Avaya technology provides
seamless business continuity
during relocation of Canadian
headquarters
Avaya leveraged its own data network infrastructure and product suite to move its corporate headquarters efficiently and cost-effectively on a tight timeline, all the while maintaining collaboration between partners, customers and employees
Challenge
Avaya is a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions, providing unified
communications, contact centers, data solutions and related services to
companies of all sizes around the world. While Avaya has helped countless businesses overcome their own unique communication challenges over the years, in early April 2014 the company was faced with the challenging task of moving its entire corporate
headquarters facility in Markham, Ontario to a nearby temporary site in under three weeks.
“Moving a branch office or satellite facility is one thing, but we had to move the hub for all of Avaya’s Canadian operations in 22 days,” said Terry Bruder, Sales Engineering Director, Avaya Canada, who was tasked with helping more than 200 employees stay fully operational.
“The relocation had to go off without issue,” stated Bruder. “Disrupting our entire sales and service organization in Canada was not an option.
Challenge
Avaya was presented
with an opportunity
to save considerable
real estate expense
by moving its
corporate
headquarters in
Markham, Ontario to
a temporary facility in
under three weeks.
As a global leader in
business
communications,
Avaya had to
complete the move
while providing
uninterrupted
business continuity
for clients, partners
and potential
customers.
Solution
By capitalizing on
Avaya’s own data
network
infrastructure and
technology solutions,
employees were able
to work remotely,
allowing
uninterrupted service
and workflow while
the company
relocated its
corporate
headquarters.
avaya.com
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Avaya’s corporate headquarters is where we give demos and
presentations to clients, partners and potential customers, so the move had to be smooth and seamless.”
Solution
While executing a move of this magnitude on an accelerated timeline wouldn’t be possible for most
businesses, Avaya had a built-in advantage, as it was able to leverage the data network of another Canadian office and migrate all activity onto it during the move.
This meant that instead of having to relocate all of its employees to the temporary site in Markham and rebuild the entire network infrastructure, Avaya could move forward seamlessly with everything already in place.
And thanks to the Avaya Aura
platform — which had been deployed internally a few years back — the vast majority of employees at Avaya’s corporate headquarters already had the capability to work from anywhere. Using the Aura platform and Avaya’s range of communication products — including video conferencing solution Scopia, Avaya Aura Conferencing and soft clients including Avaya
Communicator — Avaya employees were able to easily and efficiently work remotely on laptops,
smartphones and tablets using the same communication features that they had while in the office.
Vital business communications were protected by Avaya Session Border Controller for Enterprise, which provides enhanced security for any employee, any device, anywhere. It can help protect the network while providing remote worker
connectivity.
With the company’s flexible architecture and mobility solutions already in place, business interactions and customer support were seamless with employees able to leverage the day to day communications tools they relied on using Avaya’s soft clients on laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Plus, thanks to Avaya Aura’s SIP platform, employees kept their regular office number during and after the move, so that wherever they were working from during the move and at the new office, customers and partners could easily reach them. “This move was equivalent to
changing the tires on a flying airplane without landing the airplane,” noted Tracy Fleming, Office of the CTO, Avaya Canada. “We were only able to execute it because we had Avaya’s flexible network architecture in place.”
“This move was equivalent
to changing the tires on a
flying airplane without
landing the airplane.”
— Tracy Fleming, Office of the CTO, Avaya Canada
With Avaya Communicator for
Android, mobile workers never
miss a call and have anywhere
access to Enterprise UC capabilities
including web collaboration. Costs
are minimized through VOIP and
by routing outgoing calls through
the network.
Benefits
Cost Effective
With a fully operational network in place and the vast majority of Avaya employees already leveraging Avaya Aura Communication Manager remotely, people who would
normally be affected by a move were able to continue working from anywhere without IT involvement or network costs.
“There is a lot of debate in the marketplace about the value of allowing employees to work remotely,” said Ross Pellizzari, President of Avaya Canada.
“For Avaya, it has been a big win, as our sales and services personnel are now working closely on site with partners and customers every day. Moving forward, our new office will be designed as a space that is very much partner and customer oriented, representing our continued focus as a company.”
Looking ahead, Avaya will once again utilize its flexible network infrastructure when moving into a brand new corporate headquarters later in 2014.
“Avaya’s new facility will prioritize customer interaction,” explained Bruder. “Our sales and services teams will soon have a state-of-the-art environment where they can give world-class demos, presentations and briefings that will show our partners and potential customers the power of Avaya’s business-enabling
technologies.”
Avaya Communicator is a dynamic user experience that propels collaboration with intuitive workflow
interactions. Communicator is just one of the tools that has allowed Avaya employees to transform the way
they interact with colleagues, partners and customers, no matter where they are working.
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Business Continuity
Transplanting 200 employees would be considered a nightmare for most companies — expensive, counter-productive and disruptive to the business. However, since Avaya’s robust communication infrastructure enables employees to seamlessly connect with clients, partners and potential customers while working remotely, the relocation of Avaya’s head office ended up having little impact on the company’s day-to-day activities.
“Since Avaya employees were ready to hit the ground running, we were able to focus our efforts on moving the physical parts of the office quickly and effectively,” explained Bruder. “The sales and engineering labs — the ones we show customers and partners — were picked up on a Monday and rebuilt by Tuesday, so we were able to resume customer demonstrations just two days after the move.”
The move was so seamless, in fact, that Fleming said he almost forgot about it.
“I was working remotely the day of the move and if it wasn’t for Terry’s email that said all our facilities had been relocated I wouldn’t have known it happened,” said Fleming.
“Moving a corporate headquarters would typically require six to eight months of planning, infrastructure, telecom services, new phone lines, new phone numbers, etc., but because of Avaya’s underlying architecture and technology solutions we were able to execute the move in 22 days without clients or even our employees noticing.”
Flexibility
While Avaya initiated the move of its head office in order to provide a better experience for its customers and partners, Avaya’s flexible communications infrastructure would bring the same benefits to organizations that are unlucky enough to suffer an emergency such as a fire, flood or major power disruption.
“With Avaya infrastructure in place, we’re prepared for anything,” said Bruder. “It’s a complete reversal. Years ago, you’d find yourself sitting in an empty building waiting for the telecom and infrastructure to be plugged in. Now, with Avaya’s technologies, everything is ready to go and you’re often left waiting for the physical construction to be completed.”
“Moving a corporate
headquarters would
typically require six to
eight months of planning,
infrastructure, telecom
services, new phone lines,
new phone numbers, etc.,
but because of Avaya’s
underlying architecture
and technology solutions,
we were able to execute
the move in 22 days
without clients or even
our employees noticing.”
—Terry Bruder,
Sales Engineering Director, Avaya Canada
About Avaya
Avaya is a leading, global provider of customer and team engagement solutions and services available in a variety of flexible on-premise and cloud deployment options. Avaya’s fabric-based networking solutions help simplify and accelerate the deployment of business critical applications and services. For more information, please visit
www.avaya.com.
© 2015 Avaya Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Avaya and the Avaya logo are trademarks of Avaya Inc. and are registered in the United States and other countries.
Solutions
• Avaya Aura®
• Avaya Aura® Communication Manager • Avaya Aura® Session Manager
• Avaya Aura® System Manager • Avaya Aura® Messaging • Avaya Aura® Conferencing
• Scopia® Desktop and Mobile Applications • Avaya Communicator
• Avaya one-X® Mobile
• Avaya Session Border Controller for Enterprise • Avaya Ethernet Routing Switch Series
