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SITUATION:
In 1994, Northern Trust purchased Atlanta-based Hazlehurst and Associates in an effort to provide turnkey retirement consulting services. With that acquisition, Northern Trust created Northern Trust Retirement Consulting, LLC (NTRC) and acquired several hundred new employees, who would soon be part of a period of rapid growth for the company. While the business and employee expansion was taking place, the company also began to search for a facility that would house the new team, by consolidating them into one open environment working space where they could easily collaborate and grow over the years.
EDI SOLUTION:
EDI was retained by NTRC to design the cabling system, telephone and network hardware for seven of the building’s floors that would initially be used by the company. However, NTRC had already retained an architect, electrical/mechanical engineers and a general contractor, and had begun work on the building’s construction. While EDI can add great value earlier in the development process, they began work immediately to discover the client’s needs and to estimate the technology budget. Following that, EDI designed the cabling system and provided bid documents for completing the system, coordinated the space requirements for the systems with the architect and worked with NTRC to lay-out the data center and provide the mechanical and electrical engineers with resulting electrical and cooling loads.
After completing those jobs with high marks from NTRC, EDI was again hired to design the sound-masking system, provide construction management services, produce the company’s technology move strategy and manage the technology moving process – ensuring all equipment was installed and ready to go when the employees moved in. The technology move management process, which included the move of the 24/7 data and call centers, was a comprehensive practice that lasted six months. During that time, EDI negotiated with the company’s telecom provider, maintained a detailed schedule of the move activities, produced color-coded move plans and more, as well as maintained an on-site presence during the weekend moves. The thorough strategy executed by EDI’s team enabled a smooth move with no call center downtime.
Near the end of construction, and under recommendation by EDI and real estate consultant CB Richard Ellis, NTRC hired a building commissioning consultant, Working Buildings, to evaluate the entire facility. Together, Working Buildings and EDI tested the mechanical and electrical systems for all building operations and discovered a few glitches. They are currently reviewing the survey results with the client and will make recommendations on changes that will ensure the equipment has been installed as designed and works together in a safe and reliable fashion.
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