The Development Bank of Wales – Managing a Laptop Refresh Project

The Client

The Development Bank of Wales is a public sector finance company employing almost 300 people in the provision of finance for businesses based in Wales. It finances businesses that stand to contribute financially, socially, ethically and environmentally to communities in Wales and to the wider world.

The Project

Espria were engaged to manage a laptop refresh project. Seemingly simple on the surface, this project was large, multi-staged and across multiple sites. There was also a basic requirement that every end-user was provided with a new device exactly mirroring their previous one to ensure business continuity and employee efficiency. Due to the scale of the project, the Development Bank engaged the Espria PMaaS team to manage the rollout including staff communications and scheduling. 

It was understood from the outset that laptops, whilst a business device, contain personal information as well as personal set up and legacy software peculiar to the individual end-user. The need for each end-user to face minimal disruption in their work was a further requirement – tech is a sensitive area, and the need to minimise potential frustrations with applications not working as expected was high.

Approach

The Espria Project Manager, working very closely with the Service Delivery Manager scoped out the first stage of the project; the refresh of 81 laptops, and established a process and timing plan, including set-up by individual and existing content. Working closely with the Development Bank’s IT team, the Espria team engaged with internal managers and team leaders to profile groups of end-users with similar set-ups to provide efficiencies and to ensure absolute alignment over who was getting what, identifying legacy applications, set-up and content for transfer and also barred apps.

Prior to roll-out, all end-user data was uploaded to the Cloud (Microsoft Office 365) so it could be synched back down to the new device on implementation. All the devices were arranged to undergo a prior base-build off-site using Intune Autopilot and bulk shipped to each DBW location for consultant installation on site.

The Espria consultants remained on-site, at each office for the duration of the implementation, supported by a Project Manager (in Cardiff, for 2 full days) to ensure the roll-out was efficient, ran smoothly and pinch-points identified and addressed. The Development Bank understood the profile of their staff and requested experienced consultants in the on-site roll-out with not only the technical, but also people skills needed to manage the transition from old to new. They had invested in top quality laptops with the expectation they last 4 – 5 years. This high specification had naturally generated much excitement amongst end-users; the use of such a business-critical tool and it’s set up is a very personal thing and therefore Espria were happy to manage this roll-out with highly experienced personnel.

The change-overs were set up in blocks to establish an effective and sustainable process before rolling out at scale. To facilitate this the Espria PMaaS team used the Microsoft Bookings app which allowed staff to book their own handover and replacement appointments based on the profile groups already identified. 

The most experienced engineers, with excellent inter-personal skills and attention to detail ensured end-users had a like for like look and feel with their new devices. Understanding the human angle to this implementation project was key to its success – The Project Manager made herself available on-site to ensure each individual’s personal requirements were met, ensuring satisfaction levels were not only high but maintained. This also cemented customer confidence in the Espria project team and our capabilities as a provider. 

In the weeks following the on-site roll-out a further 9 remote change-overs were planned in, managed and implemented including old laptop collection and new device delivery. 

All old devices were held securely for 30 days prior to being wiped and returned to DBW. An Implementation Review, following Phase One was held which informed how the process could be improved to Phase Two including changes to the Build Process Document and a number of other internal processes. 

The Outcome

Satisfaction levels were VERY high mainly due to the high level of resource, managing end-user interaction and seamless project management. Following the successful management of this project, the Development Bank of Wales has engaged Espria PMaaS for Phase Two where a further 64 devices using the proven model will be switched out.