Enabling a Remote Workforce

Founded in 1983, Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC) is a nonprofit organization charged with three main objectives: to preserve and restore Union Station’s historic and architectural significance, maintain the station’s long-term function as a multimodal transportation center, and enhance the retail and amenities within the station. Union Station Redevelopment Corporation was created in 1982 as result of the Union Station Redevelopment Act, legislation passed by Congress to oversee the station’s restoration and renaissance. Owned by the United States Department of Transportation, USRC has a 99-year ground lease of the station and the garage and is ultimately responsible for its historic preservation and management of its restoration and future development. USRC oversees the station as it evolves into a world-class facility, meeting the needs of more than 100,000 visitors a day.

The Challenge

After careful consideration of options, USRC turned to FSi Strategies in 2013 to deliver a better end-user support experience and begin the organization’s journey to the Modern Workplace, working side-by-side with FSi to develop a strategic Microsoft Cloud technology roadmap.

The Solution

FSi Strategies established a trusting partnership with USRC, working together on a technology improvement plan (TIP) that provided a strategic roadmap to the modern workplace. FSi Strategies executed on the TIP, completing key projects over the past 5 years that served as the foundation for a more mobile and secure workforce. As the world faced a global health crisis USRC was ready to move immediately to remote work in 2020.

Unified Communications Review and Upgrade Project Work:
– Migration to Microsoft Office 365: Q4 2016
– On premise servers moved to Microsoft Azure cloud servers: Q4 2017
– OneDrive setup for all users: Q4 2017
– Multifactor Authentication Setup for users: Q1 2019
– Microsoft Teams training for remote working USRC staff: Q1 2020
– Modern Workplace Future Roadmap: SharePoint Online

The Results

FSi Strategies delivered on a comprehensive technology plan, leveraging cloud-based services from Microsoft to successfully address USRC’s requirement to support a remote workforce, while keeping data secure and making business continuity a reality. FSi Strategies setup a Microsoft Modern office environment allowing for remote staff to work securely from anywhere at any time with confidence. FSi delivered these results in a cost-effective manner, allowing USRC to recognize large savings in its annual technology support budget. Because of its partnership with FSi Strategies and execution on a well thought out strategic plan USRC did not miss a beat when COVID-19 unexpectedly forced the organization into a remote workforce model with extremely short notice.

“Without FSi Strategies guidance and the professional service projects it has delivered over the last few years, our team would have been caught completely off guard for an emergency event like COVID-19. Because of our collaborative partnership with FSi we have been able to seamlessly switch from a traditional work environment to a fully remote workforce, including hearing-impaired staff, that continues to support our organization’s mission. We can still reach them through the same means (phone or email) and they’ve even expanded their policy to support setting up employees to work from home. They’ve made the transition very easy from a technology perspective. Thank you to the FSi team.”
~ Nzinga Bryant, Union Station Redevelopment Corporation

What is the Modern Workplace?

The workplace as we know it is rapidly evolving, and it is more than open concept offices and free lunches. There is a new generation of users who are always connected from multiple devices and they work in a different way. Increased mobility and enhanced collaboration are becoming requirements for every organization, while new security threats are appearing every day. This changing landscape is driving a digital transformation for organizations and requiring a new way of doing business. It is our goal to help organizations have a modern strategic approach to technology, empowering users, all while maintaining security. We achieve this by encouraging teamwork, implementing unified endpoint management, managing training and adoption, and implementing cloud security.

About FSi Strategies, Inc.

FSi Strategies is a recognized Microsoft Partner and managed service provider with over 17 years of experience supporting our clients’ IT needs across multiple industries. FSi has established itself as a pioneer of the modern workplace. We empower our clients by delivering enterprise class solutions that offer mobility, collaboration, security, insights, and productivity that today’s workers demand to perform their jobs from anywhere at anytime. FSi couples its visionary workplace consulting practice with its core managed IT and cloud services for clients requiring ongoing reliable support and innovative technology strategies to run their businesses.