When a client specializing in engineering products and services marketed to a variety of industries — including some heavily regulated ones, such as chemical processing, wastewater treatment, and petroleum refining — we knew they would require reliable, practical, and narrowly tailored IT solutions that met their exacting standards. That’s precisely what D2 delivered in an amazingly fast timeframe that had to be accelerated due to the pandemic.
The Challenge
Like so many companies, COVID required this firm to rapidly pivot to remote work for most of its staff. Pandemic or not, they had hard deadlines to meet and needed to upgrade their IT capabilities fast.
Their existing technology infrastructure was built to support a fully in-office workforce. The entire business was centered around a core ERP (enterprise resource planning) application that was only configured to work in the office. This application was not supported for use directly over a VPN. Further complicating things, their telephony technologies were dated and only supported in-office use.
The Solution
- D2 implemented a Microsoft RemoteApp server for the core ERP application; paired that solution with a new, far more capable and secure VPN (virtual private network); and then increased bandwidth on the entire network to support users connecting to the server via a remote desktop from wherever they were.
Though the ERP vendor and their application did not natively support usage of their app directly over a VPN, the remote desktop server implementation was an effective and compatible workaround.
- D2 connected the firm with our VoIP partner Turn-Dial to upgrade its communication and telephony platform.
This recommendation was made with full awareness of just how urgent the pandemic had made their timeline. In incredibly short order, they were able to make and receive work calls out of the office.
Turn-Dial was able to piggyback off of their existing phone system to provide softphone features such that they would be able to access and use their complete phone system through a web browser anywhere with an internet connection.
- After the initial rush of their pandemic pivot settled down and they hit their immediate and most pressing deadlines, their entire phone system was replaced with a Turn-Dial solution, giving them a much more modern and complete makeover of their telephony technologies that would permanently give them a more mobile communications platform.
The Outcome
Thanks to the work of D2 and our partner TurnDial, this client was able to maintain business operations remotely throughout the pandemic, and they gained the technology infrastructure to support mobility for years to come.
“They helped us solve seemingly daunting structural problems quickly and effectively,” said the firm’s Managing Director. “When this pandemic passes, the flexibility our business has gained will remain and continue to benefit us for years to come.”
Let’s talk about how D2 can support your IT needs.
