MG Engineering Achieves Rapid, Cost-Effective Workflows in the Cloud

As a leading consulting engineering firm, MG Engineering knows the importance of risk management. “We operate within a risk-averse industry,” explains Demetrios Gianniris, Associate Principal, Head of Ops and Technology at MG Engineering. “There are codes and best practices, and we strive to be nimble and innovative while keeping those in mind.”

With Egnyte, they proved that large engineering firms with large data volumes can build productive file management workflows in the cloud – while still adhering to the codes and practices their highly regulated industry demands.

Challenge: A Mixed Workflow Leads to Inefficient File Management

MG Engineering often works on over 300 simultaneous projects encompassing over 20 terabytes worth of related files, with individual files ranging up to 5.5 gigabytes in size. Initially, they were using Egnyte’s Storage Sync technology to sync this data from the cloud to their own on-premises servers.

However, they soon discovered that once all the data had been sent to their servers, managing such a large volume of files locally was highly time- and resource-intensive. “Storage Sync is perfect for teams that manage small or mid-sized volumes of data,” explains Gianniris. “But with volumes as enormous as ours, we realized we would work faster if we kept those workflows in the cloud instead of syncing to on-premises servers.”

Particularly challenging areas included:

• File backups: “Our original plan was to have a complete copy of all our data in each office, and only use the cloud to access files remotely,” says Gianniris. Given the size and volume of the files involved, creating these backups would require a tremendous expenditure of time, staffing power, storage space, and budget.
• Native integration with Salesforce CRM: The team was using a virtual private network (VPN) for much of their remote file sharing. But VPN proved ineffective at facilitating collaboration on large files – and with most workers dispersed across three offices and many others working from home, sharing files this way proved to be a slog.
• Rapid deployment and data migration: For each project, the team built a digital folder structure for managing files related to that project. But storing, sharing, co-editing, and archiving files with their part-cloud, part-on-premises hybrid workflow was highly inefficient. “We had a team of people who had to scour the whole network to find specific files and move them to the right location,” says Gianniris.

Facing delays and budget shortfalls, Gianniris started exploring ways to rely more heavily on the cloud. But his primary technology partner, Autodesk, didn’t work well with the numerous cloud platforms Gianniris tried out. “Autodesk doesn’t play nice in the cloud unless you’re using their cloud offering, which, at the time, hadn’t been developed,” Gianniris explains. “So we were stuck.”

“Once we transitioned to enterprise cloud for our document storage, we were able to work more productively and manage files and workflows much faster, largely because Egnyte handles uploads and transfer of large files really well.”

Demetrios Gianniris

Associate Principal, Head of Ops and Technology • MG Engineering

Solution: A Cloud-First File Management System in Egnyte

Gianniris knew he needed to reduce his reliance on on-premises servers. He decided to take his use of Egnyte to the next level and use the platform to build a more cloud-centric file management workflow. Though the team was reluctant at first, their reservations disappeared when they saw the results. “Once we transitioned to enterprise cloud for our document storage, we were able to work much faster and more productively, largely because Egnyte handles uploads and transfers of large files really well,” explains Gianniris. “It’s also the rare cloud platform that works well with Autodesk. All of a sudden, these massive Autodesk CAD files worked a lot better.”

The team was also impressed with Egnyte’s integration capabilities. In particular, by integrating with mxHERO, they were able to replicate their shared Microsoft Outlook inboxes in Egnyte, allowing them to remove large, storage-consuming file attachments from their local server and store those files in the cloud instead. “We rely on our Outlook inboxes every day, but we were almost completely out of storage space because of these huge attachments,” explains Anjelica Orsini, Office Manager at MG Engineering, who plays an instrumental role in managing the firm’s IT. “Storing files in Egnyte instead of Outlook, and sharing them via links rather than attachments, frees up critical space and keeps things more secure.”

Working with Egnyte’s professional services, the team also accelerated the creation of complex folder structures to house files for internal and external collaboration. “It used to take us fifteen minutes to create a folder structure, but in Egnyte, we can do it in thirty seconds or less,” says Gianniris. “All it takes is the click of a button. Considering we often do this twenty or thirty times a day, those time savings really add up.” Once the folders were built, the team was able to quickly upload and migrate files of any size into Egnyte. From there, the cloud-based system allowed them to locate files from anywhere with a quick search, rapidly share files among dispersed stakeholders, and automate file archiving. “Egnyte serves as a great hub where all of our data lives, and where all our stakeholders can communicate.”

Benefits: Faster Workflows, Reduced Spend, and Happier Clients

Since implementing Egnyte, MG Engineering has made their workflows significantly faster and more cost-effective, yielding savings from project initiation to closeout. “Being all-in on the cloud has eliminated the need to create copies of all of our files or hire a full team to take on the laborious process of locating, moving, and archiving large files on a local server,” says Gianniris. “This has allowed us to save over $50,000 every year, as well as thousands of hours that we can reinvest in more high-value activities.”

These efficiencies have also enabled MG Engineering to ensure top-notch client services. “When our clients ask us for a file, they expect to get it immediately,” Orsini explains. “With local servers and manual processes, this would take ages. But Egnyte makes it easy for us to find, access, and send documents to clients in seconds. That’s a huge benefit.”

Egnyte hasn’t only enabled MG Engineering to save digital storage space – they’re freeing up physical space as well. “Now that we’ve seen how well Egnyte handles large volumes of large files, we plan to scan all of our files, dating back years, and store them in Egnyte,” says Orsini. “We’re currently working through what were originally about 900 boxes of files, which, historically, our team would spend hours or days wading through when we needed to find something. Once it’s all in Egnyte, all those documents will be at our fingertips.”

Summing up the ways Egnyte has benefited the team, Gianniris offers an anecdote: “Since we leaned more into the cloud, I’ve had people come up to my desk and ask me, ‘Did we do something with the network? Things are suddenly running much faster.’”