As the events of early 2020 rapidly unfolded, many organisations scrambled to respond. A lack of effective systems and support caused mayhem as staff across all industries had to transition to a remote work environment almost overnight.
One organisation that was able to circumvent this chaos was Scope Australia. As a not-for-profit that supports thousands of people with a disability, continuity of service and care is crucial. Scope and Canon Business Services ANZ (formerly Harbour IT) have partnered together for many years with the ultimate goal of building a sustainable and future-proof IT environment.
When the impending lockdown was at Scope’s door, Canon Business Services ANZ (CBS) strategic and technical teams quickly assessed Scope’s capability – immediately making the necessary changes to ensure staff could transition effortlessly from working in the office or field to working from home.
The passionate team at Scope actively invest in research and innovation to improve the lives of people with disabilities, and provide guidance to the public sector in areas of policy development and sector reform.
Scope believes that with the right support, every person has scope to achieve their goals in life and live as an empowered and equal citizen.
Scope’s diverse team rely on their internal IT systems to provide continuity of service and care to thousands of vulnerable customers.
Since 2012, this valuable strategic partnership has enabled Scope to meet its customer demands while supporting a modern workforce with remote access to Scope’s communication and collaboration tools.
Together, Scope and CBS hold weekly operations and project meetings, monthly governance meetings, and strategic review meetings. This partnership extends from the C-suite down to ensure engagement and adoption at all levels.
Like any business, Scope’s IT systems are configured to handle an average number of users with slight allowances for peak periods. A sudden surge in user demand would undoubtedly flood the system, making it potentially difficult for staff to login and work.
When COVID-19 hit in early 2020, CBS’ tech team quickly deduced that there were certain areas within Scope’s IT platform that needed some adjustment to handle the rapid surge in user activity that would occur as staff transitioned to a remote working environment overnight.
David Branch, Scope's General Manager ICT
Through a consultative approach, CBS and Scope teams sat down to analyse the IT environment. They identified the need to increase capacity and adjust configurations to support the fast transition of several thousand users to a remote work environment.
As CBS and Scope had already worked together to strategically equip the operating environment, the solution was simple and cost-effective: upgrade Scope’s existing services to manage the increase in user load.
Following the standard change process, the CBS team ordered the required licensing and instantly got to work. The uplift was implemented within 24 hours and with everything completed in time, users were oblivious to any issues and enjoyed a stress-free transition.
David Branch, Scope’s General Manager ICT
Scope staff were able to log in and operate as normal, with CBS service desk staff readily available to support them if there were any issues.
Most importantly, Scope’s vulnerable customer base were not left waiting or wanting while staff wrangled with systems that were unfamiliar or difficult to access from home.
CBS’ forward thinking approach enabled Scope to circumvent the challenging situation many businesses faced during the COVID-19 lockdown. The valuable combination of procurement, Professional Services and Managed Services delivered a highly tangible ROI at a time when business continuity was critical.
Scope’s foresight to build and maintain a progressive, secure and reliable IT infrastructure with support from an expert team has proved priceless. And their dedication to continuous improvement is evident in their ongoing work with CBS in areas extending from security to SaaS, data reporting, and more.
