The Challenge
The University of Manchester enjoys a reputation for pioneering research and innovation. They are highly respected across the globe as a centre of teaching excellence. Technimove were engaged to:
- Provide a fully managed migration solution
- Complete a physical audit of all equipment within the migration scope
- Complete a pre-cable of destination data centre
- De-commission re-commission 500 devices from their University campus into Telecity’s data centre in Manchester.
The Solution
Planning and Project Management
Our migration methodology is designed to focus on minimising downtime, reducing risks and guaranteeing the efficient delivery of server migration projects. A key element of this process is ensuring your project manager has prepared for the challenges and utilised the available resources in the most effective way.
The Pre-Cable
Pre-cabling is a key strategy for ensuring that we achieve our goal of minimising your downtime. For Manchester University this meant our engineers were pre-cabling the new location 4 weeks ahead of the migration. As part of the process, the team installed copper and fibre cables in line with a specific set of requirements outlined by the client.
The Migration
On the day of the migration, Technimove engineers arrived onsite 30 minutes prior to the start time to sign in and prepare packaging material.
Once onsite, the devices were handed over to Technimove to systematically decommission, de-rack and wrap in anti-static bubble wrap for protection, before being placed into purpose built, foam lined, server flight cases.
Once the flight cases were secured in the pre-fuelled GPS tracked Mercedes Sprinters, Technimove travelled directly to the destination site via the safest and shortest pre-planned route.
Once at the destination, the equipment was unpacked and installed in line with the destination rack plans. Once racked, devices were recommissioned in line with the patching schedule.
Technimove undertook final checks before handing the equipment back over the client for the testing to commence ahead of schedule.
The Result
The Technimove team worked closely with the University of Manchester to ensure that the migration was delivered and all project goals were achieved. From the very beginning, the procedure we had put in place through our proven project management methodology ensured the safe migration of Manchester University’s equipment. The pre-planning activities ensured the project was completed, comfortably within the agreed timescales.
Although the original scope required Technimove to complete the project within 4 migration phases, the client requested that this was extended. We were happy to accommodate a number of changes to the migration schedule, including migrating the equipment across 10 phases. Our experienced project management and engineering teams went above and beyond throughout this process, offering the client invaluable assistance and guidance. Their consistent communication with the University of Manchester’s team ensured each phase of the project was completed ahead of schedule with minimal risk and downtime. The team received fantastic feedback from the client and extending the number of phases caused no delays or issues thanks to Technimove’s versatility.