Oval Medical Technologies is building a world class drug delivery business with a focus on patient-centric autoinjectors. Acquired by SMC Ltd, a global medical device contract manufacturer, they are growing fast by offering a turnkey autoinjector solution from device design to delivery of finished commercial product. As the demand for their autoinjector platforms is high, they have been adding staff frequently.
Having outgrown their managed office space, Oval needed a new home, a space tailor made to harness their innovation, creative thinking and energy. They designed a purpose-built space in Cambridge Research Park, which would provide dedicated GMP labs, enhanced device development, and plenty of space to grow.
They engaged a building redevelopment manager to help with the redesign, including dealing with contractors and sourcing necessary products. As their existing IT team, we were the obvious choice to help them with the IT side of things – liaising with the design team at all stages to make sure that their IT needs were considered, and that no problems came up later down the line.
As Oval have grown, we’ve gone from providing them with just half a day a week of IT maintenance and support, all the way up to the current level. They benefit from the expertise of a consultant for regular reviews and planning, while also having an engineer around regularly to sort out any user issues and carry out maintenance. This gives them the expertise to implement systems which bring them the advantages they need, while keeping costs down and providing a flexible solution that can scale as they do.
Starting one year before the move date we were involved in regular planning meetings with the designers and other stakeholders to make sure the IT related aspects of the building were thoroughly considered. Moving from managed office space to a self-managed building meant Oval had to decide on solutions for phone system, Internet connectivity, office networking, wi-fi and meeting room equipment amongst other things; all of which had been part of the previous managed environment.
In the run-up to the move we worked with the project team to specify suitable solutions for these new requirements, including working with our connectivity partner to provide the new Internet connection for the building.
We also liaised with Oval's parent company SMC to decide the best way to provide Oval’s phone system, as there was an opportunity to extend their in-house system. In the end they chose to go with our recommendation of Microsoft 365 Cloud PBX (Skype for Business) with Polycom handsets which we fully implemented for them
We were closely involved with the planning process, providing costed recommendations and advice to the management team on opportunities to deploy effective technology solutions in the new building. We participated in the design of the Comms room and Meeting rooms, to ensure they were fit for purpose and all concerns such as power and cabling were taken into account.
Once given the go-ahead we sourced the new network switches, wireless access points, comms rack, network cables and UPS from our suppliers ready for the installation.
Our connectivity partner laid new Fibre cabling to the building, which we tested thoroughly to make sure everything was working as expected. The parent company SMC provided Oval with a new corporate firewall and we liaised with their IT to make sure it was all properly configured before they shipped it.
The week before the move, we went to the new building to set up as much as possible in advance; installing the Cat5e network cables from the floor boxes to users’ desks, rack mounting the Cisco network switches and patching to the desks.
Leading up to the move we made sure everyone was managing to box up their IT equipment in the crates provided by the removal company, and we packed the Comms room equipment ready for transport.
On “move weekend”, once users had gone home on Friday evening, we shut down the IT infrastructure equipment in the old office and transported it directly to the new office. We had planned a redesign of the network to support future growth, configuring the new switches with a comprehensive VLAN setup. Working through Friday evening and Saturday we completed the IT reconfiguration and made sure all the systems were working exactly as expected.
When staff arrived at the new office on Monday morning, they plugged their laptops into the cables on their new desks, connected to the network as normal, and continued working without interruption. Our engineer was on site all day to deal with any teething issues.
When Oval Medical Technologies decided to move offices they realised the importance of making IT an integral part of the planning and implementation project to minimise any disruption and maximise the opportunities the new start presented.
Having been involved in many relocation projects over the years we were able to help, taking care of everything from planning, to purchasing, to liaising with other parties working on the design and fit, to providing the new Internet connection, implementing the new phone system, moving their equipment and installing in the new office.
Oval’s staff were able to continue working up until 4pm on Friday of the move and start again on Monday morning, without interruption to their IT services.
We continue to support Oval with their office IT, system maintenance and projects as they continue to grow.
- Tim Holden, Director of BD & Licensing
"Syplex are embedded into the Oval team. This is because they are trusted, proactive and deliver a core business service that underpins the successful day to day operation of our business."
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