- Background
A transformation-led industry leader
The UK’s largest construction and infrastructure provider, Balfour Beatty applies cutting-edge solutions to help its customers meet the challenges of tomorrow. From project finance and delivery to asset operation and maintenance, it uses the latest techniques and technologies to deliver right first time and sustainable solutions for customers.
The group’s UK businesses undertake everything from developing and operating a large portfolio of private and public sector assets through to construction services and house building. It’s also responsible for designing, upgrading, managing and maintaining critical national infrastructure, with capabilities across electricity networks, road and rail. To optimise the productivity and performance of a 12,000 strong workforce based at office-based locations and on project sites across the UK, Balfour Beatty needed to replace its extensive laptop fleet and give end users a brand new device.
Committed to pursuing a more sustainable future for all, Balfour Beatty wanted to ensure its new laptop rollout programme delivered against some key goals:
- Disruption for end users had to be minimised – everyone needed to transition with confidence and zero hassle.
- Data security – returned laptops had to be data cleansed to certified standards.
- IT recycling – apply circular economy thinking to ensure old laptop assets were reused/repurposed wherever possible and rollout logistics were designed to minimise environmental impact.
- Give back to communities – recover and refurbish as many laptops as possible for donation to local charities across the UK.
Balfour Beatty turned to Bell Integration to help it achieve its objectives and engineer an end-to-end solution that addressed every aspect of its requirement
- The requirement
Empowering users, protecting the environment and helping communities
As a trusted provider of Desktop Managed Services to the Group’s UK businesses, Bell Integration’s close working partnership with Balfour Beatty’s IT service and support teams means it understands what it takes to help the Group achieve its ‘Think Global, Act Local’ commitments.
In addition to managing laptop procurement, Bell Integration was tasked with creating a multi-stage logistics, rollout and recovery programme for the laptop refresh project that would deliver in three key areas identified by Balfour Beatty:
- Empower its people to book their own device handover appointments and get on with their day-to-day work.
- Find innovative ways to protect the environment and maximise the re-use and recycling of legacy assets.
- Enable Balfour Beatty to contribute to communities and leave a positive social legacy by donating as many legacy laptops as possible to good causes.
Alongside handling staff communications and scheduling for the laptop handovers, it was essential that end users received a new laptop that exactly matched their previous one. A move that would both ensure business continuity and minimise frustrations for end users.
To maximise end-user satisfaction, each end-user would be given a 1 hour changeover appointment with an onsite Bell engineer.
In addition to being able to ask technical questions, users would receive dedicated 1-2-1 coaching to help them smoothly transition from old to new.
To minimise the environmental impact of its desktop refresh project, Bell Integration created a tailored end-of-life and asset disposal programme. Alongside handling the audit and data wiping of returned assets in line with all industry standard regulations, Bell would assess and grade each legacy laptop to identify if they could be refurbished for donation or whether it was possible to harvest parts for recycling and resale. Bell would then manage the refurbishment and delivery of any recovered laptops to charities around the UK, as directed by Balfour Beatty.
- The solution
A fully managed end-to-end solution
Working in conjunction with Balfour Beatty, Bell Integration was responsible for supporting a fully managed roll-out of 6600 laptops at multiple locations around the UK. As part of this process, Bell was asked to handle the deployment of the new laptops for old across 25 sites from Southampton to Glasgow and Newcastle.
Prior to deployment, all new laptops were shipped to Bell’s warehouse and configured in readiness for handover to individual employees.
Changeovers were set up in blocks to ensure the process was undertaken in the most streamlined and sustainable way, with staff booking their own appointments times from a provided schedule of options.
On the day, Bell’s experienced engineering deployment teams were on hand to ensure each staff member was able to get up and running with their new laptop and answer any technical questions they might have – even if these weren’t related to their new device. This highly personalised approach was welcomed by end-users who valued this unique opportunity to interact with a dedicated technical specialist. All returned devices were processed directly by Bell which delivered a cost effective data wiping and disposal service in line with data security regulations and which was compliant with environmental requirements such as ADISA/WEEE.
In addition to maximising the volume of legacy assets that were recycled and re-used, Bell Integration was able to refurbish over 1,500 laptops in readiness for donation to charities and other worthy causes.
Wherever possible, the project teams at Balfour Beatty and Bell worked together to reduce vehicle journeys and applied smart thinking to ensure that deliveries and collections at nearby sites were handled on the same trip.
- Automated system checks and compliance checks.
Providing specialist AI-automation platforms together with human expertise, Bell Integration’s partnership approach has enabled the firm to transform how it manages billions of support interactions – adding new automations and improvements that deliver continuous improvement at every touchpoint.
The size of the team responsible for IT Ops has consistently decreased over time thanks to automation and orchestration. This was not due to redundancies, but rather due to organic attrition as the workload steadily declined due to the introduction of self-service automations.
–AI Ops Director
- The outcomes
A people-centred solution
Working with Bell Integration enabled Balfour Beatty to execute its laptop refresh programme in a person-centred way that put the needs of its workforce first, while taking steps to conserve the environment.
Importantly, it also ensured Balfour Beatty was able to positively change lives by donating its used laptops to local charities across the UK.
Southampton Council is one such organisation to benefit from the programme. It plans to distribute the 100 laptops donated by Balfour Beatty to support young people who have been in care to get into work. As well as enabling young people who haven’t had the best start in life to build their confidence and skills at using a laptop, these devices will make it easier for them to search and apply for jobs online.
“It was important to us that Bell Integration became our partner of choice for managing all our charitable laptop donations. We had every confidence in their ability to liaise with key sponsors at donor organisations and ensure that donated machines were appropriately set up in line with their specific needs.” Laura Amos
Business Manager, Balfour Beatty By working adaptively and differently, Bell Integration helped Balfour Beatty implement positive transformative changes that have elevated the end user experience of its workforce, without compromising on its social and environmental responsibilities.
Looking ahead, Bell Integration is now working with Balfour Beatty to explore ways in which the IoT can transform how it manages a variety of workplace related challenges – everything from monitoring Legionella risk in water systems, through to portacabin access on building sites, and making parking and heavy duty vehicle movements on building sites safer.
- Why Bell Integration?
Working with Bell enabled Balfour Beatty to execute a streamlined rollout and refresh implementation project in a streamlined and low-impact way. Alongside minimising disruption for users and providing personal touch 1-2-1 support, the entire programme was designed to maximise value without compromising the integrity or security of the business.
As one of the only organisations capable of handling the entire cradle-to-grave processes and procedures that underpinned this complex rollout programme, Bell Integration was selected to provide a one-stop shop that included managing end-user interactions and seamless project management. The specially designed roll-out programme featured:
“Bell Integration is one of the few providers to offer a complete ‘cradle to grave’ service that extends from initial device procurement and set-up, through to comprehensive data wiping and fully compliant disposal services – minimising landfill.”
Michelle Price Director of IT Services, Balfour Beatty
- A fully tailored 360-degree featured solution designed around the specific needs of the business and end users.
- An end-to-end procure, build and deploy service that includes asset labelling and tagging, warehouse and logistics management, and a dedicated returns process.
- The secure management of all returned legacy devices, including CSEG data erasure with certification, together with transparent and fully auditable reporting.
- Full evaluation of legacy devices to identify opportunities to refurbish for donation and sale, the reuse/resale of parts (to minimise landfill) and recovery of raw materials, and the secure destruction of end-of-life items in a WEEE compliant manner.
- Close collaboration with Balfour Beatty to reduce vehicle journeys and optimise all logistics for lowest possible environmental impact.
- The refurbishment and delivery of items for donation, as directed by Balfour Beatty
“Bell Integration shares our sustainable computing services vision, so it made perfect sense to ask them to design an end-to-end eco-sensitive process for our laptop refresh rollout. Alongside minimising unnecessary logistics journeys, it was critical that the end-of-life process for our legacy laptops focused on maximising opportunities to reclaim, recover and recycle machine parts and materials wherever possible.”
Jon Ozanne CIO, Balfour Beatty
- Key takeaways & metrics
- 6600 laptops replaced
- 1500 laptops refurbished
- e-waste reduced
