How BW: Workplace Experts supported remote teams with Egnyte through the Covid-19 crisis

The London-based company transitioned from SharePoint to Egnyte to provide seamless and secure file access from anywhere.

6.7M+

files

75%

remote workforce

Challenges

When Covid-19 forced more of the BW: Workplace Experts team to work remotely, IT expedited its transition of corporate files from on-premise file servers to SharePoint. Upon migrating all of their files however, BW experienced throttling due to the amount of data being transferred daily. With 75% of the team regularly working remotely on files up to 1GB with strict client deadlines, BW determined that SharePoint was not going to work for their business.

“One of the main challenges of having files stored in 5 different places is that you start losing governance and it becomes impossible to manage, especially with a large team. When you have one centralized system you can ensure it’s highly secure and the right people have the right access.”

Steve Buchanan

Head of IT

Solution

Needing to chart a new course quickly in order to support remote users during a difficult time, BW turned to Egnyte. BW’s IT Manager, Tom Hollingsworth, began working around the clock with Egnyte’s Customer Success and Professional Services teams on a solution. Hollingsworth began by migrating the larger files that were causing issues with throttling from SharePoint to Egnyte in order to provide users with the performance needed to keep projects on track.

Results

Since consolidating its files onto Egnyte, BW users have the necessary tools to work productively from any location, even on large design files. For Hollingsworth, regular collaboration and support from the Egnyte team has been critical to ongoing success. From a content governance standpoint, the consolidation of millions of files into a single cloud content governance platform from multiple file storage and sharing solutions has helped the IT team gain greater visibility and control over business content.

“Egnyte has the enterprise backbone to back it up, but they also make us feel like we’re collaborating with a group of five people in a room. That provides the best of both worlds and aligns with how we are at BW.”

Tom Hollingsworth

IT Manager

Overview

BW: Workplace Experts was founded in 1999 and specializes in office fit out and refurbishments. BW has a commitment to completing all projects without defect, or what they term DF@PC or Defect Free at practical completion. Today, BW is a £200 million company made up of 200 innovative individuals working with blue chip brands and major public sector bodies.

https://www.wearebw.com/