Smartbox
For over 15 years, Smartbox have designed and created assistive technology solutions that help disabled people to communicate and be independent. They work with people of all ages and levels of literacy, all around the world, providing their solutions in over 30 different languages.
They depend a lot on technology, especially their Online Grids Platform, which provides and extensive library of assistive grid sets to users across the world.
The evolution of our partnership
Over the past few years, we’ve been collaborating with Smartbox on a consultancy agreement, working closely with their IT Manager, Matthew, to agree and assist on their IT objectives. Recently, we have solidified our partnership by becoming Smarbox’s IT support company for their UK offices, alongside Matthew.
The project objective – migrating the server operating system (OS)
Smartbox are continually looking to improve the security, availability and performance of key services, and as such a key IT objective for the year was to update the underlying Operating System of Online Grids.
Given the critical role the OS played in delivering core services to Smartbox’s customer base, the challenge was to execute this migration swiftly, without any issues disrupting operations.
Planning the OS migration
Our Technical Director, Rob, collaborated with Smartbox to plan and execute a seamless server OS migration within a short timeframe.
Rob created a proof of concept environment allowing Smartbox’s developers to identify and rectify any potential issues with the website and grid store when moving to the updated OS prior to the actual migration.
Once all necessary adjustments were made and Smartbox’s systems were deemed ready, the actual migration date was agreed.
To minimise customer impact, communication was paramount, so determining a timeframe allowed Smartbox to inform all customers of the downtime ahead of the migration.
Because of the proof of concept, Rob had a good idea of the timings for all steps of the migration, allowing Smartbox to create a maintenance page during the downtime, so their customers could be informed on the exact timeframe for the downtime.
It was crucial that the migration took no longer that this agreed timeframe, to ensure a smooth experience for Smartbox’s customers.
Migrating the server operating system
Rob began the migration process, maintaining continuous communication with Smartbox to ensure that progress updates were provided throughout the process, guaranteeing transparency.
The migration was executed and with final confirmation that the new OS was up and running, the project was completed within the agreed timeline!
The benefits of the operating system migration
The successful completion of this migration equips Smartbox with a modern server operating system, reinforcing defences against cyber threats. Smartbox now enjoys the advantages of a modern server Operating System, including benefits to reliability, security and performance.
The collaborative effort between Smartbox and our team exemplifies the seamless execution of key IT objectives for positive, customer-centric outcomes.
“Computer Geeks are extremely knowledgeable and go the extra mile to understand what is required to deliver the perfect solutions to our needs. A real pleasure to work with.”
Matthew, Head of IT, Smartbox
