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Mohr Partners
Selected Case Studies
Mohr Partners Finds Strategic Technology Partner in Buchanan Associates
The Company
A company’s office environment plays a critical role in projecting a professional image to potential employees and clients, and in supporting employee productivity. For 20 years, Dallas-based Mohr Partners Inc. has helped connect companies of all sizes with the space that’s right for them.
An international corporate real estate services, advisory and consulting firm, Mohr Partners has 17 U.S. offices, representation in 29 major overseas cities, and nearly 150 employees. Since 1986, it has managed real estate portfolios for corporations and completes in excess of 1,200 transactions each year.
The Business Need
IT Services at Mohr Partners supports the complete IT infrastructure of the main Dallas office, with some additional support for remote offices. Managing the continuously changing IT needs of the growing company demands day-to-day oversight of installs, upgrades and availability – along with strategic planning for future needs.
It’s a fast-paced business that depends on the ability to communicate quickly with property owners, managers and Mohr Partners clients, and deliver detailed property information in a timely manner.
The Buchanan Associates Solution
In 2005, Mohr Partners needed additional IT resources to keep pace with its growth. With a wide range of goals and objectives – from expanding storage to disaster recovery planning to departmental projects – the company looked for a technology partner with a comprehensive set of capabilities. Mohr selected Buchanan Associates for its technology track record and peopleoriented approach.
Since then, Buchanan has played an integral role in managing daily IT needs, as well as helping Mohr Partners strategically plan for growth. A Buchanan consultant, Floyd Baggs, remains on-site full time as part of the Mohr Partners team, and taps into the broader Buchanan group when needed for specific project expertise – a flexible, effective and cost-efficient arrangement for Mohr Partners.
During the course of the Mohr Partners/ Buchanan partnership, Buchanan has assisted in a number of projects that have brought stability and efficiency to the IT environment.
Backup and Disaster Recovery
Buchanan upgraded Mohr’s server setup by converting two Exchange Standard servers to one Enterprise Exchange server, increasing database storage capacity and accelerating backup times by about 20 percent. At the same time, the team designed and implemented a comprehensive disaster recovery plan that included policies on backups and rotation to offsite storage locations for faster recovery in the event of a disaster.
Desktop and Server Management
Buchanan implemented license management tools for desktop applications and servers, helping Mohr Partners stay current with all software and identify unwanted applications like iTunes or Limewire. Additionally, web monitoring and filtering initiatives have reduced the amount of adware and spyware on desktops, increasing employee productivity.
“We’ve tightened control of our software licensing and we are getting a handle on the moving target of people coming and going all the time with laptops,” said Bob Harper, IT Services manager at Mohr Partners.
Network Management
Buchanan added a second domain controller to the network, allowing redundancy for authentication, DNS and other network functions. Additionally, the onsite Buchanan consultant oversaw the successful cut-over to a new data T1 provider.
“Floyd’s knowledge of Mohr’s environment and his ability to plan proved invaluable,” Harper said. “I don’t know how we would have successfully transitioned to the new provider without that support.”
Departmental Projects
A Buchanan team redeveloped an application used by the Mohr research department to document and prepare critical reports of available commercial properties for agents to give to clients. The new application, now up to industry standards, enables researchers to produce reports for agents more quickly and professionally. Plus, IT staff can more easily support the new application and will be able to add future enhancements.
Office Moves
As a growing company, Mohr Partners occasionally needs to move employees within its main office, so minimizing disruption is critical to employee productivity. During a major intra-office move, Buchanan assisted with orchestrating the transfer of a number of work stations between floors.
“Due to Floyd’s planning efforts, the move happened with minimal business disruption,” Harper noted. “He took a ‘whatever it takes’ attitude during some trying times as on-thefly decisions were being made.”
For an upcoming move of the entire office, another Buchanan consultant brainstormed with the IT team on strategically preparing for the transition.
Help Desk Support
Buchanan’s International Support Center (ISC) also provides 24 x 7 x 365 help desk support for Mohr Partners employees. As a global company, Mohr relies on that support to keep systems running and ensure clients are served in a timely manner.
The Value Delivered
With Buchanan as its technology partner, Mohr Partners is operationally leaner than the industry average, as evidenced by the ratio of IT staff to employees. Mohr operates with one full-time Mohr employee and the onsite Buchanan consultant – compared to the three or four IT staff members that would typically be required to support 150 employees.
The consultant manages projects on an ongoing basis, and as needed, pulls in more specific expertise from the broader Buchanan team. Beyond supporting staffing efficiency, Buchanan leverages relationships with hardware and software vendors like Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard to obtain preferred purchasing power, resulting in lower technology costs.
But beyond the quantitative benefits of working with Buchanan, Harper points to the immeasurable value of the “people” part of the partnership.
“What’s been really great about our relationship with Buchanan is the personal dedication of our onsite consultant, Floyd,” he said. “He is so embedded in the culture of the company that many don’t even realize he’s a contractor. That personality and dedication have been huge in this relationship. He is also great with the “soft” skills required by the Mohr Partners environment. He has just spoiled these people to death.”
“I’ve been in the IT industry for about 25 years and Floyd is in the top echelon of the people I’ve worked with,” he added. Floyd’s contributions at Mohr, and the efforts of the Buchanan team, earned Buchanan Associates the 2005 Vendor of the Year award from Mohr Partners. Moving forward, the expanding company will continue to turn to Buchanan as its technology partner.
“We’re growing and our needs will only increase,” Harper said. “It’s nice to have a partner like Buchanan we can call on when we need special help. They do an outstanding job. Beyond our onsite Buchanan consultant, there’s a whole cast of other characters that we can call on when we need them.”