CRN Impact Awards: Calibre One takes NT-based engineering firm YBE to the cloud

Managed services provider Calibre One has secured a place as a finalist for the 2021 CRN Impact Awards under the Modernising Infrastructure category for its work with engineering firm Yolngu Business Enterprise (YBE).

The story below was originally published on CRN on 19 May 2020:

Calibre One has migrated the infrastructure of engineering, mining and environmental management service provider YBE to the cloud.

The Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory-based company had its legacy IT systems replaced with a cloud-based solution to improve resiliency and connectivity with YBE’s second office in Darwin.

The connectivity between the two offices were affected by power outages, which would often leave the Darwin office with no access to the main file server. The outages would also impact YBE's effectiveness during cyclone season, as the company takes part in cyclone recovery efforts.

“If the electricity or internet connections are disrupted, our office in Darwin can’t access our company files,” YBE accounts officer Ilizebel Venter said.

“Where we are located this can happen quite often. It’s affected by weather, our location, old infrastructure; a combination of all of those things.”

Its terrestrial phone systems were also being disrupted due to old technology or water damage to equipment in telecommunication pits during the wet season. Calibre One replaced them with cloud-hosted Telstra Calling for Office 365.

Going to the cloud also meant YBE now uses an opex model, saving $50,000 in upfront costs involved in replacing the on-prem infrastructure.

Calibre One also upgraded YBE’s old copper connections with new Telstra fibre and backup 4G connections.

YBE also had Microsoft Sharepoint added to its existing Office 365 setup to allow satellite offices to independently access company files.

“We’ve had a long relationship with Calibre One and they’ve been fantastic,” Ilizebel said.

“And as far as our new connectivity goes, it’s fantastic to not be reliant on a desktop phone. The guys can be anywhere and still be reachable. It’s seamless and you don’t have to think about it, you’re just answering a call.”