ID Partnership - Moving Offices

The Background

IDPartnership is one of UK's leading architects and have won many awards for their work. IDPartnership Midlands is one of three studios which make up the IDPartnership Group, the other two studios are in Newcastle and Glasgow. Real Point is proud to have supported and maintained IDPartnership Midlands' IT infrastructure since 2004.

The Brief

In 2008 IDPartnership Midlands had outgrown their original offices and were looking at bigger premises. The building they were looking at moving into was considerably larger than their offices at the time so planning and attention to detail was required.

The Solution

Real Point were involved in all steps of the move from the original look at the premises, planning and through to the move itself.

Once the location had been decided upon, IDPartnership Midland gave us a tour of the building so we could get a first look and feel for what their new requirements were.

Real Point worked closely with IDPartnership Midlands at the planning stage and now that office layouts on the 3 floors had been drafted we were able to advise on the new demands for their IT infrastructure. This involved making sure the power supply to the building and through to the offices was sufficient and wouldn't trip out IT equipment. The network cabling throughout had to be of a certain quality and abundant enough to not only cope with what IDP needed at the time but also be able to cope with expansion of equipment and additional users. Real Point also advised on any new or additional IT equipment that would need to be purchased.

A server room had to be allocated which would not only be secure but also well ventilated and grant easy access for network administration and troubleshooting. All network and phone cabling was centrally patched and clearly numbered so easily identifiable. This network and server system setup has proven very successful, reliable and simplified maintenance.

Real Point also dealt with the setup of the broadband to the new offices. As IDP wanted the changeover between buildings to happen as quickly as possible staff were working at the old offices till the last minute! Real Point made sure the switchover between broadband happened seamlessly without any disruption.

On the days leading up to the move, Real Point checked and tested the new offices and setup the network preparing the building so the move could go swiftly and efficiently.

On the day of the move IDPartnership handled the movement of office furniture whilst Real Point took care of moving the IT equipment - servers, workstations etc. The move worked out that all the equipment as soon as was plugged in and booted up the users could work straight away; having access to emails, Internet and full access to the network and servers. The downtime being minimal and only the time it took to move and setup the workstation in the new office. In essence users were working in the old building in the morning then in the new offices in the afternoon!

The Verdict

Real Point and IDP worked closely in the planning of the move and Real Point worked and planned for every eventuality in the lead up to the move. This dedicated approach and attention to detail made sure the move went smoothly and that downtime was as minimal as it could possibly be.