ago, Coldon Homes is a leading builder and fabrication company based in southern Victoria. The company constructs more than 100 new homes each year while Capeview Building Products provides framing and window products to other building firms across the state.
THE CHALLENGE
In early 2019, the Coldon Homes / Capeview Building Products management team realised it needed assistance with the company’s ageing IT infrastructure. Two servers that had been installed over eight years ago had reached the end of their operational life while client devices were still running the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system.
"Users were becoming frustrated with the poor performance of their computers. We also knew we had some significant issues when it came to IT security and effectively backing up our core data stores.”
Goldsmith says that, as well as administration functions, the company relies heavily on software applications to support its design and construction arms. Any outages or downtime could have a significant impact on operations.
“ We came to the realisation that a full refresh of our infrastructure was required,” he says. “We then set out to find a technology partner who could help guide us through the process.”
THE SOLUTION
Goldsmith says the management team evaluated a number of potential partners in an effort to find the most appropriate fit for the company.
"We wanted someone who would understand what we had in place and the challenges we were facing,” he says. “We then wanted them to oversee the upgrade process and manage the new infrastructure on our behalf.”
After considerable market research and checking of referrals from existing customers, a decision was taken in May 2019 to sign a contract with Viatek. The agreement covered a total technology refresh for the company as well as an ongoing managed services agreement.
Goldsmith says Viatek began by undertaking a complete audit of Coldon Homes / Capeview Building Products existing IT infrastructure. This provided the baseline from which planned upgrades and replacements could be implemented.
Once the plan had been formalised, the first step was to deploy a new WatchGuard firewall appliance to secure the company’s internal network and IT resources. Password practices were also reviewed and improved.
"Next, the Viatek team replaced our legacy servers with two new HPE boxes containing significant storage capacity and configured them to ensure redundancy. The boxes were installed at different company sites to provide additional data security and redundancy.”
Goldsmith says the management team evaluated a number of potential partners in an effort to find the most appropriate fit for the company.
“ We instead opted for a hybrid architecture where our core applications run on our on-premise servers while data files are backed up to a cloud platform,” he says.
Viatek then worked to upgrade Coldon/Capeview’s client devices, replacing existing PCs with standardised desktop or notebook PCs depending on the needs of the staff. This also allowed the company to migrate from its existing Microsoft Windows 7 operating system environment to Windows 10.
“ Other steps completed by Viatek included upgrading our in-office Wi-Fi network so devices could be used across all company premises,” says Goldsmith. “They also upgraded our office phone system so that it was compatible with VoIP services.”
THE BENEFITS
With the technology refresh now completed, the staff of Coldon Homes / Capeview Building Products are enjoying some significant benefits. Goldsmith says the new fleet of personal computers has improved both productivity and staff morale.
"Having Windows 10 in place means we can run the latest versions of applications and others that were not compatible with our previous environment. Improved security also means we can be confident that important data won’t be lost or our activity disrupted.”
New VPN capabilities have also improved operations and have been particularly valuable during the COVID-19 lockdown period.
“ Many of our staff have been working from home and the VPN allows them to access resources as though they are still in the office,” he says. “We would not have been able to continue to function without it.”
Goldsmith says Viatek continues to manage the IT infrastructure under a services agreement, taking care of day-to-day items as they arise. This means Coldon/Capeview doesn’t need to have an in-house IT support person which reduces ongoing costs.
“Viatek continues to be a very valuable business partner for us,” he says. “Their understanding of our environment and knowledge of technology trends will ensure we remain up to date and well positioned to meet the ongoing needs of our clients.”
