Strategic IT Refresh: How Blake Morgan Prepared for the Future

Blake Morgan is a full-service UK law firm with five offices across the South Region (Cardiff, London, Reading, Oxford and Southampton). The firm caters to a diverse range of clients including small businesses, corporates, individuals, families, government entities, and not-for-profits.

As the end of their lease with an existing IT provider approached, Blake Morgan faced a significant challenge: how to transition to a new IT infrastructure that would enable phased upgrades in the future.

Ben Short, the Director of Innovation and Technology at Blake Morgan, had a clear vision in mind:

We wanted to move away from a ‘Big Bang’ approach of having 700 plus devices refresh in one go. It puts a heavy strain on the IT team. It also means that all of the business has to undergo a lot of change and upheaval at the same time. It's also quite a challenge to find a time when it works for everybody to go through such a large project. But ultimately what we wanted to achieve was a move into a business-as-usual model for the deployment of our laptops.

The project required a thorough evaluation of new vendors and a strategic approach to IT refreshment. The key challenges were:

• End of Lease deadline: The Firm needed to return the old equipment to their previous vendor by a specific date.
• Asset Management: The Firm needed to identify and locate numerous devices spread across the country after shifting to remote working during the pandemic.
• Preparing the equipment for return: The firm needed to data wipe their old HP equipment before returning it to their previous provider, a task requiring more resources than the firm had available.

We collaborated closely with Blake Morgan to design and implement a strategy that would allow them to replace the old equipment, leaving the firm and establish a business-as-usual approach for future IT refreshes.

To achieve our goal, we:

• Deployed V-Track: To identify and allocate their devices, we deployed V-Track, our Asset Management Solution that can track an organisation’s IT estate in real-time and provides vital information such as the device’s location, age, warranty status, health status, and more.
• Introduced Manufacturers: We scheduled meetings for Blake Morgan with manufacturers to present their options. Together, we conducted comprehensive evaluations and planned the deployment project ensuring all necessary resources were available.
• Data Wipe On Site: We assembled a team to perform on-site data wipes of the previous equipment, ensuring compliance with the lease terms and preparing the devices for return to their previous provider.
• Designed a phased Strategy: To avoid a large single refresh approach to their refreshes, we designed and implemented a series of shorter-term leases using our 2nd Life IT range of refurbished laptops. This approach will allow Blake Morgan from now on to refresh their IT estate in manageable phases, aligning with their operational and sustainability goals.

We really wanted a supplier that would help us innovate and think differently, particularly around the circular economy, how we're building towards our sustainability goals and balance them off against ensuring our people got the best experience.

710 devices were replaced. The models chosen by Blake Morgan included 2nd Life IT refurbished Dell Latitude 7410 and brand-new Dell Latitude 7530 laptops, which integrated perfectly with their modern desktop environment with dual Dell monitors.

Blake Morgan successfully transitioned to a new IT infrastructure with minimal disruption, setting the stage for future phased upgrades.

This demonstrates that with the right planning and partner support, significant IT transformations can be executed smoothly, aligning with both operational needs and sustainability goals.

If your organisation is facing a similar IT transition, contact us today to learn how our customized solutions can help you achieve a seamless and efficient IT transformation.