CRN Impact Awards: Arinco modernises device management for Higgins Coatings

Melbourne-based cloud specialist Arinco has helped Higgins Coatings drastically reduce the time spent on device rollouts by updating its endpoint management system, earning it a finalist nomination in the Workforce Empowerment category of the CRN Impact Awards for 2021.

The update was part of a more general modernisation effort for the Brisbane-based painting company that included upgrades of on-premises infrastructure and implementation of new technologies spanning Office 365, Windows 10, and enhanced security features with Defender and Azure AD. 

According to the customer, the most valuable aspect of this upgrade was the replacement of the customer’s on-premises System Centre Configuration Manager (SCCM) with Windows 10 Management.

Prior to the implementation, Higgins Coatings’ small IT team would have to build all Windows 10 devices from their central location, taking around half a day per device, and then distribute them to the employees across the country. 

Thanks to the new system Arinco set up, a user can take a device out of the box, enter their credentials and it will download configuration details from the cloud and apply them automatically in about an hour. This has reduced the amount of manual handling needed per device deployed from 5-6 hours to 30 minutes.

On top of this, any issues can be reviewed and troubleshooted remotely meaning any time the 200 strong fleet of devices need reimaging or updating, they no longer need to be sent back to headquarters and then returned to the site.

"We reached out to the team at Arinco with some time-sensitive issues and they have been critical to us during a period of rapid transformation. Having a partner that we can trust was extremely important, with the Arinco team bringing a wealth of knowledge and assisting us in getting the most out of our already extensive Microsoft stack,” said Higgins Coatings IT manager Trent Dawson. 

“This was an important final step in our modern workplace strategy, allowing us to put the control back into the hands of our people and giving us the control and security, we need as a department to manage our remote devices.”

Aside from the financial savings that this has seen for the customer, the IT team has had time freed up that can be dedicated to other projects, allowing them to focus on higher-value tasks including bringing greater automation to the rest of the business.

“It’s necessary to sometimes hand projects over to a trusted business partner when you have a lot going on. Arinco is one of the few partners I trust to be able to scope out and implement what we agreed upon,” Higgins Coatings systems and infrastructure engineer Angus Smit added.

“Martin [Yang, Arinco consultant,] is one of the most knowledgeable IT professionals I have worked with and feel comfortable handing him any of our Microsoft Stack projects or BAU tasks, knowing that they will be taken care of.”