BBU was formed in 2020 by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs to provide support – including legal, social and medical services – to asylum seekers who have migrated to Austria. As a new entity, the organisation needed to start from scratch; it didn’t have legacy systems, devices, or a roadmap to build its infrastructure. What it had was a hard deadline to get started. With over 700 employees coming from six different merged organisations and only six months before its launch date, BBU wanted its IT infrastructure to be built in the cloud for speed, scalability and security.

BBU wanted to provide employees with a modern workplace experience for seamless collaboration and productivity, but it lacked the in-house expertise and resources to build a complete strategy and implement the solutions.

BBU partnered with Avanade to build its new cloud environment. Microsoft 365 was chosen as the preferred workplace platform. Specifically, BBU selected the E5 license, which offers increased security features, including multi-factor authentication and conditional access. Avanade developed the cloud architecture for all the workplace tools needed, including Microsoft Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint to help employees be productive from day one and allow the flexibility to work from anywhere.

BBU also needed ERP, HR and CRM systems to help manage both its employees and the services the organisation delivers to its clients. Avanade deployed:

• Microsoft Dynamics 365 SCM for procurement and supply chain management
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 HR for employee management
• Multiple Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE (formerly CRM) modules for operations
• Microsoft 365 for developing mobile applications for employees in the field
• Microsoft Teams virtual machines environment (IAAS) to provide the necessary cloud infrastructure, services and servers

After the successful implementation of multiple solutions, BBU hit its target launch date – a testament to the development speed and scalability offered by the cloud and the Microsoft stack. The first go-live was performed as planned for approximately 300 employees, while it went live for the remaining BBU employees four weeks later. All systems worked smoothly as planned and there was no downtime for any of the services. With the help of a 360-degree view of its clients, BBU can put clients at the centre of everything it does.

As its technology strategy grows and evolves, BBU continues to work with Avanade on further enhancements and automation.