Software and Services

Global Laboratory Management and Software Company Secures and Streamlines Data with Microsoft SharePoint and Arraya Managed Services

LabWare utilized Microsoft SharePoint and Arraya Solutions’ Managed Infrastructure Service to migrate sensitive company data to a secure and expandable onsite portal.

With Arraya, I don’t have to stress over a project. I know they’re working on it. I trust them to execute it.

– Jeremy Upole, IT Manager, LabWare

Objective

Labware wanted to migrate their SharePoint solution from offsite servers to in-house servers to tighten their security.

Solution at a Glance

Arraya designed, implemented, and managed a high-availability SharePoint environment on five servers (two WFE and three SQL).

Challenge

LabWare provides laboratory management and automation software products designed to improve efficiency and promote collaboration. It employs roughly 200 people and has 15 locations globally, but it’s based out of Wilmington, DE.

Microsoft’s SharePoint was already a major part of LabWare’s communication plan, as the organization used the program to bring its developers, engineers, and customers closer together. However, the servers LabWare was running SharePoint on were located offsite. Due to the sensitive nature of the data that was being stored, LabWare decided that the solution needed to be brought in-house to reduce the risk of data breach.

While working to solve their security concerns, LabWare ran into additional issues with their custom authentication method and lack of flexibility in their existing SharePoint site.

Solution

Labware had engaged Arraya Solutions for previous projects. “I’d been doingbusiness with Arraya for 2-3 years at that point,” said Jeremy Upole, LabWare’s IT Manager. “I was always amazed by the level of talent and the caliber of people they have on staff.”

On top of that history with LabWare, the Arraya team has an extensive background of supporting not only SharePoint, but other strategic business applications, as well. “A good partner needs to have everything managed and planned even before someone steps foot on site – and Arraya does that,” said Upole. So Arraya was bought in to craft and execute a seamless SharePoint migration plan. “With Arraya, I don’t have to stress over a project. I know they’re working on it. I trust them to execute it.”

Arraya began by implementing a high-availability SharePoint environment for LabWare. This environment consisted of five total servers: two WFE and three SOL. Before Arraya could begin migrating SharePoint onto those new servers, there was a unique wrinkle which needed to be addressed. LabWare’s existing SharePoint used a custom method of authentication. In order to fully integrate SharePoint into LabWare’s existing environment, the Arraya team had to do further development work to incorporate that authentication element and ensure it continued to work properly.

LabWare didn’t have an administrator on staff to tend to the hefty workload that could be generated by an in-house SharePoint environment, so Arraya’s managed infrastructure service was set up to take care of the nuts and bolts of the app, such as backups, support items, tickets, etc.

But, the partnership didn’t end there. Another issue came up after Arraya had successfully developed the onsite environment and migrated SharePoint: LabWare realized the design and layout of their SharePoint site didn’t allow for quick and easy expansion. On top of that, the layout wasn’t tailored to effectively support its business strategy, making it difficult to navigate. So Arraya was enlisted to develop and implement a second phase to LabWare’s SharePoint transition.

“It was a no brainer,” Upole noted. “Arraya helped us to build the system, so who better to help me manage it?”

Phase Two began with Arraya designing a SharePoint farm which would allow for growth across LabWare’s global facilities. Then the databases were given more common-sense, readable names to make navigation easier, and a more logical site collection and site design scheme was implemented. Lastly, the reach of Arraya’s managed infrastructure service was expanded so Arraya could provide LabWare with additional application support for SharePoint.

Arraya helped us to build the system, so who better to help me manage it?

– Jeremy Upole, IT Manager, LabWare

Arraya began by implementing a high-availability environment for LabWare, then designed an entire SharePoint farm that would allow for growth across their global facilities. Lastly, Arraya’s managed infrastructure service was expanded to provide additional application support for SharePoint.

Results

Bringing SharePoint in-house has worked out well for LabWare. Its SharePoint is now home to I 70 unique site URLs and it gets accessed by over 400 users. To support that volume, SharePoint has been built on what is now a six-server farm, including 2x load balancers.

Arraya’s managed infrastructure service has been able to successfully support and secure LabWare’s SharePoint system. That arrangement has given LabWare confidence that the private data it stores on SharePoint isn’t going to fall into the wrong hands. Now the company knows it can count on Arraya to be its trusted advisor for any future tech projects.