HORRY TELEPHONE COOPERATIVE (HTC) SUCCESSFULLY MIGRATES FROM SKYPE FOR BUSINESS SERVER TO ENHANCED COLLABORATION TOOL, MICROSOFT TEAMS

Snapshot

CLIENT – HTC
INDUSTRY – Telecommunications cooperative
PRODUCT – Microsoft Teams
PARTNER – XenTegra

RESULTS

100% of users successfully migrated from Skype for Business Server to Microsoft Teams without Interruption to service

Implementation of governance policies and protections to ensure HTC data is not being risked by inadvertent sharing outside their organisation

Decommissioning of Skype for Business server to further reduce the costs of their on-premises infrastructure estate

CUSTOMER INTRODUCTION

HTC is the largest telecommunications cooperative in the United States. Celebrating 70 years as the local leader in communications, HTC provides services in Horry, Georgetown and Marion counties.

Utilising the area’s most extensive fibre optic network, HTC service offerings include: Internet; Video; Security; Mobile; and Voice. HTC also offers advanced business services, including: Internet, Voice and Hosted Voice Solutions, IT Solutions such as Wi-Fi, Data Backup & Recovery and Firewalls, and Business Security & Automation.

THE PROBLEM / GOAL

Introduced to Insentra through our strategic partnership with XenTegra, we were engaged by HTC to capture and scope their business requirements for modernising and transforming their real-time collaboration and communication infrastructure. HTC was seeking to provide their staff the ability to meet and collaborate from anywhere using any device by fully transitioning chat and meeting functions from Skype for Business Server 2015 to Microsoft Teams.

HTC’s goals were to:

Enable Microsoft Teams as a standardised collaboration platform to allow staff to engage in a simple, flexible and effective manner;
Configure security, compliance and governance policies which control user access and capabilities based on HTC business requirements; and
Migrate users from on-premises Skype for Business server to Microsoft Teams.

THE SOLUTION

Using our project methodology for delivering transformation projects, Insentra’s consultants worked closely with HTC team members to gather their business requirements and use cases, allowing Insentra to determine and document a robust governance framework and migration plan.

Insentra continued to work collaboratively with the HTC project team to detail and build the controls and integrations for Microsoft Teams based on the defined governance framework. As part of our phased and structured approach, validation testing of the solution was performed to ensure it met the needs and satisfied the requirements of the business before being rolled-out and implemented to the wider organisation.

Once implemented, Insentra provided additional support, advice and guidance on the decommissioning of the Skype for Business infrastructure.

THE RESULTS

Transitioning from Skype for Business Server to Microsoft Teams provided HTC the ability to improve internal communication and collaboration by allowing users to see presence, chat, click to call and share their video, whiteboards, desktop and applications utilising Microsoft Teams (as well as in Outlook and other integrated Office 365 applications). Collaboration between teams was the key to a successful implementation and migration.

Through strong relationships developed between the technical consultants and HTC staff, the reward was a successful transition from Skype for Business Server to Microsoft Teams and a Microsoft Teams platform which meets HTC’s business requirements. Having structured workshops to drive and capture the requirements enabled Insentra to determine and implement governance policies and protections to ensure HTC data is not being inadvertently shared externally their organisation.

The main outcomes and success criteria governed by the project were identified by HTC’s Director of Network Administration, Daniel Spivey as being:

A hybrid approach to limit impact to HTC end users.
A smooth transition from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams – 100% of users successfully migrated from Skype for Business Server to Microsoft Teams without interruption to service.
Implementation of governance policies and protections to ensure HTC data is not being risked by inadvertently being shared outside the organisation.
Decommissioning of Skype for Business server to further reduce the cost of onpremises infrastructure. In addition, HTC’s Supervisor of the System Administration team, Jason Foxworth, identified a success criterion as being the differential between Skype and Teams in allowing External Users to connect to HTC and prevent internal users from sharing confidential information externally.

CONCLUSION

With Microsoft Teams now firmly embedded throughout the organisation, HTC users are embracing the additional features Microsoft Teams brings to aid communication and collaboration. The decommissioned Skype for Business server has helped in reducing costs of their on-premises infrastructure. HTC have re-engaged with Insentra and their partner, XenTegra to assist with a SharePoint Online migration project. This is helping to further develop the relationship with Insentra technical consultants as they work closely alongside the HTC technical team.

“We were very pleased with this project from start to finish. All of our expectations were met and exceeded. The Insentra team was knowledgeable and made sure to communicate with us through every phase of the project. HTC will definitely use Insentra again for future projects.”

Daniel Spivey – HTC’s Director of Network Administration

We were very pleased with this project from start to finish. All of our expectations were met and exceeded. The Insentra team was knowledgeable and made sure to communicate with us through every phase of the project. HTC will definitely use Insentra again for future projects.

Daniel Spivey – HTC’s Director of Network Administration

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