When Sysmex, a healthcare company based in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan had IT needs, they reached out to AvePoint. Their challenge was as follows: Sysmex had implemented Microsoft SharePoint 2007 (MOSS) as an intranet and internal collaboration platform.
Since 2008, Sysmex aimed to increase user adoption by promoting internal information sharing for both system implementation and operation stabilization.
However, Microsoft support for SharePoint 2007 ended on October 10, 2017. Therefore, Sysmex decided to migrate its environment to Office 365 – SharePoint Online. “We’ve worked on using the latest cloud technology to reform our workstyle. By migrating to SharePoint Online, we could utilize latest features such as mobile phone access and operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” said Mr. Yuji Ohnishi of the Information Solution Department at Sysmex Corporation.
The organization also needed a way for end users to have immediate access to essential content. They also needed to be able to share this information securely.
“The need for an information sharing system, which is critical for external collaboration, increased over time. As a result, security became our top concern,” Ohnishi said.
Given these collaboration needs, Sysmex began to seek a third-party tool to support its migration to and management of Office 365 – SharePoint Online.
The company of 8,000 global and 3,800 domestic users had three distinct needs.
- Construct information environment in which internal and external users can collaborate securely.
- Implement backup and recovery at a smaller level of granularity than native capabilities allow
- Reduce burden on IT and users by automating SharePoint administration
How AvePoint Helped
After researching other solutions, Sysmex chose AvePoint Online Services (AOS). Hosted on Microsoft Azure, AOS simplifies Office 365 administration and provides granular backup and restore as well as other capabilities for SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, and OneDrive for Business.
The deciding factor was AvePoint’s top-notch expertise with SharePoint features. “AOS can automate Office 365 site creation via the user’s department. Also, each site group can control the operations of external users,” said Ohnishi. “With these features in AOS, we have increased the efficiency of our administration.”
More specifically, Sysmex has observed that the automation, granular recovery, and site access analysis features of AOS have improved the speed of IT tasks. “While out-of-the-box SharePoint can only recover data at the site level, AOS can recover data at smaller levels of granularity,” Ohnishi said.
As part of the healthcare industry, Sysmex must comply with strict privacy and information security regulations. The organization relies on AOS—especially audit log archive, access permission export, and data backup—to ensure it can quickly respond to audits. “We can use the filter in AOS to search and export results as an audit report, which saves time,” said Ohnishi. “Through the implementation of Governance Automation Online, a module of AOS, administration is more efficient and automatic.”
Looking Ahead for Sysmex
To maximize its Office 365 deployment, constructing an environment for secure internal and external collaboration while saving administration time and effort were Sysmex’s top goals. With AvePoint Online Services and Governance Automation Online, Sysmex can leverage granular backup, automation, and other features to achieve these goals.
Looking ahead, Sysmex plans to implement the multiple features of GAO in addition to other AOS modules. “GAO has all the features we need to reduce the IT administration burden,” said Ohnishi. “The capabilities of GAO and AOS are amazingly beneficial for our business.
