Greystar is a leading, fully integrated real estate company offering expertise in investment management, development, and management of rental housing properties globally.
ASK4 and Greystar have been working together for many years, so in January 2021, when Greystar were searching for a new IT solutions provider, they didn’t need to look very far. ASK4, with an already deep understanding of the business, the people, and how they operate, was ready to help.
Greystar's requirements
Due to the scale and nature of the organisation, Greystar has staff and devices spread across a wide geographical area. It is extremely important for Greystar to ensure it provides a consistent user experience and that it meets its own internal IT security compliance policies. Devices need to be centrally managed, updated over the air, and proactively monitored.Â
The solution
To meet the specific security compliance requirements crucial to supporting the expanding business, ASK4 worked closely with the team at Greystar to design a manageable and scalable solution, tailored to them. This includes managing and monitoring all users and devices via the Cloud using Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Endpoint Management, as well as the provision of a new property-wide multi-site Cloud VoIP Telephony solution. New onsite routers, firewalls and switches were installed while updating customer devices.Â
ASK4 were able to design and roll out this solution, as well as take over the day-to-day IT Support and management for the initial 25 Greystar Property sites from the incumbent UK IT provider in just six months, meeting Greystar's internal project timelines. This agile design and delivery model now allows Greystar to acquire and roll out IT infrastructure at new sites very quickly and at short notice.Â
After this highly successful project, building on the ongoing strong relationship between ASK4 and Greystar, an additional 18 sites have been migrated as Greystar expands its portfolio in the UK. Existing sites in Europe covering the Republic of Ireland, The Netherlands, Germany, and Austria are now being transitioned with more in the pipeline. This means that ASK4 now supports over 50 sites in five countries for Greystar and will continue to support more as the organisation grows.
Dan Dowling, IT Infrastructure Director at Greystar International said:
"After a long-standing partnership with ASK4, delivering a managed Internet service to many of our UK and European sites, choosing to work with them on our IT provision was an easy decision.
Not only do they provide the right IT solutions for our organization, but the support service desk is second to none. The team are always friendly and approachable, and they take the time to explain things in a way that’s simple to understand.
ASK4 acts as our outsourced technology department, but the excellent relationships we have built mean they feel like part of our team. They understand our goals, how we work and have a great connection with our people".
