Engineering firms work with extremely large files, such as AutoCAD and MicroStation. Having the right infrastructure to support these files is crucial to the productivity and success of these firms. However, one of these engineering firms, a Logic Speak customer, had been set up on a traditional file server by its previous managed services provider (MSP). This infrastructure was ideal for a company with employees who always worked from a single office. However, this engineering firm had multiple offices in multiple states and its employees often traveled. The MSP had also implemented a VPN, slowing down the process of opening files even further.
Unless they were in the company’s main office, the firm’s employees had to utilize VPN to access their large files. This extremely slow process killed productivity and frustrated employees. In addition, sharing these files with vendors and partners required the company to utilize DropBox because the files were too large for email. Because the firm did not have collaboration tools in place, changes made to these files by one person were often overwritten when others edited the file, resulting in lost work. And workers in other offices were at the mercy of Internet bandwidth and the VPN. As a result, the only employees able to work efficiently were those who could sit at the main office where the file server was located.
Logic Speak implemented Microsoft 365 at the engineering firm and migrated all files in the firm’s complex directory structure to SharePoint. The OneDrive Sync App was installed on the employees’ local machines so that all employees in all offices could access files the same way. Logic Speak also migrated the company from its previous collaboration platform (which not include history, teams, or channels) to Microsoft Teams, which is integrated with SharePoint and OneDrive Sync.
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Comprehensive internal and external collaboration
With Microsoft 365, not only can the firm’s employees edit files without fear of their changes being overwritten, but they also have the ability to collaborate in real time because of the integration between Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive. The firm’s employees can check in and check out AutoCAD and other files and lock them so that other people can’t overwrite their changes. And employees in different offices can also collaborate in real time through live shared editing. In addition, with Microsoft 365, the engineering firm can also now easily collaborate with its partners and vendors because files in SharePoint can be shared externally—enabling the firm to discontinue its monthly DropBox subscription.
OneDrive Sync=speed
With OneDrive Sync, the firm’s employees can also synchronize files onto their local machines so that the speed of editing these files is local. Employees can sync the files they are working on to their computers, from where they can open and edit the files. Behind the scenes, when they close the files, OneDrive Sync saves the files back up to the cloud and into SharePoint, where versions are tracked, and changes are preserved. As a result, employee productivity and efficiency have increased significantly because employees have local access to everything they are working on currently, as well as files around the organization. Employees experience the same efficiency across the entire company in all office locations and when traveling because they are not dependent on the legacy file server and VPN to access their files.
“Migrating from our file server and VPN to Microsoft 365 has greatly increased our employees’ productivity and reduced their frustration levels,” explained the VP at the engineering firm. “No matter their location, they can quickly access the files they need to do their jobs without fear of losing their work. Partnering with Logic Speak has been a game-changer for us.”
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