Client
Global container shipping operator (anonymised)
Sector
Shipping & Logistics / Maritime
Engagement
Ongoing managed services (multi-year) + fixed-scope website design & build | Dual scope: Managed IT estate and Creative/Web delivery
Case Study
Container Shipping — Managed IT Estate & Website Design and Build
A dual-scope engagement for a global container shipping operator: B‑SQUARED runs the entire IT estate — infrastructure, networking, security, end-user support and multi-site/port connectivity with cloud productivity — and designed and built the company's new website.
Estate managedend-to-endSites & portsmulti-siteSupportservice deskWebsitedesign + buildUptime target99.9%
Outcomes
- Single accountable partner for the entire IT estate across head office and port/terminal sites
- Resilient, secured multi-site connectivity supporting office and operational teams
- Standardised infrastructure with managed backup/DR and patching for predictable uptime (target 99.9%)
- Stronger security posture — endpoints, identity, email and monitoring unified across locations
- Responsive end-user support via a service desk, reducing day-to-day disruption for staff
- Modern cloud productivity for a distributed, global workforce
- A new responsive, SEO-optimised website the client controls, with analytics for insight
- One roadmap and regular reporting spanning both managed IT and web, with room to grow
The challenge
The client is a global container shipping operator running a geographically distributed business: a head office plus operational teams working across ports and terminals where connectivity, security and uptime are business‑critical. Their IT had grown organically with mixed responsibilities, inconsistent support, ageing infrastructure and uneven security controls across locations — making it hard to keep people productive, keep data safe and keep operational sites connected. At the same time, their public website no longer reflected the scale or professionalism of the business and gave them little control over content, SEO or analytics.
They needed one trusted partner to both take ownership of the entire IT estate as a managed service and to design and build a modern website — so the two scopes shared standards, security and a single point of accountability rather than being split across vendors.
Objectives
- Hand over the entire IT estate to a single accountable managed-services partner with clear SLAs
- Provide resilient, secure connectivity across head office and port/terminal sites
- Standardise infrastructure, backup/DR and patching for predictable reliability
- Raise the security baseline — endpoints, identity, email and monitoring — across all locations
- Give office and operational staff responsive, proactive end-user support via a service desk
- Modernise cloud productivity (email, collaboration, file sharing, identity) for a distributed workforce
- Design and build a new, responsive, SEO-optimised website the client can grow into
- Give the client visibility through reporting, analytics and a continuous-improvement roadmap
How we delivered
Approach
Managed IT
- Discovery & transition: audit the existing estate across sites, document assets, risks and dependencies, then transition support to B‑SQUARED with agreed SLAs
- Infrastructure & resilience: standardise servers/storage, implement backup and disaster recovery, and put patching and lifecycle management on a managed cadence
- Networking & connectivity: design resilient multi-site and port connectivity with segmented networks and managed Wi‑Fi for office and quayside operations
- Security: roll out endpoint protection, identity and access management, email security, and centralised monitoring with an incident‑response process
- Cloud & productivity: consolidate on cloud‑hosted email, collaboration and file services with identity and conditional‑access policies
- End-user support: stand up a service desk with onboarding/offboarding, device provisioning and proactive monitoring for office and operational staff
Website
- Discovery & design: stakeholder workshops, sitemap and content plan, brand‑aligned UX/UI design and accessible, responsive layouts
- Build & launch: responsive front‑end build, SEO best practice, analytics instrumentation, performance and accessibility checks, then launch and handover
Shared governance
- One delivery relationship across both scopes with regular reporting, security posture reviews and a forward roadmap
Delivery lifecycle
Discovery & IT estate audit
both scopes | weeks
Support transition & SLAs
managed IT onboarding
Infrastructure, network & security baseline
multi-site/port rollout
Website design & build
design, build, SEO, launch
Operate, support & improve
ongoing managed service
Scope of engagement
- Managed IT — full IT estate ownership: end-to-end accountability for infrastructure, networking, security and support across head office and port/terminal locations
- Infrastructure: servers, storage, backup and disaster recovery, patching and lifecycle management
- Networking: multi-site and port connectivity, resilient WAN/internet links, Wi‑Fi and segmentation across offices and quayside operations
- Security: endpoint protection, identity and access management, email security, monitoring and incident response
- End-user support: service desk, onboarding/offboarding, device provisioning and day-to-day support for office and operational staff
- Cloud & productivity: cloud-hosted email, collaboration and file services, identity and conditional access
- Website design & build: discovery, UX/UI design, content, responsive front-end build, SEO and analytics, launch and handover
- Ongoing operations: monitoring, reporting, security posture reviews and a continuous improvement roadmap across both scopes
Tech stack
AzureMicrosoft 365Endpoint protectionFirewallSD‑WANIdentity & Access ManagementBackup & DRRMM monitoringTypeScriptReactSEO & Analytics
Ways of working
One delivery relationship spans both scopes — managed IT and web — with regular reporting, security posture reviews and a shared forward roadmap, rather than the work being split across vendors.