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
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 organization.
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 organization.
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 organization.
- 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
“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
Daniel Spivey – HTC’s Director of Network Administration
ABOUT INSENTRA
WE DARE TO BE DIFFERENT
Insentra is a collaborative IT Services partner delivering specialised Professional and Managed Services. Our Partner-centric model provides you direct access to industry
expertise.
We believe great business relationships start with trust. We are 100% channel focused
meaning we only transact and deliver services exclusively with our Partners.
Our dedication to you is based on our vision to be the number one channel services company on the planet. We do this by being the best version of ourselves, creating an outstanding environment for our team, loving the work we do and amasing each other and our partners in every way.
We are and always will remain a Partner obsessed company
Learn how you can partner with Insentra
DOWNLOAD THE CASE STUDY
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUBMISSION!
