Comprehensive On-Premise to Cloud and Infrastructure Migration
Home By Choice, LLC
Home By Choice, LLC is a locally owned and operated home care agency serving Gainesville, Florida, and the surrounding North Florida region. They specialize in providing personalized care services, including skilled nursing, personal care, and companionship, allowing clients to maintain independence in the comfort of their own homes. Recognized for their excellence, Home By Choice has been awarded the Gainesville Sun Readers’ Choice Award for Home Care for two consecutive years. Their dedication to high-quality, compassionate care has earned them a trusted reputation in the community.
The Business Problem
Home By Choice, LLC faced significant challenges with their outdated, on-premise IT infrastructure, which included Exchange Server for managing mailboxes, contacts, and calendars, as well as on-premise file servers. Their systems lacked scalability and security, and the company needed a reliable solution to support their growing business. Additionally, they were moving offices, which added complexity to their IT transformation.
The company required a modern, cloud-based solution that could ensure secure access to critical data, streamline collaboration among employees, and provide centralized management of devices. Ensuring seamless communication between office staff and field workers during the transition was vital to their operations, as any disruption could negatively impact client care and scheduling coordination.
With no in-house IT team to handle this complex migration, they turned to Red Barn Innovations, LLC for a comprehensive solution that could address these issues, enhance their infrastructure, and minimize operational downtime.
The Solution
Red Barn Innovations, LLC drew on the extensive expertise of its leadership, who bring over 30 years of experience in IT, including more than 20 years working with Microsoft. This depth of knowledge played a crucial role in the transformation of Home By Choice, LLC's IT infrastructure. The leadership’s experience with both on-premise and cloud technologies enabled a meticulous migration to Microsoft 365, streamlining operations, improving collaboration, and providing a scalable and secure solution for their growing business.
One of the key highlights of the project was the seamless migration of various crucial components such as mailboxes, shared mailboxes, contacts, calendars, and file servers to platforms like OneDrive for Business and Microsoft Teams. By centralizing these resources, Red Barn Innovations significantly improved accessibility and teamwork among Home By Choice employees, fostering a more productive work environment.
Moreover, beyond the cloud migration, Red Barn Innovations implemented Entra ID for robust identity and access management, ensuring secure authentication and streamlined permissions across the organization. We also introduced cloud-based PC management solutions, enabling centralized device control and monitoring. This comprehensive approach not only bolstered security by safeguarding sensitive data but also significantly improved operational efficiency. With automated updates, enhanced device management, and simplified user access, Home By Choice benefited from reduced IT overhead, better scalability, and a more seamless, secure work environment for their growing business.
Simultaneously, the project coincided with Home By Choice's office relocation, adding an extra layer of complexity to the migration process. Red Barn Innovations expertly handled this transition, executing a smooth cutover from Cox Business to AT&T Fiber for faster and more reliable internet services. By leveraging Ubiquiti Networks' edge solutions, we significantly enhanced the organization’s connectivity and network security. The integration of UniFi Talk streamlined phone operations with improved voice quality and flexibility, while UniFi Protect provided enhanced premise security with real-time monitoring, scalability, and easy management, ensuring a seamless, secure communications infrastructure.
Throughout the transition, Red Barn Innovations prioritized minimal disruption to Home By Choice's daily operations. By leveraging strategic planning and automated tools, they ensured uninterrupted communication channels between home health workers and the office. This meticulous attention to detail culminated in a secure, efficient migration that equipped Home By Choice with a scalable infrastructure, empowering them to focus on their core mission of providing exceptional care to clients while fostering sustainable business growth.