Client background & business context

  • Client profile: global high-tech company, active in the lighting industry with €4 bil. in revenue (2017). 
  • Project: on-premises Lync 2013 to Skype for Business Online infrastructure migration. 


Challenges

As part of a company-wide digital transformation, our client was looking to adopt a cloud-first strategy and, subsequently, to migrate from an on-premises Lync 2013 infrastructure to Skype for Business Online. A few factors had to be considered for this infrastructure migration: 

  • Due to the project’s high impact on the company’s daily business operations, a highly secure and stable migration path to the new hybrid infrastructure had to be designed and followed. 
  • The global distribution of company stakeholders and the large number of dependencies between people impacted the design of the migration path as well. 
  • A hard deadline was set for the migration to the new, hybrid infrastructure. 

Our approach

Aiming for a seamless switch to the new Skype for Business Online infrastructure, we approached the project with a two-step plan: first, the migration to the new, hybrid Skype for Business environment was executed, while end users kept working with the old Lync 2013 interface they had become accustomed to; and second, we made the end-user-facing switch from Lync 2013 to the Skype for Business Online interface, while maintaining existing user preferences. There were two main benefits to doing this: a stable and complete migration could proceed without interruptions and without interrupting the company’s internal operations.

We set up the new Skype for Business Online hybrid environment with local break-out points and SIP trunks as new core systems, accommodating the client’s business needs perfectly. Over the course of a weekend, SIP trunks and gateways were reconfigured for the new infrastructure, and users were able to enjoy a completely new, modern high-performance communication system. 

A follow-the-sun migration proved to be the right choice for this project. 

To ensure the smooth shift from the old to the new infrastructure, we provided the client with helpful screenshots and tutorials for people to understand how to make the most of the new enterprise-level application. 

Technologies

  • Lync 2013
  • Skype for Business
  • Microsoft Office 365

Results

Working with us on this project resulted in a clear and significant digital upgrade of the client’s communication infrastructure, and, subsequently, vital business processes.

More precisely: 

  • 16,000 users were migrated to a new, Skype for Business hybrid environment at the end of a three-month period of close collaboration. 
  • Moreover, 10,000 local phone numbers were remapped for, and migrated to, the new hybrid infrastructure. 
  • The two-step migration path was carefully designed and implemented so as to support a stable and secure migration and not affect the client’s performance in any way. 
  • The migration to the new, hybrid infrastructure was completed by the hard deadline set by the client. 
  • Having migrated from the on-premises Lync 2013 infrastructure to the modern Skype for Business Online environment, the client experienced a multitude of benefits: a seamless end-user experience due to the application’s complete and stable integration with the new Microsoft Exchange Online environment, support for new conference devices, HD video conference calls, and broadcast calls. 

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