Northwestel is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bell Canada Enterprises. As a telecom provider, it serves 121,000 people living and working in 96 communities spread out over an operating area that covers about one third of Canada's land mass.

Northwestel

With a modern workplace assessment and recommendations by Invero, Northwestel implemented a whole new way to work and collaborate with Microsoft Office 365.

Regions of Operation: Nunavut, the Northwest Teritories, Yukon, northern British Columbia and Alberta

Number of Employees: 550

Offices: Iqaluit, NU, Yellowknife, NT and Whitehorse, YT

THE CHALLENGE

Equipping Northwestel’s Workforce for the New Normal

Most distinctly, Northwestel needed a digital solution that would allow them to:

  • Firstly, utilize the full value of their investment in Microsoft Office 365
  • Secondly, get Microsoft Teams for the entire company in about 2 weeks to keep the business running during COVID-19
  • Thirdly, support the voice, video, chat and collaboration terms of their staff with standard tools and processes
  • Then, enable their 550 employees in scattered regions to work remotely
  • Finally, lessen technological and behavioural impacts, as the company was heavily using Skype for Business

THE SOLUTION

Creating a Microsoft 365 Modern Workplace Roadmap

Our Approach
  • First and foremost, factor in the people and the technology in the organizational change management strategy.
  • Next, implement the plan to get employees operating efficiently in Teams, SharePoint Online and OneDrive.
  • After that, put in place best security practices and sound governance along the way.
  • Lastly, revamp internal communication methods leveraging modern tools such as SharePoint, Teams and Yammer.
Technology Used
  • Microsoft Office 365
  • SharePoint Online
  • Teams
  • OneDrive
  • Yammer

THE RESULTS

Modern Business Operations for Enhanced Productivity

Significantly improved ROI on Microsoft

Now, Northwestel maximizes the value of the investments they make in their Office 365 licensing. Thus, they improved operating abilities while continuing to provide vital services to remote areas during hard times.

Improved collaboration and communication

Thus, employees broke down information silos between departments thanks to shared repositories and group chats. Additionally, user feedback was positive on the quality of Teams and the change management approach.

Ken Todd
Director of IT, Northwestel

Northwestel values our partnership with Invero, and the experience and expertise they are bringing to our deployment of Office 365.

Delivering Digital Optimization Services and Practical Solutions

To fulfill this digital initiative, Northwestel mandated Invero to:

  • First, conduct a modern workplace assessment with a strategy and tips for implementation
  • Second, execute Office 365 security and governance best practices
  • Then, set a SharePoint and Teams governance plan
  • After that, develop an internal communications plan and platform to allow people to share information on internal channels from a centralized location
  • Lastly, build a proof of concept environment to verify the approach with a subset of users