Impact Awards: Fuse Technology delivers full system for 500 users in three months

Fuse Technology was the winner of the Business Transformation Award at the 2025 techpartner.news Impact Awards for its work enabling A.E. Smith’s IT separation from Downer Group.

After more than a century as part of Downer Group, A.E. Smith was acquired by its management in 2024.

The new entity needed a new independent IT environment that would be operational from the first day of operation, and it needed it to be delivered within three months, with the risk of financial penalties making the deadline non-negotiable.

To find someone who could meet these requirements, A.E. Smith turned to their strategic IT partner Tech Elevate, who recommended Fuse Technology. 

Fuse is an IT consultancy and managed services provider headquartered in Sydney, with offices across Australia, the UK, Canada and Vietnam.

Tech Elevate managing director Jonathan Salmon said they knew the project required a partner capable of managing significant complexity with precision and agility. 

“Having worked with Fuse Technology previously, we were confident they were the right choice for the job … Fuse brought deep technical expertise and a disciplined approach to delivery, executing the project within tight timeframes while maintaining a high standard throughout.”

A.E. Smith needed 500 users migrated, as well as new hardware and core systems, and modern and secure infrastructure built from the ground up.

On top of the limited time frame, the project faced further complexities such as not being able to access any of Downer’s systems.

This meant standard migration tools and stage data syncs were off the table and alternatives had to be developed that aligned with Downer’s policies.

Fuse’s team collaborated with Downer’s for a structured hand-off that used Downer data exports and managed the ingestion of data into a new Microsoft tenant without duplication or data loss.

All 500 users had to have their accounts and data migrated onto new laptops or managed mobile devices, with a geographically dispersed workforce across Australia, and no disruption to business continuity.

Microsoft Endpoint Manager and Autopilot was used to roll out pre-configured, secure devices.

To ensure the security of the system, Fuse took a secure-by-design approach, implementing application control, patch management, MFA, and other Essential 8 Level 2 measures as part of the base environment build.

To reach that level of maturity in the short timeframe, the team streamlined policy development, tooling configuration, and user training in parallel.

Fuse’s team also implemented managed services into the deployment to ensure A.E. Smith had long-term support and value beyond the scope of the initial build.

Despite the challenges, Fuse managed to deliver a secure, compliant, and fully functional IT environment in just three months, without downtime, data loss, or post-migration disruption.

While some of the customer’s staff were concerned about a potential lack of stability following A.E. Smith’s spinout, the company has now been operating independently for approximately 8 months, and the business has been growing steadily, with new staff onboarded. 

A.E. Smith’s commercial director Russell Houlahan said the importance of the project meant the company needed a long-term, strategic partner.

“From the outset, Fuse gave us confidence in their ability to deliver to the highest standard. Throughout the project, they consistently demonstrated the expertise, commitment, and the proactivity required to overcome challenges along the way,” he said.

“Their ability to navigate complexities swiftly ensured we met our time frames, all while minimising disruption to our users. Fuse proved to be more than a service provider — they are a true partner in our business."