A 40‑person startup's turnkey office, opened in two weeks
A venture-backed software startup with about 40 staff moving into its first real office, a leader in its segment.
- Scale
- ~40 staff, 1 office, laptops, phone seats, Microsoft 365, network, backup and training in one project
- Engagement
- Two weeks from signed scope to the first full working day, then ongoing management
The challenge
The startup had a lease start date, a new-hire class arriving the same week and nobody who wanted to be the part-time IT person. Staff worked from personal laptops and free accounts, the office had no network, and investors had started asking about security basics. It wanted one team to deliver everything at once and then run it.
A venture-backed software startup with about 40 staff had a lease start date and a class of new hires arriving the same week. It had no office network, no IT person and a pile of personal laptops with free accounts. Investors had begun asking about security basics. The client is not named on this page, and this is an illustrative engagement that describes the kind of work our team does; details are composite.
The plan treated the office as one product instead of six projects. Laptops were ordered with the right operating system and enrolled before they shipped: Windows machines through Autopilot, Macs through Apple Business Manager. Each person opened a box, signed in with their work account and got a machine that was already encrypted, patched and managed. Nobody on the startup's side configured anything.
Communications and email were set up in parallel. Every employee got a Communicator seat with a business number, voicemail, text and fax in one app on the laptop and the phone, so the startup did not need desk phones or a phone closet. The Microsoft 365 tenant started with multi-factor sign-in, conditional access, shared mailboxes and a folder structure that matched how the team worked, which is much easier to set up on day one than to fix later.
The office itself got a firewall, switching and Wi-Fi designed for a small floor plate, with separate networks for staff, guests and devices such as printers and conference rooms. Mobile device management covered laptops and phones with encryption, updates, screen lock and remote wipe. Backup of Microsoft 365 and laptop data was tested with a real restore before launch, because a backup nobody has restored is only a hope.
Security awareness training with simulated phishing started with the first new-hire class, so good habits began in week one. The office opened on schedule, and staff worked on day one. The company has one inventory, one support desk and one security baseline that grows as it hires, and it can answer an investor's security questionnaire from facts. This is not a certification of any kind.
What our team delivered
- Laptops ordered and enrolled before they shipped: Windows machines through Autopilot and Macs through Apple Business Manager, so each person opened the box and signed in to a ready, encrypted machine
- Communicator seats for every employee, giving each person a business number, voicemail, text and fax from one app on the laptop and the phone
- A Microsoft 365 tenant with multi-factor sign-in, conditional access, shared mailboxes and a clean file structure from day one
- A firewall, switching and Wi-Fi design installed in the office, with separate networks for staff, guests and devices such as printers and conference rooms
- Mobile device management on laptops and phones, covering encryption, updates, screen lock and remote wipe
- Cloud backup of Microsoft 365 and laptop data, with a restore test before launch, and security awareness training with simulated phishing for every new hire
Result
The office opened on schedule and staff worked on day one with no setup of their own. The company now has one inventory, one support desk and one security baseline that grows as it hires. This is an illustrative engagement that describes the kind of work our team does; details are composite.
Get this for your company
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No payment is taken online. When we call you within the hour we confirm the scope and send an invoice (ACH, card or crypto).
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