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Each day, 250,000 vehicle trips are made on the 39km EastLink tollway in Melbourne, Australia, making this privately owned tollway one of the nation’s busiest.
With 100 per cent electronic tolling and around one million customers to service, EastLink is as dependent on its IT systems and infrastructure as it is on its interchanges, bridges, and tunnels.
So, what do you do when the business responsible for the seamless operation of EastLink is working with networks, operating systems, and servers that are approaching end of life?
EastLink was in need of a comprehensive IT infrastructure refresh across all areas of its business and approached Datacom to tackle the large-scale project. There was just one major roadblock: the COVID-19 pandemic. To combat the challenges brought on by the pandemic and still meet the deadline, Datacom put an agile approach into action and immediately found new ways of working and partnering with EastLink in a remote and uncertain environment.
A full-generation change of EastLink’s IT infrastructure was implemented, including updates and streamlining of networks, cybersecurity, infrastructure modernisation, hardware, and software. EastLink implemented additional Microsoft 365 features — including Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint Online, and Intune — enabling new, dynamic, and collaborative ways of working.
A core objective for the project was to contain ongoing costs for EastLink, so a consolidation of the IT infrastructure was completed to reduce the overall environmental footprint, including servers (both physical and virtual) and databases, whilst delivering increased performance.
To complete the project, a three-phase approach was developed. In the first phase, Datacom undertook a thorough assessment of the current infrastructure to decipher exactly what solutions were required. In phase two, extensive design and planning were completed. Phase three was centred around execution. Leading to the project’s success was the establishment of a strong partnership and working relationship between Datacom and EastLink. This was a vital component, allowing each team to modify how work was delivered during the pandemic and ensured the project was delivered on time and within budget.
EastLink’s IT service delivery manager, Chris Mutton, said, “Datacom efficiently refreshed our entire IT network during unprecedented times. The program was extensive and we were impressed with Datacom’s agility in reacting to the pandemic and finding new, effective ways of working. Our new infrastructure allows us to work in a more cohesive and dynamic way, whilst helping EastLink contain costs.”
At the end of the project, EastLink had a full-scale infrastructure refresh. The successful completion of the project saw new and additional services deployed, a smaller IT environment, and ongoing costs contained.
EastLink’s systems were streamlined by reducing physical and virtual servers and managed databases and by introducing new ways of working. EastLink has revolutionised its entire technological infrastructure, adopted a transformed IT interface, and improved the productivity of its workforce.
