Homes North

Strategic Setup of IT Structures

Homes North is a community housing provider which develops and manages affordable, secure, and sensitively managed homes and works in partnership to create vibrant, inclusive communities. With over 30 years’ experience in the New England North West region of NSW, Homes North provides a place to call home for many individuals and families.

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Having undergone significant growth in recent years, Homes North now manages approximately 2,586 properties, for over 1,924 people, across the New England and North West NSW area. They have offices in Armidale, Glen Innes, Gunnedah, Inverell, Moree, and Tamworth.

The Challenge

Homes North approached us for an independent review of their IT infrastructure, network health, security, capacity and potential improvement opportunities in 2017. That review was an important input to their (ultimately successful) application to take over management of NSW government housing stock in the region.

Our Solutions

With the limited network access provided, we were able to conduct a high-level analysis of the IT infrastructure and present recommendations for improvements which would mitigate risk, improve performance, and ultimately increase staff productivity. Beating out several other bids, we became Homes North’s dedicated IT service provider and continue that relationship now.

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During the past few years, Homes North’s staff count has doubled in size and we have helped them navigate and prepare for that expansion through a variety of services.

Infrastructure

We redesigned, procured, and implemented a new server infrastructure at the Homes North headquarters and Tamworth offices. This included a resilient, highly available server virtualisation platform which minimised the risk of downtime to Homes North staff and customers. We also implemented a best practice backup solution, a security overhaul, upgraded Wi-Fi facilities, and a refreshed core network including switching and UPS upgrades.

Email Migration

To reduce dependency on the infrastructure at their headquarters, we migrated their mail service to a cloud-based solution on Microsoft’s Office 365 platform. Despite the large amount of data and wide-spread end-user changes, and the potential to be a painful exercise of a crucial service, we were able to make this process smooth and painless. Providing minimal disruption and effectively communicating with staff due to our years of experience with email migrations.

Platform Migration

Homes North recently decided to adopt a new housing management software solution to allow for more functionality. We assisted them with the migration to that platform, Basix. This project required us to work closely with third parties to assist with the importing of sensitive data and configurations from the previous solution into Basix. We were able to orchestrate this migration and provide the required IT expertise to complete this mammoth project with minimal fuss.

The Results

By committing to learning about their business requirements and goals, we were able to create a strong partnership with Homes North that has lasted many years. This dedication has allowed us to provide fundamental strategic decisions and create an IT environment ready to scale up without excessive capital expenditure.

Client Growth

120%

employee increase

over the past 2 years, resulting in much higher dependency on IT services

Constant Support

76%

of resolutions happened in the same day

with an average 3.7 minute response time

Continuity

0

downtime

over 9 major IT projects due to our exceptional project management

Efficiency

50%

increase in servers

despite the massive growth of the client due to optimized infrastructure

Client Feedback

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Homes North is a community housing provider which develops and manages affordable, secure, and sensitively managed homes and works in partnership to create vibrant, inclusive communities. With over 30 years’ experience in the New England North West region of NSW, Homes North provides a place to call home for many individuals and families.

‍
Having undergone significant growth in recent years, Homes North now manages approximately 2,586 properties, for over 1,924 people, across the New England and North West NSW area. They have offices in Armidale, Glen Innes, Gunnedah, Inverell, Moree, and Tamworth.

The Challenge

Homes North approached us for an independent review of their IT infrastructure, network health, security, capacity and potential improvement opportunities in 2017. That review was an important input to their (ultimately successful) application to take over management of NSW government housing stock in the region.