SHINE Case Study

When Shine* (Safer Homes In New Zealand Everyday) moved offices, it needed a safe pair of hands to migrate the servers to its new premises and ensure minimal disruption to the IT system. CodeBlue delivered faultless service and was soon back onsite to provide Shine with more business bandwidth.

Shine’s primary business server was running out of capacity, so CodeBlue installed a robust new HP ProLiant DL380 G7 server and upgraded the software to Microsoft Small Business Server 2008. The server should meet Shine’s needs for several years and its builtin redundancy features mean future upgrades and maintenance can be done without turning off the whole server and disrupting access to mission-critical data.

CodeBlue rebuilt the old main server as the terminal server for remote access. Many of the Shine team work offsite and secure, reliable remote access to information and documents for those in the field is critical.

A third server supports Shine’s client information and marketing and fundraising databases. Access to these databases is vital. This server is also the central point from which client support resources are mobilised. Information stored here is used to prepare statistics and reports for Government agencies. If the server went down or the databases became inaccessible, it would become a serious problem, as lives are – quite literally – often at stake.

IT stability a top priority

“The reason we picked CodeBlue was we thought they had the greatest flexibility and could change with us in the future. We reference checked CodeBlue with both new and old customers, including customers that CodeBlue didn’t give us as official references. And CodeBlue checked out way better than anyone else on our short list.

“CodeBlue were able to talk to us from a business, non-technical perspective. At the end of the day it was the affinity we felt with the people – decent, good people that you could have a long-term business partnership with. And the company was financially stable – that was important as we were concerned about the financial stability of the predecessor,” Roseanne Hay says.

“We switched over in April this year. The implementation went smoothly – very seamless and well coordinated. Since then we have had very few issues with our system and when a fix or changes have been required CodeBlue has been excellent.”

Cathy Hall says CodeBlue’s hands-on support is particularly appreciated. “We pride ourselves on being pretty self-sufficient regarding our IT but we know we can call on CodeBlue whenever we need support – and we do.”

Building enduring relationships

The CodeBlue/Shine partnership dates back to October 2004. Shine (then known as Preventing Violence in the Home), had been grappling with an aging, overstretched, unsecured and unreliable system. CodeBlue audited the system, identified major problem areas and provided recommendations to provide system stability and reliability. The organisation was given a realistic plan to optimise the IT environment, taking into account a very tight budget.

This initial engagement developed into a solid business relationship. Shine’s Executive Director Jane Drumm says Shine and CodeBlue have evolved in tandem over the years, both in size and complexity: “When we started on this journey, we were, like CodeBlue, a relatively small organisation. Our IT needs were unsophisticated. However, as we’ve grown our IT needs have become increasingly complex,” she says.

“CodeBlue continues to do a fantastic job of understanding the constraints of our business and finding solutions that work. They always meet our needs and provide solid advice, support and recommendations.” “We’ve never once had to think about looking for another IT service provider. We’re very happy with CodeBlue,” Drumm says.