PSM

Client

PSM
Industry

Professional Services
State

NSW

Pells Sullivan Meynink (PSM), a geotechnical engineering firm, grew from a 20-person team to a 200-person organisation in less than a decade. Their staff use advanced proprietary and commercial engineering software and equipment to conduct their work, operating predominantly from their Sydney, Brisbane and Perth offices. This growth meant they needed an IT system that would effectively support their staff, systems and workloads.

Challenges

PSM’s previous implementation of a private cloud had led to a myriad of issues, to the point where staff would actively avoid using the third-party servers due to their lack of speed and security. It didn’t take long before PSM realised this private cloud infrastructure was ill-equipped to meet their requirements – with issues in speed and the lack of a disaster recovery system making this a problematic fit for the organisation.

PSM then decided to pivot to a comprehensive solution, beginning a search for a new IT partner that could deliver a complete IT solution. They engaged Quorum to migrate over 60TB of data and build a brand new IT infrastructure that would meet their business needs.

‘We have a lean but very hands-on internal IT team, and we wanted to partner with experts so we could expand and enhance our capability,’ Gareth Swarbrick, Principal Geotechnical Engineer and IT Project Manager, PSM.

Results

Further developments have occurred since the initial data migration, with PSM staff implementing Microsoft 365 and Enterprise Mobility + Security. ‘We did a massive quantum leap because our previous version was very old. The new systems and software made a huge difference to our operations during the COVID-19 lockdown,’ said Swarbrick. ‘I particularly like SharePoint’s accessibility and the fact that everything links into Azure Active Directory from an identity perspective. It makes life so much easier.’

Swarbrick identified that the ability to work closely with technical experts was key to the project’s success, recognising the value of the time and efforts of the Quorum team.

Solutions

Highly specific needs, and a lack of hierarchical structure, required genuine understanding from their IT collaborator. ‘In the end, one of the reasons we chose Quorum was because we knew they had the technical expertise but also respected our values. We could see early on that it wasn’t going to be an “our way or the highway” situation,’ said Swarbrick.

Quorum partnered with PSM across a full migration journey in a staged approach over 18 months, including: