AmWins

AmWINS engaged SimpleSharePoint to evaluate its sprawling SharePoint infrastructure and ensure its technology investments were aligned with the company’s strategic goals. The challenge was formidable: over ten separate SharePoint farms resulting from legacy operations and acquisitions, scattered across various geographic locations and utilizing different versions of SharePoint. With nearly 5,000 users, executing meticulous change management was crucial.

In May 2018, we initiated a comprehensive planning and analysis phase, conducting audits and assessments of the existing farms, web apps, external data sources, and customized code. This helped pinpoint critical areas for attention and identify obsolete elements.

Our strategy included:

• Scheduling service windows for upgrading and patching servers and farms in preparation for a significant migration.
• Constructing a new SharePoint 2016 farm on Windows 2016 and conducting test migrations to sort out third-party solutions and customizations.
• Migrating all data from various SharePoint versions into a unified, robust SharePoint 2016 farm configured with SQL availability groups for enhanced reliability.
• Establishing a dedicated development area for continuous development and testing.
• Implementing rigorous weekly progress meetings and maintaining strict communication protocols throughout the migration process.

The migration and upgrade processes were executed with minimal to zero business downtime, greatly simplifying the transition for all stakeholders. Following the upgrade, SimpleSharePoint continues to provide proactive support through its Managed ServerCare plus solution, which includes regular system monitoring and swift remediation services. As a result, AmWINS now benefits from a streamlined, highly available SharePoint environment that supports its ongoing growth and service excellence, allowing the firm to focus more effectively on its core business activities.